Hello Moriel,
On 04/26/2013 11:26 AM, Moriel Schottlender wrote:
Hi guys,
I've had an idea for a GSOC project that doesn't appear in the project list. It's something I've been considering for a while, but before I write a full proper proposal with timelines and technical outlines, I want to see if this isn't just a random idea I am alone in wanting to see happen :)
Your idea is interesting, but the very short term problem I see with it is the availability of qualified mentors. There is also the point of assessing how relevant and wanted would this feature be for MediaWiki and Wikimedia projects.
I would wait until the end of Monday to see the feedback you get, and whether any volunteer mentors show interest. If so, you will have time enough to present a proposal with the est of your knowledge. If not you still have some margin for a more conservative plan B e.g. choosing one of the featured project ideas at
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Summer_of_Code_2013
Good luck! And thank you for your interest in working on a Wikimedia project.
In general, my idea is to produce a physics-related image rendering engine, similar to LaTeX only for physics visual demonstrations. So, while LaTeX takes text-based 'code' and renders it into an image of the equation, my idea would take text-based 'code' and render it into a visual representation of the equation.
The easiest idea to demonstrate is something like 'projectile motion' that would produce a simple graph of the motion -- but this can also be used to represent rotational movement with vector representations, collisions, or electricity/magnetism images.
It is meant mostly for educators, tutors, schools and physics-related articles but can be used by anyone who wants to produce an image representation of an equation without editing that image in a separate software.
This can become a huge project eventually, if we include advanced physics and many other features, but it can start out as a basic "physics 101" image rendering engine with select subjects, and perhaps grow from there.
In terms of how to do this technically, I was thinking of using either a php imaging techniques (jpg or svg), or even jQuery libraries like RaphaelJS or others. The images are relatively basic (circles / arrows / boxes, etc).
The main challenge would be to produce something that's easy to use and yet robust enough to be useful -- as well as flexible so we can add more equations/subjects to it in the future.
A rough draft of the idea with a brief summary is here: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Mooeypoo/GSOC_2013_Project
Please let me know what you think! Do you think it's feasible? Am I getting myself in too deep? Is it something you would like to see or am I the only one who'd use something like this?
Thank you very much for any feedback!
Moriel (aka mooeypoo)