Navigating 100,000 square feet of casino floor spread out over 2 levels is challenging for both patrons and staff of the MotorCity Casino. Students on the MotorCity Casino team will utilize data from a large and dense network of Bluetooth beacons on the casino floor to create a native Android mobile app.
Students on this team must be a minimum of 21 years old to be legally allowed in the casino facility. There will be a number of trips required to understand the users’ environment on the casino floor and the hardware network. You must turn 21 years of age on/before January 5, 2022 in order to be a member of this team.
Abstract:
Casinos and gambling houses have been around since at least the 17th century, but today’s casinos are constantly evolving in their use of modern technology to improve the customer experience. The MotorCity Casino is Detroit’s only locally owned and operated casino, and has a cutting edge vertically integrated information technology department. Customer service and targeted marketing is an increasingly important part of the casino experience, and MotorCity Casino is invested in providing high quality individualized experiences for its guests.
One of the challenges of the casino floor is navigating and providing personalized service across the 100,000 square feet spread over 2 floors; this area is slightly larger than 2 American football fields. The space can create challenges both for customers who want to quickly navigate to a specific game or service and employees trying to locate customers to deliver food/drinks quickly. The app will utilize Bluetooth beacon data to provide web based content that will provide user friendly navigation to customers and staff as well as an efficient maintenance protocol to address periodic casino floor redesign (which causes beacons to be moved).
Impact:
A successful project will deliver an increased level of customer satisfaction and a highly positive differentiation from other casinos.
Full Project Details
Hardware / Beacon Technology (2 Students)
Specific Skills: Familiarity with the theory of Bluetooth beacon technology. Prior experience with beacons is a plus. General programming skills.
Likely Majors: CE, EE, CS
Back End Programming (1-2 students)
Specific Skills: General programming skills and basic database design. Application development. Algorithm implementation. Prior experience with SQL Server a plus. Must have completed EECS 281 or equivalent.
Likely Majors: CS, EE, CE, DATA, Any
Front End Programming (1-2 students)
Specific Skills: General Programming skills. Best practice in Mobile App development, and User Interface design. Prior experience with HTML5, Javascript, and css for web content, and Java for native app development in the Android environment a plus. Must have completed EECS 281 or equivalent.
Likely Majors: CS, Any completed EECS 281
UI/UX (1 students)
Specific Skills: UI/UX Design, usability studies. Interest in UX, Human factor design, visual perception, and/or graphic design are a plus. You must have some general programming skills and, working with the front end team, will be expected to learn to implement UI/UX design in this tech stack.
Likely Majors: SI, ARTDES, CS
Sponsor Mentor
Brian Pasmanter
Director of Application Development
Brian has been with MotorCity Casino Hotel since 2006 and is a life-long Michigan native. He currently leads a team of developers that create software solutions to tackle the ever changing business needs of the competitive gaming industry. Brian and his team have designed and developed several key systems used by both guests and employees, including Mobile Apps, Guest Kiosks, Company Intranet, Hotel Booking Engine and Data Analytics Tools. Outside of work, he enjoys woodworking and brewing beer.
Faculty Mentor
Jeff Ringenberg
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Research Interests: Mobile learning software development, tactile programming, methods for bringing technology into the classroom, and studying the effects of social networking and collaboration on learning.
Course Substitutions: Honors, ChE Elective, CS MDE/Capstone, CE MDE, EE MDE, IOE Grad Cognate, SI Elective, SI Grad Cognate
Citizenship Requirements: This project is open to all students.
IP/NDA: Students will sign IP/NDA document(s) that are unique to the MotorCity Casino.
In Person/Remote Participation Options:
Work will take place on campus in Ann Arbor with periodic visits to the MotorCity Casino in Detroit, MI to observe casino floor logistics, map technology assets, hold sponsor meetings, leverage technology resources, and give presentations, as safety protocols allow. (MDP will provide transportation.)
Students on this team must be a minimum of 21 years old as of January 5th, 2022 in order to be able to visit the casino floor to understand the logistics of the project.
On-Campus Participation:
Students on this team must be able/willing to be physically present on campus in Ann Arbor and able/willing to visit the sponsor’s location in Detroit as local safety protocols allow.
Internship/Summer Project Activities: No summer activity will take place on the project.