Citizen Science/Open Spectrophotometer Project/Documentation

Spectrophotometer design

 * Technology
 * LED-based
 * CCD detector
 * diffraction grating
 * Calibration
 * Computer interface

Spectrometric data format

 * JCAMP format:
 * JCAMP format
 * JCAMP DX format
 * JCAMP display applet


 * XML/RDF based
 * SpectroML Standard (2004)
 * Documenting laboratory workflows using the Analytical Information Markup Language 2005
 * Data description:
 * Spectral data (sampled)
 * time log
 * GPS log
 * tags

Targeted biological samples
For our project, we aim to target one of the most accessible human bodily fluids:
 * Sweat
 * Still difficult to use as it is difficult to collect a quantity large enough
 * Reliable collection a problem too
 * Sperm
 * very socially awkward - many cultural, religious issues associated
 * Breast Milk
 * Same social issues as above, to a lesser extent maybe
 * Limited 'Market': lactating women only
 * Saliva
 * Few practical collection problems
 * 23andME
 * Saliva Analysis is used to detect the level of hormones or drugs. But there is little a spectrophotometer can do to help (no correlation between a health issue and opacity, color or any such criterion).
 * Blood
 * Also Practical, although collection a bit harder
 * Anyone got a link to a 23andMe-like project?
 * Spectrophotometry may be of limited use, but of use nonetheless.
 * To know more about Blood Analysis
 * Urine
 * Also practical
 * Anyone got a link to a 23andMe-like project?
 * This is the bodily fluid for which spectrophotometry may be of most use.
 * To know more about Urine Analysis

NB: There are also some internal bodily fluids (but they are not practical to use), including
 * cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the brain and the spinal cord
 * synovial fluid surrounding bone joints
 * intracellular fluid is the fluid inside cells
 * aqueous humour and vitreous humour the fluids in the eyeball.

A full (and very long) list of the human bodily fluids can be found on Wikipedia

Open Dataset Repository design

 * Web2.0 Service-like
 * Open API
 * Existing Spectroscopy Databases:
 * Database listing
 * UV-Vis:
 * UV-Vis Spectra for Drugs
 * UV Vis Softcon


 * Papers:
 * Development of in-house spectral-data manipulation programs following quality guides

Data visualisation

 * keywords from the 'Call for Projects'
 * Rube Goldberg machines
 * Pataphysics
 * Processing-based
 * Processing.org/exhibition/
 * Tangible / physical / machines
 * Duchamp's fountain
 * data-sewing-machine

Data Analysis

 * Data Analysis will play an important role in the second part of the project, that is the construction of the Web 2.0 Service
 * More on our apporach to data analysis can be found on Data Analysis