DataShare

Client Interface - This is the startup interface when you first open our GUI
Main Interface - Here is where our mock trial (a simple math problem) is ready to be entered and computed
Server Choice - This GUI demonstrates the list of possible devices that you could choose from, to aid the computation of your math problem

DEVPOST QUESTIONS

Inspiration

We were inspired by the Great Mersenne Prime Number Search. The Mersenne Prime Number Search is run by a non profit group who are trying to find prime numbers that are one less than the power of 2. Unfortunately, finding those numbers requires a lot of computational power and it would be an impossible feat to accomplish alone. Therefore, they rely on volunteers to run the prime number finder program on their computer which uses the volunteer’s processing power to find such numbers. Similarly, we thought we could make a program to speed this process up and allow many people to benefit through shared computing power.

What it does

Today’s devices are miles ahead of the computers of the past. They are able to do incredible amounts of computations per second - amounts that humans can only dream of doing. DataShare is a data processing platform where the data of organizations and individuals is sent to a participating device. It then processes the request at the client’s big data using the user’s processors in their device. After getting the result, the multitude of home devices used then send back the results to the client's device. Each owner of a participating device is compensated. Similar to the Kijiji of computational power, DataShare provides accessible and feasible computational power right at your fingertips - heralding a new age of technological and scientific advancements.

How we built it

Our team built DataShare using pyQts GUI creation interface. This allowed us to create the UI of how our program will look like. It is a basic mock up of how our program interface would potentially look like. The design was created using our knowledge in graphic design which allowed us to choose the colour theme and the layout accordingly. This interface is a mock up of how our program should function, a user can enter any task and an available device will start work on it right away!

Challenges

DataShare is ambitious and learning/coming up with everything required in the given time frame was impossible. Our biggest challenge was choosing which specific part of the concept we wanted to showcase and bring to life. Originally, we had planned on making an official website for our product, but we discovered that the python code that we had used to initiate our data transfer could not be written in javascript, therefore halting our website-making plans. As mentioned previously, we opted for a simple pyQT GUI interface instead.

## Accomplishments Our biggest accomplishment is coming up with the vision of DataShare. Working as a team, we created a unique concept and idea. We believe that the potential in this program is limitless and that it could really open up the world of new opportunities for students and individuals all across the globe. Additionally, we are also really proud of the things we learned and applied such as python, graphic design knowledge, pyQT and GUI’s through the process of bringing our idea to life.

What we learned

Through this process we learned how to create GUI’s using pyQT, as well as apply our knowledge in graphic design, research and python. We conducted market research about our target audience and the people who would benefit the most from our product. Through this process we were able to learn more about servers in general as well as client and user interactions.

What's next for DataShare

We believe that there is still room for improvement. Firstly, we were only able to make a GUI interface rather than a fully fledged website due to aforementioned issues, therefore we want to look into seamlessly implementing our idea in a website format. Moreover, we would also like to investigate the app and cross-platform potential of our idea, which was something that we were interested in but lacked knowledge in. Once these ideas and issues have been thoroughly evaluated, we would like to release our program and share this idea to the rest of the world.

Datashare. Bringing accessible computation to all.