After a traumatic brain injury affected his episodic memory, Tom Dixon collaborated with Jumpbutton Studios to develop this solution for those living with memory loss. On a secure mobile app, users can store and search for specific memories on demand, and even tag photos with names for easy recognition.

This interactive visualization uses pollutant criteria from the EPA to tell the story of dangerous air pollution in the United States from 1990 through 2015. At once alarming and informative, this collaboration from The Chemical Heritage Foundation and Azavea’s Summer of Maps program helps illustrate the public’s role in air pollution distribution.

The web-based Community Health Explorer app visualizes community health data in Philadelphia, highlighting key public health challenges and the factors that influence them. A joint effort by  the Department of Public Health and Office of Open Data and Digital Transformation, the site’s stats are sorted by neighborhood, ethnographic factors, or data over time.

Founded by Megha Kulshreshtha Food Connect links homeless shelters to restaurants looking to donate their leftover food. The app allows donors to give surplus food to local shelters and community organizations. Recently used by the Democratic National Convention, Food Connect has worked in partnership with most of the major anti-hunger organizations in Philadelphia, including Philabundance, the Mayor’s Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity, the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger, the Philadelphia Food Policy Advisory Council and SHARE Food Program.

A web-based tool implemented by the Philadelphia Water Department to educate its customers and help them explore ways to reduce their stormwater impact. A part of Green City, Clean Waters, Philadelphia’s 25-year plan to transform the health of the City’s creeks and river by reducing pollution impacts and improving natural resources, the app turns any commercial property into an online canvas where customers can sketch out stormwater remediation strategies and access a host of information to help them take important next steps.  

Nine Drexel students converted Goal Ball, a real-life team sport designed specifically for blind athletes, into an electronic game. Specifically designed for the visually impaired, the Goal Ball application provides a replication of the real-world game play with audio and sensory feedback providing a fair, competitive environment and an entertaining experience for the audience

OpenDataPhilly is the source for open data in the Philadelphia region. It is a data portal that provides access to more than 300 data sets, applications, and APIs related to the region. Built by Azavea, a Philadelphia-based geospatial software firm, OpenDataPhilly is based on the idea that providing free and easy access to digital information encourages better and more transparent government and a more engaged and knowledgeable citizenry.

OpenDataPhilly differs from most municipal government open data portals. OpenDataPhilly is supported and maintained by a community that includes the City of Philadelphia, Temple University, Azavea, and other organizations. The relaunch underscores a commitment to open source software, as well, as it is built on the Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network (CKAN).

OpenDataPhilly was primarily a pro bono project by Azavea with additional funding from the William Penn Foundation and the Knight Foundation. It first launched during Philly Tech Week in April 2011, and was relaunched in February 2015.

Kyle Stetz, a developer at P’unk Ave, created a remarkably fun little experiment called typedrummer. The idea? Turn your (typed) words into sick beats.

Simple in practice, typedrummer is remarkably sophisticated in execution. Each letter of the alphabet is mapped to a sample, so anything you type into the box is interpreted as sound and played back at 120BPM. You keep typing, it loops back to the beginning to keep the party going. Stetz even tied in a bonus alternate mode that incorporates samples from local electro-pop artist Moon Bounce.

Typedrummer uses the Web Audio API that came about as a part of modern browsers, and according to Stetz this implementation is just scratching the surface of what’s possible.

Ready to make your masterpiece? Check out www.typedrummer.com.

Kyle Stetz is a developer at P’unk Avenue in Philadelphia. His passions for electronic music and software development converged when he discovered that you can make music in a browser. Outside of P’unk Ave he contributes interactive web projects to record label Grind Select and writes open source software to share with the development community

The local Nerd-Rock group Close to Good is known for their ambitious, geeky projects. They recorded the entire Mega Man III soundtrack, and released it for free on their website in 2013. This year, they surprised their fans by releasing a Dance Dance Revolution themed remix of their original song: Lunar Sellout with an interactive web experience programmed by drummer Kevin Ragone.

What makes this an awe inspiring web project? While streaming the song on their official website, you can play DDR along with the track. Try out the experience here, log your high score and max combo, and then download the track. While a seemingly simple web game, the technology behind pushing something like this live is incredibly impressing, and the result is a totally fun, innovative way to promote a new single.

Hosted on The Hacktory’s website, Hacking The Gender Gap serves as a powerful, interactive embodiment of Philly’s gender-friendly tech atmosphere from its start to where it is today. Started at the Women in Tech Summit in April 2012 and the main project for the first LadyHacks hackathon, it’s a wonderful way to showcase Philly’s reputation as one of the most diverse, friendly geek/tech communities in the country.