i2 Blog Post – Introduction

Since I was a kid, technology has been a major part of my life. From the TV where I watched all of my shows, to the iPad I used to play Angry Birds on, I have always interacted with technology. As I have grown older, I’ve gotten sneak peeks into how technology works. Each of these looks into the programming world has grown my curiosity little by little.

In 8th grade, I was given an opportunity. We were assigned a “Innovate and Create” project, much like what we do at i2, where I was able to dive into my own little game. For this project, I decided to make a platformer, kind of like Mario. I used guides on Youtube to guide my production and was able to code basic controls for the character. I then was able to design a world where you could hop around and explore multiple areas within the map I created. While this was fun, it didn’t allow me to fully dive into programming and coding.

Fast-forwarding to 2021, I finally joined i2. I had heard a lot about it as a freshman and made the move to join the program over the summer. For my project this year, I wanted to make another program. I decided to make a program focused on cognitive development for the user. I got this idea from my brother who is participating in a clinical study where they test to see if video games can help develop the human mind. I decided to do a similar approach with my i2 project.

I chose to make a program that would allow the user to test different cognitive functions like memory, short-term memory, reaction time, visual recognition, audio recognition, and others. I did some research and decided to use the development program Unity in the programming language C#. Although I had no previous use of this language, I was excited to learn and try something new.

As I continue my work, I will push myself to see the true potential and depth of this project. Are programs that improve your cognitive ability possible? Are they the future of technology? How can we implement them into programs today? Are they already being used?