Outcome

Why Create the Ambient Food Map?

While it may not be obvious, about 19% of the CMU student community is food insecure. Having to choose between eating and rent, tuition, amongst other expenditures, is a difficult situation to endure. Feeling hungry effects students’ moods and behaviours, health and well-being, social lives, and academic concentration. Unfortunately, there is also a stigma around food insecurity–making it even more troublesome for food insecure students. CMU officially launched a food pantry last fall, where all CMU students are able to get food staples for free (twice a month). Despite the CMU pantry being a step forward, we felt inspired to create a product that could help better connect students to the CMU pantry and other food opportunities on campus, as well as reduce the social stigma around using the pantry. 

With this goal in mind, our team proposes an ambient device that subtly informs students when the food pantry is opening and closing, when there are on-campus events offering free food, and if a “buddy” is available to visit the pantry or event together. The device synchronizes with the pantry’s opening hours, aims to fetch data from Facebook posts/tweets and detect when a buddy is available (when students are within proximity of each other). 

How it Works

PseudoCode

The pseudocode diagram was made to better understand the sequence of actions and events triggered i.e. OUTPUTS by the INPUTS. 

First Prototype

The components used in the working prototype include: 

1. 2 argons

2. 2 breadboards

3. 2 neopixels

4. 2 buttons 

Code

Next Steps

1. Using IFTTT or another method, send a message about the location of button i.e. location of food when the button is triggered. 

2. Convert the open circuits to look like an ambient device. 

3. User Testing.