Holyvision
10-01-2008, 04:08 AM
Ok so, I'm kinda a computer nerd, and I have a poll of sorts.
I have a good friend who is a computer scientist, and I'm working on a second major in it. After talking for a while, we think we could program a "real world aquarium timer". Let me explain:
If you ever play video games like Madden, or some NASCAR games, you'll notice that they have a "Weather channel" setting, where the game will go online, and check the actual weather conditions for the location that is being portrayed, and use the actual current conditions. Now, what if this could be translated into a fish tank.
I think it's doable, using plug-and-play drivers, we think we can hotwire a USB hub, along with Ethernet connections, into a power strip timer with a CPU in it. This "hub" could be set to check the conditions in a selected area of the world, say, the coral reefs off the coast of Australia? When set, your tank could simulate those actual conditions as they happen: when it's night there, it's night in your tank, when there's a storm there, your wave makers are a little more uppity and there's some chop on your tank. We could even go so far as to check the moon's location to accurately simulate the intensity of moon lighting, and the same is true for daytime lighting. Maybe it's a cloudy day? No worries, only the reds and a little whites get through today. Maybe it's raining? Perhaps a mister could be turned on to simulate it...who knows!
Major issues we see are: Tank compatibility, obviously every tank doesn't have ever item to be "synced", and some tanks are too small for this. Conversion, a hurricane floating over your chosen location can't be turned into a splash-out-of-the-tank nightmare for the user.
Etc etc, just an idea my and my mate had. I think we could scrounge up some other guys to work on it, but we were curious if this sparked anyone's interest?
I have a good friend who is a computer scientist, and I'm working on a second major in it. After talking for a while, we think we could program a "real world aquarium timer". Let me explain:
If you ever play video games like Madden, or some NASCAR games, you'll notice that they have a "Weather channel" setting, where the game will go online, and check the actual weather conditions for the location that is being portrayed, and use the actual current conditions. Now, what if this could be translated into a fish tank.
I think it's doable, using plug-and-play drivers, we think we can hotwire a USB hub, along with Ethernet connections, into a power strip timer with a CPU in it. This "hub" could be set to check the conditions in a selected area of the world, say, the coral reefs off the coast of Australia? When set, your tank could simulate those actual conditions as they happen: when it's night there, it's night in your tank, when there's a storm there, your wave makers are a little more uppity and there's some chop on your tank. We could even go so far as to check the moon's location to accurately simulate the intensity of moon lighting, and the same is true for daytime lighting. Maybe it's a cloudy day? No worries, only the reds and a little whites get through today. Maybe it's raining? Perhaps a mister could be turned on to simulate it...who knows!
Major issues we see are: Tank compatibility, obviously every tank doesn't have ever item to be "synced", and some tanks are too small for this. Conversion, a hurricane floating over your chosen location can't be turned into a splash-out-of-the-tank nightmare for the user.
Etc etc, just an idea my and my mate had. I think we could scrounge up some other guys to work on it, but we were curious if this sparked anyone's interest?