Pre-proposed project Areas (2019-2020)

Below are some suggestions of project areas that you could be a part of if you joined Project Ignite. In the bullet points, we list some directions the project could take, but ultimately the direction will be up to you and your teammates. If none of these interest you, consider proposing your own project!

If you’re thinking about proposing your own project but you’re not sure where to start, our advice is to start with your own life. What inconveniences do you face on a day-to-day basis? What solutions might exist to these problems? We're excited to see what you come up with.

You could also view archived projects from past years.

food science

Every time you walk into a supermarket, new flavors of chips, soda, candy, juice, and much more are being sold on shelves across the world. What new flavors of your favorite food will you come up with next?

Warning: project will require a lot of eating and taste-testing.

• Possible areas: molecular gastronomy, psychology, design

make a movie

Lights. Camera. Action! Experiment with cameras and lighting in setup, draw and edit film in post-production, and act your heart out on stage! Make your dream movie.

• Possible focuses: drama, photography, animation, music

good-night filter

We all use our phones and devices when we go to bed. What if there was a better way to look at our screen that could reduce strain on our eyes and make it easier to fall asleep?

• Possible focuses: research, design, psychology, computer graphics

ai story generator

How do we write a story? What makes a good story, well, good? How could we teach AI to write us a bedtime story or tell us a story by the fire on a cold winter’s day? Instead of studying books like in school, tell your AI to study millions of books and write you your very own story.

• Possible focuses: machine-learning, literature

vr game

There has been a recent explosion in the gaming community about brining more titles to Virtual Reality headsets. What new games can we make for VR? In what ways can we leverage VR interactions to make novel game mechanics? Use a VR headset to design and test your own games.

• Possible focuses: sound recording, game development, computer graphics, music

‘ar’-t installation

What if your entire art installation was saved on your phone, just an app away? In this project, you will use Augmented Reality to make a new installation space only viewable on digital devices. Will the installation interact with artwork already in the environment, or will it require its own blank canvas? Will it be site-specific?

• Possible focuses: computer graphics, computer vision, game development, art

music psychology

Music has forever influenced the way in which we think and respond. But what significance does playing a certain type of music have over another when studying or concentrating? Will aggressive music really make me more angry? How can music be used to influence and measure a person’s thoughts, and how can we use that to design music that best accompanies a certain task?

• Possible focuses: music, neuroscience, psychology

led matrix

A matrix is a 2-dimensional list. Now fill each element with an LED. Congrats, you’ve got yourself an LED matrix! Play a game of Tetris with your friends. Create a music visualization. Decide how you want to light up the matrix!

• Possible focuses: computer graphics, prototyping, engineering, sound, design

RObotics lab

Ever want to build a task-specific robot? Study the most efficient way to complete a task and the mechanics required in order to engineer your very own robot capable of completing a task of your choosing.

• Possible focuses: physics, prototyping, 3D-printing, engineering, design

Conlang

Conlangs, or “constructed languages,” are languages consciously devised by humans instead of naturally evolving over time. Famous examples include Klingon in Star Trek and Elvish in Lord of the Rings. You might have heard of Esperanto, which is the most widespread example of a conlang being used in the real world for communication.

• Possible focuses: linguistics, education, music