Mobstuff
Future
Headmap
Ben Russell's Headmap Manifesto (http://www.headmap.org/headmap.pdf) has been an enormous inspiration. The manifesto proposes a set of tactics for applying semantic web ontologies, to the mobile location-aware technology thereby transforming the latter from a means to push location-based content, into the basis for new kind of mobile networked presence. Russel argues that FOAF (friend of a friend) networks, applied to locative, mobile telephony, would allow for the emergence of an economy of exchange based on trust. Comparing urban infrastructure with that of the open-source software development community online, he suggests that there exists an unused abundance in the city, the key to which is trust. Russell envisions a future in which networks of friends could exchange personalized, location-encoded maps to access a network of friend of friends.
a quote from the manifesto:
"With the "geo enabled foaf adhoc mesh internet" in your pocket you should be able to turn a big piece of cheese into a hat no problem broadcast your cheese, your location, and your need for a hat ..maybe money will come into the equation maybe not ..maybe you’ll get a free hat and give away your cheese ..maybe you’ll meet some friends of friends."
"Will we live in a place where there are notes in boxes that are empty , every room has an accessible history , every place has emotional attachments you can open and save, you can search for sadness in new york , people within a mile of each other who have never met stop what they are doing and organise spontaneously to help with some task or other, paths compete to offer themselves to you , life flows into inanimate objects , the trees hum advertising jingles , everything in the world, animate and inanimate, abstract and concrete, has thoughts attached?"
What's next?
Below are some segments on possible ways in which we will have locative media in our lives. Ofcourse there are many more and I hope to get feedback on this.
Bluecasting = Wireless data vending = Bluespamming?
As most mobile phones that are currently sold are equipped with bluetooth, advertising might become be more interactive and localised. Maybe department-stores will provide mobile software that will tell you about the latest discounts when you're in the neigbourhood.
"A company called Hypertag (http://www.hypertag.com/) already sells bluecasting products. Their product allows people to download content directly to their phone handsets and PDAs. By enabling the Infra-Red (IR) port or Bluetooth, the user receives a phone number, reminder prompt, game, logo, picture or ring-tone. The system only comprises an electronic device - the Hypertag - which is installed in a poster panel or dedicated unit. With the Hypertag service there is no access to internet web sites and content is strictly controlled by the Tag owner. No software is required on the mobile device."
Image from the Hypertag website.
This type of advertising has also been dubbed "Bluespamming" because it basically connects to every device that has Bluetooth switch on. And worse by using a large directional Bluetooth transmitter behind a billboard a region of up to 100 metres in front of the advert can be searched for mobile phones.
Read more about the Coldplay "incident":
http://techdirt.com/news/wireless/article/5802
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7883
Ofcourse when more mobile phones will have more accurate positioning Google will probably put more and more emphasis "Local Adsense" using Google Mobile.
MobSharing - the convergence of file sharing and flash-mobs
"Thinking about the functionalities that mobile devices will have in the very near future, peopple will have the ability to come together and form their own ad hoc Personal P2P file-sharing network. It’s the Perfect Storm of two converging phenomena - File sharing and Flash-Mobs (crowds of people spontaneously coming together to perform some arbitrary task arranged by some media-hungry controller) - that together lead to the new concept of MobSharing: crowds of people lurking round WLAN hotspots, becoming part of an extremely local, transient P2P file-sharing network.
From a societal perspective, this has the potential to open up a completely new dimension to the high street shopping experience. Think of the main reasons people engage in file-sharing: it’s not just the almost-unlimited access to the music and other files, it’s the way that access is provided. You have an always-on broadband connection. You type in a search term, and hundreds of files are revealed, but crucially, you can’t access them all immediately. So you select a large set of the files you want, and go to work, or to school, leaving your computer on to download what it can. What you get when you come back from work is a random collection of surprises, all of which are what you’d like. It’s like the music postman, but without the bills: you never know whats going to be delivered, but all of it’s good! The element of surprise, and the constant novelty of the shifting collection of files is what makes file-sharing so appealing. Don’t like what you see today? Then try again tomorrow, hook up to a different set of servers, and see what else can be found with the same search term."
http://mobilementalism.com/2005/09/02/mobsharing-coming-to-a-starbucks-near-you/
What the Mobsharing story underlines is that in the near future we will have an all-covering high bandwidth wireless networking infrastructure. (Maybe when we mobshare it will be at places that are invisibly sign posted)
Reality Mining
With your always-on mobile device being more and more aware of your location and connected to all kinds of (personal) (ubiquitous) services, your life can be tracked with probably more accuracy than you might think (and probably want!).
