Last updated: April 8, 2016

Audacious Software is hard at work developing Passive Data Kit, an open source framework for creating passive data and sensor-driven applications across mobile and desktop platforms.

Client Framework

The Passive Data Kit framework is intended to assist app and application developers creating sensor and data-driven applications on mobile, desktop, and web browsers.

(* Available Summer 2016)

Client Framework Features:

Library of data generators including sensors, online services, and devices.

Suitable for light event logging or heavy data capture.

Store-and-forward data transmitters for offline data collection. Multiple destinations and formats.

Support for rich media and other binary payloads.

Reusable user interface components for creating data-driven apps: data views, configuration screens, etc.

Built-in runtime data and operational checks with user-correctable actions.

Support for communicating with device ensembles.*

Triggers for automatically responding to particular data states.*

All of the above may be used as-is, customized, or replaced by app developers.

Server Component

Passive Data Kit supports a variety of data transmission options, and the framework will launch with a server component that can be easily deployed to collect data from Passive Data Kit clients.

Server Component Features:

Out-of-the-box support for remote PDK clients.

Out-of-the-box support exporting data in tabular formats for client data generators.

A user-friendly dashboard for reviewing collected data.

Support for automatic data checks and notifications for data quality.

Pre-built virtual machine server images for easy deployment in cloud and local virtualization environments.

The server component is a Django application that may be installed alongside other apps and content in a new or existing Django 1.9+ site.

Current Availability & Source Code

You're welcome to track the development of the framework and server by following our progress on GitHub:

https://github.com/audaciouscode/PassiveDataKit-Android

https://github.com/audaciouscode/PassiveDataKit-Django

https://github.com/audaciouscode/PassiveDataKit-iOS

Passive Data Kit is made available under the Apache 2.0 License, making it suitable for open-source, research, and commercial projects.

Timeline

Passive Data Kit is still under active development and documentation describing how to deploy the framework and server will become available to the general public in the summer of 2016 with the official release of its various components.

The current timeline for development and release:

March 2016: Establish initial architecture and infrastructure and deploy initial server and data generators for data collection.

April 2016: Complete initial versions for Android and iOS for use in internal Audacious Software mobile projects.

May 2016: Prepare Passive Data Kit iOS and Android versions for public release, including sample code, getting started guides, and other documentation.

June 2016: Public release of server, iOS, and Android components.

July 2016: Public release of Mac and Windows components (adapted from existing Pennyworth and Jarvis projects).

August 2016: Public release of Cordova components. Client frameworks include support for device ensembles that share data with each other securely.

Stay Updated

If you would like to stay updated about Passive Data Kit developments and releases, please consider joining our low-volume announcements e-mail list: