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Team
| Team Member | Role | Focus Area |
|---|---|---|
| Francis Wang | Lead Researcher & Architect | Data architecture, system design, CORE protocol, overall direction |
| Barry Wylant | Academic Advisor (DDes) | Research guidance, visual storytelling |
| Larry Smith | Academic Advisor (UWaterloo) | Entrepreneurship, innovation ecosystems, knowledge economics |
| Arwin Tio | Technical Lead | Neo4j/pgvector implementation, graph API, distributed systems |
| James Cheng | Content & Community | Storyline discovery, anthology curation, community engagement |
| Parth Sharma | Student Contributor | Perspective curation and storytelling |
Three Demo Layers
1. Public Art Display — Wayne Constellation
- Force-directed graph of 5,000+ nodes minimum (students, ventures, concepts, relationships)
- Constellation aesthetic: colours and lights that pulse in and out — visualizing the complexity of the data
- Not an interface — an art installation. The complexity itself is the statement.
- May deploy a local snapshot version for speed at physical installations; live version for online access
- Web-based installation accessible via QR codes at partner locations
2. Interactive Kiosk
- Human-navigable interface into the constellation
- Zoom, filter, explore relationships at interactable information density
- Wayne’s network highlighted as a subset within the greater knowledge mesh
- Temporal navigation across cohort years
- Tabbed views: Cohorts, Ventures, Concept Cloud, Milestones
3. Anthologies & Storylines
- Curated story collections told from multiple perspectives
- Scrolling narrative format suitable for art installation display
- Student perspectives, faculty perspectives, alumni perspectives
- James discovers interesting storylines within the knowledge mesh
- Parth contributes a student perspective story — demonstrating collection
Community Knowledge Protocol
The core innovation: multiple knowledge meshes curated by different people or entities, composed and made available to this project.
- R.O.M.A. has its own knowledge mesh that it owns as an entity
- Other affiliated practitioners/entities curate their own knowledge meshes
- These external meshes can be composed into and made available to R.O.M.A.
- The community owner or curator of the receiving entity (R.O.M.A.) has approval authority over contributions made from affiliated networks
- This interaction protocol — how meshes compose, how contributions are proposed, reviewed, and accepted — is a key part of this project’s development scope
Key Principles
- Sovereignty: Each mesh owner controls what they share and can withdraw contributions
- Composition: Different meshes can be overlaid without losing individual integrity
- Approval: The receiving community approves what enters their collective view
- Attribution: Every contribution traces back to its source mesh and curator
Milestones
| Date | Milestone | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 13 | DDes Symposium demo: constellation + community concept | Francis |
| Jun 15 | Neo4j + pgvector deployed (Docker, cluster-ready) | Arwin |
| Jun 17 | Graph API operational (CRUD, search, embed, storylines) | Arwin |
| Jun 18 | Community contribution protocol documented | James + Francis |
| Jun 20 | Multi-mesh view: individual meshes vs composed collective | Arwin + Francis |
| Jun 22 | First anthology/storyline curated from Wayne mesh | James |
| Jun 22 | Parth: student perspective story contributed | Parth |
| Jun 25 | Full demo: art display (5000+ nodes) + kiosk + anthology | All |
| Jun 28 | Pitch deck + video script finalized | Francis |
| Jun 30 | R.O.M.A. deployed + video recorded | All |
| Jul 7 | Grand Prize + University Research pitch | All |
Task Assignments
Arwin Tio (Technical Lead)
- Deploy Neo4j + pgvector in Docker by Jun 15
- Build graph API: CRUD atoms, relationships, search, embeddings
- Design data pipeline for 5,000+ node visualization
- Implement multi-mesh composition mechanism (accept/reject contributions)
- Deploy to home cluster (Tailscale SSH)
- Set up local snapshot deployment for physical installations
James Cheng (Content & Community)
- Research Wayne’s intellectual network — identify storylines
- Curate first anthology (3-5 stories from different perspectives)
- Document community contribution protocol (how meshes compose)
- Contribute personal knowledge atoms to demonstrate the collective
- Build interactive anthology/storyline navigation
Parth Sharma (Student Contributor)
- Use the system as designed — explore, discover, navigate
- Write a student perspective story for the anthology
- Contribute knowledge atoms from student experience
- Help tell the story of how a student benefits from and contributes back to the mesh
Francis Wang (Architect & Direction)
- Overall system architecture and CORE protocol design
- Art display visualization (constellation, 5000+ nodes)
- Interactive kiosk design
- Multi-mesh composition protocol specification
- Pitch narrative and presentation delivery
- Coordination across all team members