"MIT has done a project on Reality Mining (http://reality.media.mit.edu/) which defines the collection of machine-sensed environmental data pertaining to human social behavior. This new paradigm of data mining makes possible the modeling of conversation context, proximity sensing, and temporospatial location throughout large communities of individuals. Mobile phones (and similarly innocuous devices) are used for data collection, opening social network analysis to new methods of empirical stochastic modeling.
MIT has captured communication, proximity, location, and activity information from 100 subjects at MIT over the course of the 2004-2005 academic year. This data represents over 350,000 hours (~40 years) of continuous data on human behavior. Such rich data on complex social systems have implications for a variety of fields. The research questions we are addressing include:
* How do social networks evolve over time?
* How entropic (predictable) are most people's lives?
* How does information flow?
* Can the topology of a social network be inferred from only proximity data?
* How can we change a group's interactions to promote better functioning? "
It might be a good time to actually start reading the disclaimer when installing that new piece of software on your mobile!
Common use of RFID
"Human memory is imperfect, so an RFID-enabled smartwatch that keeps track of the easily lost items in your world could be the answer. The intended purpose of the smartwatch is to let a user know when he or she forgets something. If you constantly forget to return important documents to work when you are finished with them, slap an RFID tag on the folder with the docs and never leave home without them again. If you often forget where you left your keys, the control component of the interface can track down the item using its last known location as a starting point. The device could serve as a simple reminder service that can become a useful application for the forgetful -- provided you remember to tag the items." http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,65721,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_6
"Tmsuk and NTT Communications announced that they will introduce a service robot that follows shoppers and help them navigate in a shopping mall and carry heavy bags, etc. in a large shopping mall in Fukuoka, Japan. RFID technology is used to make this robot inexpensive." (http://ubiks.net/local/blog/jmt/archives3/004358.html)
"Edy to Edy is a new service from BitWallet, which will allow users of RFID-enabled Wallet Phones to exchange digital money easily." (http://ubiks.net/local/blog/jmt/archives3/004045.html)
Mobile Cloak
“Just think of Santa. He knows when you are sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good, for goodness' sake. And he knows these things all the time, even though you can't see him.” With computing becoming more ubiquitous and pervasive you might want to appear to be invisible more often, like the "appear offline" toggle in your instant messenger. To provide you this temporary luxury http://www.mobilecloak.com/ has come up with the off switch for always on mobile wireless devices and technologies. "A simple method of making your wireless stuff invisible to any other wireless stuff or signal that would want to communicate with it."
Air tagging
"Virtual graffiti will have a much wider following than the "real thing". There's no vandalism involved, which makes it a possibility for most of us. Moreover, digital tags are just that - digital. They can be created digitally using an array of tools. This also allows wider access. Most of us don't have sufficient dexterity with spray cans. Air tagging is a more private affair than physical tagging. With actual tags, the public gets to see them whether they want to or not. However, this is often an almost irrelevant side effect, as the public aren't supposed to be a part of the conversation. They're outside the culture. It helps to think of tagging as just another means of communication. Imagine an instant messaging interface that doesn't detect friends offline and online, but taggers "in zone" and "out of zone". If the tagger's "in zone", that means his or her tag is nearby and can be seen using the app. Taggers might leave a variant tag at each spot they've tagged. These could be collected into a tag gallery (or a standard photo gallery, or mob-blog).
