Unit 4 The Capstone Project

What is a Capstone Project?

A capstone project is a project where students must research a topic,

deeply understand the subject matter and integrate all their knowledge
gathered about a particular subject to develop a solution to a problem.

The AI Capstone project gives us an opportunity to implement the AI skills

as a final step in the learning path to showcase our expertise in the
subject matter.

While doing a Capstone project, we will learn more about problems

which we can solve to improve lives and make the world a better place.
Also, we learn many important skills including:

• how to work as a team member?

• how to clearly identify an issue? and how it is affecting (the user)?
• how to brainstorm solutions and select the best one?
• how to decide which type of AI may be useful for the proposed
solution?
• how to ethically gather and use data to train a computer to help solve
the issue?
• how to test the prototype with users and use their feedback to
improve the solution?
• how to pitch their solution to people who will be able to help them
take action?

Some Examples for Capstone Project are given below:

1. Stock Prices Predictor
2. Develop A Sentiment Analyzer
3. Movie Ticket Price Predictor
4. Students Results Predictor
5. Human Activity Recognition using Smartphone Data set
6. Classifying humans and animals in a photo
Understanding the problem:

Before Starting a Project, we should analyze whether a problem has a

pattern associated with it. If there is no pattern, then the problem
cannot be solved with AI technology. There are various AI techniques
which can be applied to check for patterns and solve the problems.

We can identify the pattern with the help of following questions:

1) Which category? (Classification)
2) How much or how many? (Regression)
3) Which group? (Clustering)
4) Is this unusual? (Anomaly Detection)
5) Which option should be taken? (Recommendation)

Now, once these questions are answered, we can decide that the
problem can be solved using AI.

Complex problems cannot be dealt with as such. Then we try to

simplify the complex problem to analyze it. This is known as Problem
Decomposition.

Problem decomposition steps

1. Understand the problem and then restate the problem in your own
words
2. Break the problem down into a few large pieces.
3. Break complicated pieces down into smaller pieces.
4. Code one small piece at a time.

Critical and Creative Thinking

Complex problems can be easily solved using critical and creative
thinking which has a systematic approach to address any problem
which has to be solved. This approach is known as Design Thinking.

Design Thinking
Design Thinking is a process to solve problems creatively. It solves
problems by putting consumers need first. So, design thinking is
“people-oriented”, which means that it uses evidence of how
consumers (people) interact with a product or service, rather than how
organisations think they will handle it. This process consists of five
stages:

Empathise:
In the first stage, designers observe consumers to gain a deeper
understanding of how they interect with or are affected by the product
or problem. Observation must be made with empathy, that is without
making any judgement or conveying any preconceived notions about
consumer need. By understanding the person affected by a problem,
you can find a more impactful solution. Empathy observation is
powerful because it can uncover issues the consumer did not even
know they had.

Empathy Map:
Empathy Map is a collaborative visualisation used to clarify our
understanding of a specific type of user. It helps to create a common
understanding of user needs, in decision making and deep
understanding and gain insight into user behavior.
The traditional Empathy Map is divided into four quadrants (Says,
Thinks, Does and Feels) with the user or person in the middle.
• The Says quadrant contains what the user says aloud in an interview.
• The Thinks quadrant contains what the user is thinking about his/her
experience.
• The Does quadrant depicts the actions of the user.
• The Feels quadrant denotes the user’s emotional state.

SAYING THINKING
I have few questions. How time-consuming will it be.
I need to know. I must get an answer to my
I am in the process of selecting a queries quickly.
good school for my ward. Will I be able to get seat?
How to get information about Will the school reception be
admission process. open to answer my queries?

MS.
Neena

DOING FEELS
Applying through email for I am confused.
ward’s admission. I don’t understand.
Calling and checking at the I am not getting enough
school admission desk. information.
I am feeling frustrated.

Define
In the Define stage, information collected during Empathize is used to
draw insights and is instrumental in stating the problem that needs to
be solved. It's an opportunity for the design thinker to define the
 challenge or to write the problem statement in a human-centered
manner with a focus on the unmet needs of the users.

In order to extract / gather relevant facts and information from

users/customers, it is recommended to use this simple and reliable
method of questioning: the 5W1H method–i.e. asking questions
starting with Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?
For Example,
For the traffic issue in a city, we could define the problem in detail after
getting the answers of 5W1H questions. Sample questions of the
problem is given below

Ideate
Idea generation is a creative process where designers generates ideas in
meetings. This is a 3rd stage of design thinking process. Participants
assemble with an open mind and put forward as many ideas as possible
to solve problems in a convenient and judgement free environment.

Ideation will help you:

 • Ask the right question and innovate, focus on the user, their needs
and your understanding on them.
• Combine the views and strength of team members.
• Get rid of the obvious solutions in your mind and let the team
surpass them.

Ideation Techniques

Brainstorm
During a Brainstorming session, students leverage the synergy of the
group to generate new innovative ideas by building on others’ ideas.
Participants should be able to discuss their ideas freely without fear of
criticism. A large number of ideas are collected so that different options
are available for solving the challenge.
Brain dump
Brain dump is very similar to Brainstorm; however, it’s done individually.
It allows the concerned person to open the mind and let the thoughts
be released and captured onto a piece of paper. The participants write
down their ideas onto paper or post-it notes and share their ideas later
with the larger group.

Brainwriting
Brainwriting is also very similar to brainstorming session and is called
individual brainstorming. In this case, only the most confident team
members share their thoughts, while introvert keep their thoughts
private. Brainwriting gives introvert time to write them down, instead of
sharing their thoughts, aloud the team. Participants, write their
thoughts on paper, a few minutes later they give their notes to another
participants and then the second team member jots down his ideas or
adds on to the previous member’s idea. Ads on the previous campaign,
ideas and so on.

Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs. To achieve a sustainable future, 17 goals have been
announced by the United Nations which are termed as the Sustainable
Development Goals.

1. No Poverty
i. Creation of Strong social protection systems to prevent people from
falling into poverty
ii. Reduction of social exclusion, and high vulnerability of certain
populations to disasters and diseases.
iii. Responsible distribution of resources.

2. Zero Hunger
Worldwide, more than 800 million people are undernourished and over
90 million children are dangerously malnourished. Food insecurity has
increased in African country and a lot needs to be done to manage it.
The SDGs aim to end all forms of hunger and malnutrition by 2030.
Making sure all people, especially children, have sufficient and
nutritious food all year.

3. Good Health and Well Being

For any country to to develop and prosper, we need healthy citizens. the
United Nations has underlined its importance by making its goal. That
SDG aims to provide good nutrition and medical facilities for people to
overcome various communicable and non communicable diseases.
Health and good nutrition are aim of the this SDG which cannot be
achieved without alleviating poverty.

4. Quality Education: Education is the most important factors for

sustainable development. Children who have gone to school will be
able to do jobs so that they can take care of themselves and their
families

5. Gender Equality
United Nation encircled gender equality as its goal, and there has been
remarkable progress in past 20 years. With the initiative of authority and
the support of societal factors, more girls are enrolling in the school and
higher education. There are more girls at different workplaces. Despite
the change, the discrimination against women in certain areas is very
high and they are still paid less in certain professions. They are
systematically denied equal work or equal advantage. During times of
natural disaster, migration and war, women and children are still the
most affected. This shows that, much more work needs to be done in
this direction to improve the quality of life for each gender.

6. Clean Water and Sanitation: We must take measurable steps by

promoting awareness to keep water sources clean such as stop open
defecation. Stop water pollution,etc.

7. Affordable and Clean Energy: We are making efforts to increase the

solar power generation so that our electricity needs are met and at the
same time we do not pollute the environment or use up natural
resources. Use of biogas is also an eco-friendly alternative to natural
gas.

8. Decent Work and Economic Growth :We can

(a) study and find good jobs to take care of ourselves and our families.
(b) work hard and contribute to society.
(c) learn and develop skills so that we get add value in our community.
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Innovation promotes efficient energy usage. Scientific research will
drive sustainable development by introducing a new industries that
align with environmental needs. Sustainable industrialisation is crucial
as it increases the industrial share of employment for the youth with a
progressive approach for the nation. SDG is focused on implementing
cleaner infrastructure and technologies, with all countries
collaborating based on their capabilities.

10. Reduced Inequalities: To reduce inequalities we can

1. be helpful and friendly to one another.
2. help others by including everyone whether they are small or big, girl
or boy, belong to any class or caste.

11. Sustainable Cities and Communities

Our society is moving towards urbanisation, so we need to plan
sustainable cities for the future that are full of urban spaces. Cities are
becoming megacities with population booms in developing countries.
We see slum and poor neighborhoods within the vicinity of these high
and well developed urban spaces.
In order to make city sustainable, we have to work towards building
cities that are greener, have open public spaces for leisure activities
and cleaner transport. The city should have more career options,
affordable housing and resilient structure that bring prosperity in an
inclusive manner for all incomes and societal groups. It should have
structure that may avoid critical loss to human life and property and are
able to mitigate any emergency situation.

12.Responsible Consumers and Producers: We can become

responsible about our own environment by
1. reusing paper, glass, plastic, water, etc.
2. taking cloth bags to market carrying fruits and vegetables.
3. donate things we do not use such as clothes, books, furniture, food,
etc.
4. Buy and eat seasonal fruits and vegetables from local growers.
5. Repair leaking taps and pipes to avoid wasting water.
6. Sort and treat garbage before disposing.
13. Climate Action
Pollution and unrestrained burning of fossil fuels are the major factors
causing climate change worldwide. Increasing greenhouse gas
emissions are raising the Earth's temperature everyday. Rising
temperatures and climate change result in numerous natural disasters
that lead to billions of dollars in losses worldwide. Therefore, this goal
aims to mobilise international and national resources to mitigate
environmental damages and work towards its possible recovery. The
SDG will require political, economic and human resource to bring about
the much needed change for the world.

14. Life below water

Oceans are very important to the mankind as they make the planet
habitable for humans and other forms of life. It is a vital resource that
provides numerous other resources. We have to manage this resource
in order to maintain the supplies of all other resources. This SDG aims
to bring sustainable yield back to the ocean and prevents its over
exploitation as well as address the impact of ocean acidification.
Oceans are absorbers of carbon dioxide as well, so we must work upon
their saving as they control green house gas. So, protecting ocean is
directly or indirectly protecting us.

15. Life on Land : Cutting of trees is leading to soil erosion and making
land dry and unusable for cultivation. Planting more tree to replace the
ones that we have cut is an important step towards sustainable
development.

16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

We cannot hope for sustainable development without peace, stability,
human rights and effective governance based on the rule of law. We
want peace and justice for humanity and are looking for strong
institutions to achieve this.
This SDG aims to reduce injustice and violence and promote a world
governed by laws and order, resulting in institutions that govern people
uniformly and in the most productive manner.
17. Partnerships for the Goals
Realisation of all SDGs is only possible when all countries collaborate
and put their efforts to bring about the changes we desire for a
sustainable, peaceful, progressive and livable world. Since the world is
more interconnected than ever, it is now mandatory to join hands with
other countries and work towards our common goals. So let's join
hands from East to West and north to South to make a world a fair and
peaceful place to live.