Share My Creation Decursus - An app-tistic installation about life

Decursus - from Latin "downward course", provides a visual, interactive representation of your lifespan.

If art has no practical purpose except causing people think, this app can be categorized as such.

Choose your country, sex and birthdate.

According to the life expectancy for your profile, a life map will be drawn.

Each black square represents a day in your life.

Black squares are past days.

White square are future days.

Zoom and pan to have a bird's-eye view of your life.

Every day you've lived is on this map.

Your first day of school? It's a black square.

That unforgettable holiday? It's another black square.


How many white squares remain?

Tomorrow they will be one less.

Do not procrastinate: act.

Now!​





Decursus is available for Android (and maybe iOS) and is a showcase for the following components:
  • B4XPages - the whole framework
  • HugeImageView - to display the whole map
  • XUI View - all the widgets
  • XUI Dialogs - DateTime dialog
  • Localizator - English and Italian languages are available

The development took a few days:
I started with a B4J version, which won't be released, but served as a platform agnostic testbed of the whole concept, allowing for faster compile/test/debug cycle.
After the B4J version was working, a couple of days were required for a B4A port.
The following B4i port took just 1 day.
The iOS version is currently under review by Apple (since nearly a week), while the Android version was approved in a couple of days.

Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hybridassistant.life
 

William Lancee

Well-Known Member
Licensed User
Longtime User
It definitely made me think! At 76 (out of average life expectancy of 80 (Canadian male), 95% of my 29,220 squares are black

It appears I am at the dorsal end of decursus.
 

Alessandro71

Well-Known Member
Licensed User
Longtime User
It definitely made me think! At 76 (out of average life expectancy of 80 (Canadian male), 95% of my 29,220 squares are black

It appears I am at the dorsal end of decursus.
I enjoy this feedback, given the fact that I'm struggling to get the app approved on the Apple Store, since the reviewer says "... the usefulness of your app is limited by the minimal amount of content or features it includes."
 

Alessandro71

Well-Known Member
Licensed User
Longtime User
I encountered such case in the past and was able to get it approved by adding a few more features.
I find it difficult in this case since the minimalistic style of the app is part of the concept itself.
Maybe a "book your forecasted death date on your friends calendar" button would do?
 

William Lancee

Well-Known Member
Licensed User
Longtime User
As Mark Twain said, 'The report of my death was an exaggeration'
When making the day of your demise public make sure you have the facts straight.

One day, Gordon Lightfoot, the Canadian folk singer, was driving up Yonge Street in Toronto.
He was listening to his own performance of 'If You Could Read My Mind' on the car radio.
Gordon was humming along with himself, arm out the window, nice summer day.

When the song ended, the DJ said he was sad to announce Gordon Lightfoot had died.
Nobody was more surprised…than Gordon Lightfoot. So he pulled over and called the radio station to tell them he was still very much alive.

The next day a newspaper in Sault Ste. Marie ran the hilarious headline: "Gordon Lightfoot no longer dead."
At the time he was 79 years young.

Song

[I know, off topic - thanks again to @emexes for setting me straight - I guess the course in actuarial science when I was 18 must have faded]

Back to the main thread. One possible way to enrich the experience of the app is by adding an (optional) examination of milestones in your life.
What was the happiest moment? What made you happy? Were there other occasions like this?
What was the saddest moment? What made it particularly sad? Were there other occasions like this?
What are your hopes and aspirations? When do you hope to achieve these?

You could add a feature, where picking a date could change the color of the black or white squares.

Like I said, this would be optional - I personally would opt for the beauty of black and white.
 
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Alessandro71

Well-Known Member
Licensed User
Longtime User
This is a good idea: I will test user response on the Android version, that was promptly published by Google without questioning the purpose with the author.
 
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