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PackingGenie

with 2 comments

The prototyping for our “intelligent suitcase” (it optimizes your packing for trips) is progressing nicely. One of our members whipped up a cat-oriented error message.

The basic idea is that said suitcase would take a few inputs:

  • A trip itinerary based on your calendar
  • The predicted weather for each destination (and the duration you’ll be there)
  • A copy of your clothing database from your smart closet (complete with rough volume information)

    • Then the system takes all of this information, processes it (the fun part of this assignment), and gives you back:

  • What you need to pack for your trip
  • How you should pack everything in your suitcase (optimal packing strategy!)
  • What you should wear on each individual day of the trip

    • (this poses some interesting problems)

    To do this, we need to equip the system with a knowledge base of sorts. It should (at the very least) know the following:

  • The generics of what you wear each day (a shirt, two socks, a pair of pants, etc.)
  • What to wear when the climate is X and the weather is Y (no sweaters in the middle of Texas in the summer)
  • The volume of the suitcase the system is installed in

    • We’re also considering a speech engine, as it was brought up that a system that could verbalize packing instructions would be quite useful. The biggest problem is adapting what one should wear based on changing weather conditions. The system needs to work with the clean clothes you have left, etc.

    It also needs to be able to prevent cats from being packed into the suitcase…

    Written by Kyle

    February 27th, 2008 at 8:35 pm

    Posted in Hardware, Silly, Usability

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    2 Responses to 'PackingGenie'

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    1. If I may make a suggestion, you may also want to allow users to enter certain customized items. For example: You are taking a trip to Florida, and the weather is SUPPOSED to be warm, and sunny. Your suitcase says pack for warm weather with shorts, and a tee. However, you pack a pair of pants and a long-sleeve shirt just in case. You should be able to enter this information so a) you can optimally pack these items, and b) so that if the weather were to suddenly change your suitcase knows you packed clothes like this just in case.

      Again, just a suggestion.

      Katherine

      28 Feb 08 at 3:34 am

    2. Edit: I’m sure you smart-pants already thought of something like that…

      Katherine

      28 Feb 08 at 3:35 am

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