The really interesting part of air tagging is that taggers can communicate with each other, always via their pseudonyms and therefore almost always "anonymously". Different modes and rules of communication could be envisaged, such as instant messaging being possible only whilst "in zone". Also, comments can be left, which can be tags themselves, or text, or even photos. It is interesting to think of "photo verification" as a testimony to being present "in zone" i.e. at the place where the tag was originally left. This can be combined with mapping, which is another interesting extension to the theme."
http://wirelesswonders.blogspot.com/2005/03/air-tagging.html
"John Geraci's Grafedia (http://www.grafedia.net/), a fascinating mobile experiment that turns graffiti tags into mobile links. "Click" on the piece of graffiti and you get more info on your mobile phone. Grafedia: words written anywhere, then linked to images, video or sound files online. Grafedia is hyperlinked text, written by hand onto physical surfaces and linking to rich media content - images, video, sound files, and so forth. It can be written anywhere - on walls, in the streets, or on sidewalks. Grafedia can also be written in letters or postcards, on the body as tattoos, or anywhere you feel like putting it. Viewers "click" on these grafedia hyperlinks with their cell phones by sending a message addressed to the word + "@grafedia.net" to get the content behind the link."
Image from grafedia.net.
PodCaching
Although I don't believe PodCaching will take off, I mention it here because I think PodCaching is just one of the many combinations of existing technologies with positioning we'll come across in the near future.
Andrew Wooldridge wrote in his blog:
"What if you could combine Podcasting with Geocaching. Meaning instead of subscribing to a "show" you subscribe to a "location" - a GPS location. These locations could coincide with Geocaches so you could do things like listen for hints as to where to find the cache, list to others talking about the history of that location, or some funny thing that happened there.
Imagine further with me here :) Say you were going to go to a local restaurant. You could query the location and load into your iPod all the comments or interesting things about that restaurant. Heck! You might even get to listen to the owner of the store read to you the menu! Or imagine you want to go to a local museum. The night before you go, you request the feed for that location and in the morning you can take with you a series of stories, guides, comments and other great things around the museum. You might listen to someone who knows how to find the best art pieces quickly, or where to park nearby and save some money. " http://www.andrewwooldridge.com/blog/2004/10/idea-podcaching.html
"At http://www.podcacher.com/ a PodCache is described as the following:
1. A PodCache is a geeky / techy fun “game” of treasure hiding and finding.
2. Small containers are hidden for you to find.
3. Audio clues are recorded on an MP3 file that you can listen to with an MP3 player.
4. Listen to the clues, follow the directions and find the “treasure chest”.
5. When you find it, sign the enclosed log book to document your success!!!"
NeighbourNode
"Local communities can be brought closer together if common interest is allowed to intersect with location in a more efficient way. Why should people in a town not be able to establish more accurately where the people are who share their interests. On the street where you live, the block where you live, the neighbourhood you live in, how many people do you know? And if you wanted to meet the subset of those people you might have something in common with, is there any reasonable way to do it without waiting for ten years worth of arbitrary random interactions."
With wireless nodes popping up at the current rate the scenario posed at http://www.neighbornode.net/ seems to be a plausible one. "Neighbornodes are group message boards on wireless nodes, placed in residential areas and open to the public. These nodes transmit signal for around 300 feet, so everyone within that range has access to the board and can read and post to it. This means that with a Neighbornode you can broadcast a message to roughly everyone whose apartment window is within 300 feet of yours (and has line of sight), and they can broadcast messages back to you. Boards are only accessible from computers that go through the local node. Additionally, Neighbornodes are linked together, making up a node network to enable the passing of news and information on a street-by-street basis throughout the wider community. With access to your local Neighbornode, you can post messages to your local group board, as well as forward messages to other nodes in your vicinity. These other nodes can in turn forward messages to your node, resulting in a network of neighborhood message boards."
MoSoSo's
I think Mobile Social Software (see the project section for more info) will be a very common thing soon. There's already all kinds of software out there and this will only increase. I can also see all kinds of groups forming and sharing location-based information and media like for instance music fans, people going out to theatres, clubs, restaurants, people looking for a date and all based on the friend-of-a-friend (trust) mechanism. Geography is an essential added filter; it provides a context for your needs.
Image from http://www.tabernadelturco.com/.
GOOGLE 3D
Designed by a young UK designer, Pei Kang Ng, Google3D is meant as a viable business proposal for Google, five to ten years from now. With Google3D, the idea is literally, to bring the conveniences of the search engine to your fingertips. Now, you can find out things on the move - wherever and whenever you want to - just by taking a picture. You don’t even have to type! Considering the technological advances in search, wireless technology and flexible screens, it should be a matter of time before the concept becomes feasible in technical terms. This handy partner brings the Google search bar into your world of real, tangible objects - you do not have to sit in front of your computer anymore. Armed with a camera, it allows you to search live! with a simple snapshot.
