Friday, November 21, 2008

Municipal Data Objects (MDOs)

We are beginning to see the first tangible results of the effort that four WPI students are conducting in Venice as part of their senior-year thesis in Computer Science (Major Qualifying Project - MQP).  Below is a live demonstration of a client application that uses the hidden MDO framework the students have developed, which is the embodiment of the "Birth Certificate" concept at the nitty-gritty level.  The MDO framework provides web services which can be called by client applications, such as the one below that displays Venetian Public Art.  Click on various parts of Venice to move the circle.  Use the slider on the right to vary size of circle. Click on any Mona Lisa icon to see information about the piece of public art.  The data, including the pictures, are being served out from a temporary WPI server in Worcester, Massachusetts.  It's starting to look really good...  Good job Craig, Tim, Justin and Eric!
You can see the full-fledged applications by clicking here and here.