Project Photos

From the ball pit to the near-space balloon to the Roamin’ Gnome that travels the world with me, check out photos from all my current projects!

  • Near-Space Balloon Launch 1
Cardboard GONK Droid

I decided to make a fun cat box for my two cats Lt Cmdr. Starbuck and The Captain to play in based on the classic Star Wars GNK Power Droid - otherwise known as the GONK droid. Sadly, however, my cats have zero taste when it comes to fun DIY projects so they did not appreciate it at all.

Bulging Checkerboard Optical Illusion

A brick-built rendition of the mind-bending Bulging Checkerboard optical illusion attributed to Akiyoshi Kitaoka. One of the theories for why our brains process this illusion in the way they do is that the brain misinterprets the space between the smaller dots and their closest corners as LINES. But because they are slightly offset between the two colors, your brain thinks they should be bending or tilted because of the margin between the dot and the edge. "our brains interpret these margins as lines, skewing our perception, changing the apparent angle of intersection of the square borders. Instead of all right angles, some apparently becoming acute, some obtuse."

Orillia Backyard

I've been slowly working on the backyard at my new little house in Orillia. It's really coming together!

Wooden Shelves

Tried my hand at creating some distressed-looking wooden shelves using metal piping. Pretty happy with the results!

DigitalGlasses

I built an iPhone/iPod Touch app and companion app for the Pebble Watch (and Apple Watch coming soon) that works with a Google Cardboard headset to digitally enhance the sight of people who are visually impaired. My father is nearly blind and we were looking at a similar product by eSight, but they charge $15,000 USD for their headset. Frustrated by the ridiculous cost, I build my own using an iPod touch, Pebble Watch, and a headset, the total cost of which was about $400. The custom software will allow him to adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, and zoom from the iPhone/iPods camera using the watch as a control. These features can greatly improve what a person with severe visually disabilities are able to see and fraction of the cost.

Hat of the Month

I have an EPIC collection of ridiculous hats in my closet that I've accumulated over the years. And sadly, most of then never get worn (although to be honest, some should never see the light of day again). So this year I decided to bust out the best of them and wear a different hat every month - and of course take a terribly shameless selfie for each!

LookUp iOS App

As part of the 2015 NASA SpaceApps Challenge, we interviewed a number of professional and amateur astronomers from around the world in order to identify the most prevailing problems and needs when acquiring timely notifications and data regarding transient astronomical events (supernovae, gamma and x-ray pulses from neutron stars and black holes, etc). Based on their feedback, we created a Feedly-like application that would allow astronomers to access and be alerted to up-to-date events from data sources that would normally have to be accessed manually via a web browser. Our demo included live data from the NASA CRTS survey and GCN network and included integration with the Pebble smartwatch.

iThrone

Made mostly out of foam and ONE HUNDRED plastic cocktail swords, I constructed my very own Iron Throne for my iPhone.

Keyboard Circuit Wallet

Inspired by Ryan McFarlan's fantastic Instructible on how to create a wallet from an old computer keyboard, I added my own spin and created a credit card holder made from the same material. Being thin and durable, it makes for a interesting and practical way to carry your cards without a bulky wallet.

Keyboard Wallet Taping Instructions

Inspired by fantastic instructible on how to create a wallet from an old computer keyboard, I added my own spin and created a credit card holder made from the same material. Being thin and durable, it makes for a interesting and practical way to carry your cards without a bulky wallet.

Infinite Hallway

The hallway in our apartment has always been kind of creepy. It's long and narrow, the floor is uneven, and it's poorly lit. When we first moved in, the light flickered like something out of a horror movie. But by placing them end to end down the entire length of the hallway - on both sides of the hallway - we essentially open up our dark, narrow, and downright spooky hallway infinitely on either side, allowing light to bounce around more easily and light up the whole room.

Near-Space Balloon Photos

Using high-altitude a atmospheric balloon capable or reaching the stratosphere, we captured HD footage of the curvature of the earth with the blackness of space behind it from over 100,000 feet.

Near-Space Balloon Retrieval Adventure

After launching our first balloon back in August, we received a call from a farmer named Leonard in Newton, ON who had found our balloon capsule in his corn field in late October.  We travelled up there on Saturday and retrieved everything - INCLUDING THE VIDEO!

Halloween Decorating 2011

Halloween is my favorite time of year. Same goes for both my roommates. So for our halloween party we went all out and decorated the hell out of the apartment - AGAIN!

Near-Space Balloon Launch 1

Using a high-altitude atmospheric balloon capable or reaching the stratosphere, we intended to capture HD footage of the curvature of the earth with the blackness of space behind it from over 100,000 feet. Unfortunately, the phone overheated on the way down.

Ball Pit Balcony

My roommates and I built a ball pit on our balcony. Why? Because it's AWESOME!

Robots!

Development Portfolio

Some of my web development work from years past. Will upload more soon!

Halloween Decorating

Halloween is my favorite time of year. Same goes for both my roommates. So for our halloween party we went all out and decorated the hell out of the appartment!