The app was built using Android studio with the Kotlin programming language. We used the built-in Google Gemini agent to help us accomplish our programming. The app was designed to be a mobile, easy-to-use complement for the PODD book with extra features to better suit Jack’s needs. We designed the app with customizability in mind since the primary flaw of the physical PODD book was the fact that it was difficult to update as Jack’s vocabulary expanded, and as unforeseen new words and phrases were needed. Every feature of the app works offline allowing for it to be usable everywhere. In order to actually put in all the words and phrases we used Room Database, an abstraction layer over SQLite, to allow us to create a Google Sheet and then download it to the app to transfer a very large amount of info. We added a timer capability based on Mrs. Freeman’s input since sometimes Jack’s helper forgets to check in with him. The timer will go off on a user-specified interval and will require Jack’s helper to go back to the app and turn it off. To increase ease of use we added a search functionality with a voice search feature, allowing for the user to easily find the needed word or phrase without having to flip through many pages, memorize the categories, or be familiar with how the app flows the way you used to have to be with the PODD book.

I made Kneezy, a heatable compression sleeve for preschool teachers with musculoskeletal disorder. Nothing fancy like Iron Man suits some of my friends did. Read about the full project here.

Made at MIT School of Engineering and MIT Lincoln Laboratory