This digital prototyping cart represents a number of tools students can prototype and create with across emerging tech mediums.

The Index

AI and Machine Learning

• I love Algorithms card deck: This card deck explains six common machine learning algorithms: Classification, Clustering, Reinforcement Learning, Dimensionality Reduction, Regression.
  • Level: This tool is for beginners.
  • Tools: Paper, post-it’s, pen.
  • Output: Low resolution prototypes that incorporate machine learning
  • Time: Varies. A quick exercise can last 5 mins, but more discussions can last hours!
• Teachable Machine: A fast, easy way to create machine learning models for your sites, apps, and more – no expertise or coding required.
  • Level: This tool is for beginners.
  • Tools: Computer, Internet and a browser
  • Output: A model that can classify different objects, poses or sounds
  • Time: An initial basic model can be loaded and trained with 15 mins, but cleaning your data and tuning your model can take more than an hour.
• Create ML: Create ML takes the complexity out of model training while producing powerful Core ML models.
  • Level: This tool is appropriate for novices in machine learning but some technical programming (ideally Swift) experience is recommended.
  • Tools: Mac with Xcode installed
  • Output: A model that can classify different images, videos, sounds, motion, text or tabular data
  • Time: An initial basic model with a small dataset can be loaded and trained with 15 mins, but lareger data sets, cleaning your data and tuning your settings can take significantly longer.
  • Misc: Training the model does not require coding, but requires selecting technical settings to run.
• Runway ML: This platform allows users to transform video, image, audio or tex content using AI, or train custom models.
  • Level: This tool is appropriate for novices in machine learning but some technical programming (ideally Swift) experience is recommended.
  • Tools: Computer, Internet and a browser
  • Output: AI generated or edited content, AI models
  • Time: Content can be generated immediately.
  • Misc: The free account has limited credits for AI generation and does not have access to AI model training.
• Generative AI Art Tools: There are quite a few of these!
  • Level: Many generative AI art tools are suitable for beginners and may have more settings and configurations for more advanced users.
  • Tools: Computer, Internet and a browser
  • Output: AI generated images
  • Time: An image can be generated immediately.
  • Misc: Some tools have costs and/or limited credits available to generate images.
  • Examples include:
    • NightCafe: It’s known for having more algorithms and options than other generators, but it’s also extremely easy for novice users to get the hang of.
    • Dall-E 2: According to OpenAI, the tool can be used to create illustrations, design products, and generate new ideas for business.
    • Deep Dream Generator: Deep Dream relies on a neural network that was trained with millions of images. It is easy-to-use, only requiring you to upload an image before the tool generates a new image based on the original.
    • Artbreeder: The tool enables you to produce different variations of an image through the use of machine learning.
    • Aiva: Whether you are an independent game developer, a complete novice in music, or a seasoned professional composer, AIVA assists you in your creative process.
    • Stablecog: Stablecog uses Stable Diffusion, was made with SvelteKit, and uses Supabase  for recording of metadata and for managing the default cog cluster.
    • AI Dungeon: a free-to-play single-player and multiplayer text adventure game which uses artificial intelligence to generate content. It allows players to create and share their own custom adventure settings.
    • DeepAI: Some of the other tools offered by DeepAI include StyleGAN and BigGAN, which can also create realistic images. The CartoonGAN tool enables you to turn the images into cartoons.
    • StarryAI: StarryAI is an AI art generator that allows you to turn the art into NFTs. It doesn’t require any input from the user. It can process images with a machine learning algorithm. One of the best parts about StarryAI is that it gives you full ownership of the created images to be used personally or commercially. It acts as a free NFT generator, which is its main selling point.
    • Fotor: It is also one of the most user-friendly tools for creating NFT art.
    • Wombo Dream: It is considered by many to be the best all-around NFT creator app.
    • Adobe Firefly: An AI image generator trained on Adobe stock and open source images

Accessible Datasets

• Kaggle: An online data science and machine learning community with resources and datasets to solve dataset challenges
  • Level: Familiarity with csv and/or spreadsheet files is needed to understand the dataset formats. If you plan to use the Kaggle notebooks, familiarity with Python (and libraries like Pandas, PyTorch, Tensorflow) would also be needed.
  • Tools: Computer, Internet and a browser
  • Output: You may find and download data sets for your own use easily. Kaggle users can also code data analysis and machine learning models using Python code.
  • Time: Varies depending on size of dataset and complexity of model
• Tableau: a visual analytics platform promoting data driven choices
  • Level: No coding or technical skills are required. Familiarity with data types in spreadsheet structures is recommended.
  • Tools: Computer, Internet and a browser. A desktop version is also available.
  • Output: Data visualizations
  • Time: A couple hours to familiarize with the basic Tableau work process. More time would be needed for more advanced usage.
  • Misc: Students are eligible for a one year free license.

Bots

• Landbot: Landbot is a fun, intuitive and powerful platform that empowers you to create any chatbot leveraging AI and deploy it anywhere.
  • Level: This tool is for beginners
  • Tools: Computer, Internet and a browser
  • Output: An interactive chatbot for various platforms.
  • Time: A basic chatbot, especially if you use built-in templates, can take under an hour to build.
• WotNot: Build and create powerful chatbots with no code. Engage visitors and enhance customer experience in real-time, across multiple channels using our no-code bot builder.
  • Level: This tool is for beginners
  • Tools: Computer, Internet and a browser
  • Output: An interactive chatbot for various platforms.
  • Time: A basic chatbot, especially if you use built-in templates, can take under an hour to build.

The Metaverse

• Unity: Build real-time 3D projects for various industries across games, animation, automotive, architecture, and more
  • Level: Advanced. Requires a combination of 3D design and programming in C#.
  • Tools: You will need to download Unity to your computer.
  • Output: A wide variety of 3D projects are possible, including computer, phone and VR animations and games.
  • Time: A finished rendered project should take at least a couple of hours to build.
• A-Frame is a web framework for building virtual reality (VR) experiences. A-Frame is based on top of HTML, making it simple to get started. But A-Frame is not just a 3D scene graph or a markup language; the core is a powerful entity-component framework that provides a declarative, extensible, and composable structure to three.js.
  • Level: Moderate. Requires basic HTML and javascript for interactions.
  • Tools: You can need an online code editor on a browser, or set up a local server on your own computer. A VR headset is ideal to preview your projects.
  • Output: A wide variety of VR animations and games.
  • Time: A finished project may take a couple of hours to build.
• Blender is the free and open source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing and game creation.
  • Level: Moderate to Advanced. Familiarity with 3D design recommeded.
  • Tools: You will need to download Blender to your computer.
  • Output: 3D projects that can be exported as assets to use in other programs, or animated for direct output.
  • Time: A finished rendered project could take a few of hours to build.
• Modelviewer is an open source web component display 3D content on the web easily with a few lines of HTML code.
  • Level: Beginner, with some HTML knowledge recommended
  • Tools: Computer, Internet and a browser
  • Output: A 3D element that can be put on a website
  • Time: With a prepared 3D model, the web component can be ready within minutes.

Blockchain/web3/NFTs