Unilever Centre for Molecular Science Informatics, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK.
J Cheminform. 2011 Oct 14;3:45. doi: 10.1186/1758-2946-3-45.
The Ami project was a six month Rapid Innovation project sponsored by JISC to explore the Virtual Research Environment space. The project brainstormed with chemists and decided to investigate ways to facilitate monitoring and collection of experimental data.A frequently encountered use-case was identified of how the chemist reaches the end of an experiment, but finds an unexpected result. The ability to replay events can significantly help make sense of how things progressed. The project therefore concentrated on collecting a variety of dimensions of ancillary data - data that would not normally be collected due to practicality constraints. There were three main areas of investigation: 1) Development of a monitoring tool using infrared and ultrasonic sensors; 2) Time-lapse motion video capture (for example, videoing 5 seconds in every 60); and 3) Activity-driven video monitoring of the fume cupboard environs.The Ami client application was developed to control these separate logging functions. The application builds up a timeline of the events in the experiment and around the fume cupboard. The videos and data logs can then be reviewed after the experiment in order to help the chemist determine the exact timings and conditions used.The project experimented with ways in which a Microsoft Kinect could be used in a laboratory setting. Investigations suggest that it would not be an ideal device for controlling a mouse, but it shows promise for usages such as manipulating virtual molecules.
Ami 项目是由 JISC 赞助的为期六个月的快速创新项目，旨在探索虚拟研究环境领域。该项目与化学家们一起集思广益，决定探索促进监测和收集实验数据的方法。他们发现了一个常见的用例，即化学家在实验结束时遇到了意外结果。重播事件的能力可以极大地帮助理解事情的进展。因此，该项目专注于收集各种辅助数据维度——由于实际限制通常不会收集这些数据。主要有三个调查领域：1）使用红外和超声波传感器开发监控工具；2）延时运动视频捕获（例如，每隔 60 秒拍摄 5 秒视频）；3）活动驱动的通风橱环境视频监控。Ami 客户端应用程序被开发用于控制这些单独的日志记录功能。该应用程序构建了实验中和通风橱周围事件的时间线。然后可以在实验后查看视频和数据日志，以帮助化学家确定使用的确切时间和条件。该项目还尝试了在实验室环境中使用 Microsoft Kinect 的方法。调查表明，它不是控制鼠标的理想设备，但它在操纵虚拟分子等方面具有很大的潜力。
