how to install node modules for node app on public web server?

Question

I am creating a webapp which will be used by the users around the globe. In order to use the app, they have to go to the give url and use the hardware called Neurosky Mindwave. This hardware will capture their EEG signals and send it to the webapp so that users can see their brain activity in the webapp.

I have successfully created the app using this node module and I was able to run the app locally but now I need to move this app to my hosting hosting gator server and I don't know how to do that.

On my local machine this node-module is able to capture the data from the TGC [think gear connector] which actually ports the incoming data from EEG headset [Neurosky Mindwave] to the app using local ws//127.0.0.1. Now I am not able to understand how to move this app to my hosting website. Can I do that? or hosting gator doesn't support or allow node modules to be installed?

What I believe is that the most important part is node-neurosky-module which my app requires in order to connect with the external hardware. I think I probably don't need nodejs server in order to use this module instead I can use something else but I might be wrong as I am less experience with this kind of technology.

In simple terms -

EEG Headset [Neurosky Mindwave]---signals---> TGC [thinkgear connector] ---> Node-Neurosky-Module [running on nodejs server ws//127.0.0.1] ----> Web app

This is my app directory structure NeuroskyWebApp --

• css
  • bootstrap.min.css
• js
  • bootstrap.min.js
  • custom.js
  • jquery.1.2.1.min.js
• node
  • app.js
• node-modules
  • node-neurosky --> some more files ...
  • options --> some more files ...
  • ultron --> some more files ...
  • ws --> some more files ...
• index.html

Answer 1

node.js and the package that you mentioned node-neurosky-module run on the server, not the browser. So there is no way for your users to run the application by just visiting a url, they need to run the same node server application that you have now on their machines to capture EEG device input.

Fortunately, there are frameworks that you can use to package your whole application (node server and html pages) in a standalone desktop app that works on all operating systems. You can google "javascript desktop". The most popular of these frameworks is electron which I recommend for your case. You can easily find tutorials on youtube to get started with it.