Bits and Bytes: How audio and imaging quality will impact MobileMed

Hi, back again after our first exam of the year in IST195 and blogging about bits and bytes-- that is, how audio and the quality of said audio will work within the application MobileMed. Considering one of the biggest upsides to this application would be the quick and easy communication with your physician, recorded messages will be available to each user and doctor. Within this application, doctors will be able to leave recorded messages (just like you would get on your mobile phone) that will be archived within your account. Obviously quality of these messages is of utmost importance so what I'm going to focus in on are mp3 and wav files.

Now, it's known throughout the digital audio world that WAV files are of superior quality, but that the internet music sensation was born through the mp3 file. What needs to happen in order for MobileMed's recorded voice system to properly work is the willingness of the physicians and patients who use it to convert to WAV files from their personal computer (yes, the plan is to have a website that offers not only what the application brings, but even more). This way, you can record both patient and doctor in the same reliable sound quality whenever and wherever needed. MobileMed wouldn't even need massive caches for these audio files-- it's not like each message will be a five minute long song with multiple instrumental overlays, it's simple audio recording.

Another focus of this application is to provide patients with immediate scan results-- none of this nonsense about having to come in to view your x-rays. It's as easy as it naturally should be-- the physician uploads an image file (typically .jpeg or pdf) and uses our note device to either record his or her comments upon the scan or just write them out and attach to the photo. Each image needs to be at the highest degree for each mobile device, so as of right now that may be the 1080p HD screen on the iPhone 4S. The data capacity needs to over exceed the amount of bytes needed to hold a quality photo to ensure the best product available. These results and feedback would be immediately available to each and every patient, increasing the patient's happiness and overall wellbeing.

Clearly the quality of the audio and the imaging is vital to the application's success, so it's right at the top of the list when physical application design would possibly be put into progress.

-Alex Rajaniemi