Real-time 3D Automated Spotlight Tracking System

Commercially available automated spotlight systems tend to be expensive and unattainable for smaller school or community theaters. This project provides a cheap alternative to automated spotlight systems on the market and is compatible with most stage lighting architecture by using the Digital Multiplex (DMX) Protocol. Circuit boards with Ultra-Wideband (UWB) radio frequency track an actor’s coordinates in a 3D space defined by four UWB anchors. A Raspberry Pi single-board computer acts as a controller and converts the coordinates into pan and tilt angles and maps these calculations to values that the spotlight can read in order to move. These values are sent to the spotlight through the Digital Multiplex (DMX) protocol, the standard for communication for stage lighting architecture. The system costs about $380 overall and accurately tracks an actor’s position and centers the spotlight on the actor in real-time

Communication Assistance Using A Large Language Model

The number of people diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder is growing annually at a rapid pace. Autistic people are known to have multiple problems with communication, requiring assistance and coaching which is already limited in availability due to the amount of training required. At the same time, there has been a recent exponential rise in usage of LLMs like ChatGPT which is widely available. This project aims to prototype a solution using ChatGPT to provide communication assistance to those diagnosed with autism. The project would record voice input through a microphone and transcribe it into text. The text would be inserted into an annotated prompt and sent to ChatGPT, which would then generate a response as text and displayed to guide conversation in real time. The prototype would also manage pace, detect silence, and re-generate advice when needed. These features would facilitate a conversation between an autistic person and non-autistic person. Analysis shows that selecting the appropriate models helps improve usability by reducing latency, and fine-tuning prompts helps improve advice quality. Further refinements in hardware, software, and cloud components can be explored to enhance performance for communication assistance

Computers: Their Human and Cultural Impact

In January 1983 the cover ofTIME magazine featured not the usual photograph of the Man of the Year but an illustration of the Machine of the Year: the personal computer. TIME\u27s cover was a dramatic illustration of how the computer, in only six or seven years, had entered the everyday world of the average American. The computer was becoming ubiquitous and commonplace, as familiar a household item as television set and telephone. But the TIME cover reminds us that the computer is more than a mere consumer durable. According to TIME the greatest influence for good or evil in 1982 was the computer. In the popular imagination the computer is more than a mere machine; it is a potent force actively shaping our social and private lives. What does the assimilation of this powerful machine into daily life mean for the lives of individuals and societies? How will people in various countries and cultures, not to speak of different generations, come to terms with the computer at work, at home or in school? Will contact with computers encourage people to think differently about themselves, their cultures, and their world? How will people in a computer-rich society differ from their forebears or their contemporaries in other less industrialised countries? What effects will the computer have on communication, on work and leisure? This issue of TRENDS highlights research which has begun to explore such questions. A future issue will consider the computer and its place in education