Scenario 1) Looking for a bargain? Take a picture of the product and Google will tell you where to buy it cheaper.
Scenario 2) Lost? Take a picture of the nearest road sign or any landmarks, and Google tells you where you are.
Scenario 3) Looking for a good restaurant? Simply take a picture of the restaurant’s signage and Google will tell you its customers’ ratings.
http://www.thecoolhunter.net/Gadgets/GOOGLE-3D/
London Bus Ads Change as Locations Do
GPS Technology Powers Dynamic Geo-Targeted Out-of-home Ads. For the first time London buses can change their advertising messages according to their location, thanks to GPS technology being pioneered by U.K. directory service Yell.com.
http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=111429
Chipped
DIY RFID human implants are on the rise. I have found over sixteen instances of midnight engineers implanting RFID tags in their hands. The general excuse is for automation purposes. Examples such as unlocking a computer screen saver or opening doors that have been outfitted with electric deadbolts. In my own case the idea of implanting technology that I have researched and spec'd out was very appealing. The fact that it can actually do something useful is quite secondary. The most rewarding part of this project was learning about RFID at a much deeper level.
http://www.electric-clothing.com/chipped.html
Six Mobile Innovations That Will Change Your Life
1. Pay By Phone
2. Commanding Presence
3. Internet Everywhere And Embedded In Everything
4. Ubiquitous Media
5. Easier, Better Health Monitoring
6. Do You Know Where Your Kids (And Trucks) Are?
PlaceFeeds
Locations will have RSS feeds. Walking around through the city the feeds you subscribed to get downloaded automatically to your mobile device, so you're always up-to-date when you arive.
Creative Commons
My notion is that Creative Commons will become increasingly more important in the field of locative media because the principle of sharing us such an intrinsic part of it. Not only in the Mobsharing segment mentioned before but also when it comes to people producing media. The media functionalities on our mobile devices improve each year but do not incorporate any tools just yet that take care of the copyrights of those media. Some initiatives do exist such as mobile applications that allow you to upload your image to the Flickr creative commons pool but there's still a long way to go.
When you think of locative media projects by which interpretations, annotations and mediated subjective experiences of a location create a new public domain of information-augmented space shouldn't this be Creative Commons by default?
Identity 2.0
Because Locative Media is not only about location but also the user's history and context, your digital identity will become increasingly more important. New proposals based on the principles of Web 2.0 are being proposed: Identity 2.0. Trust and reputation will be based on FOAF (friend of a friend) mechanisms.
"These new identity systems place identity in the hands of users instead of directories. Simple, secure and open, these systems will provide the scalable, user-centric mechanism for authenticating and managing real-world identities online, enabling truly distinct and portable Internet identities." is an excerpt from the presentation from Dick Hardt at OSCON 2005. Please take a moment to see it at http://www.identity20.com/media/OSCON2005/.
Discussion
Some questions that could possibly help discussion:
- Add a geographical layer to the internet and it changes what the internet is: a whole new internet?
- How do inclusion and exclusion relate to a flexible mesh of separate social networks?
- What collaborative and participatory tools do we need in a locative media world?
- What will the new interface of a local space be like?
- How do privacy and identity change?
- Do we need to redefine the public/private distinction?
Possible Waag focus
Interesting technologies and subjects for the Waag to research include:
- Being one of the leaders of Creative Commons Holland we should develop ideas and tools that incorporate Creative Commons into Locative Media.
- The time element: the focus in Locative Media should not only be about the direct realtime interaction but should also take into account the history built up in the "system" (location history). The notion of time has been discussed in the Waag before in relation to developing scenario software and should in my opinion be discussed again when developing our locative media software.
- RFID workshop. RFID is now readily avaible and should be subjected to tests and discussion in the Lab.
- User Modelling: Creating a richer user context which incoporates both macro (GPS) and micro positioning (small user context changes detected by sensor networks such as Smartdust). This user context can also be enriched with data based on for instance his/her biological state, path history, state of connectedness, outdoor atmosperical circumstances etc. Having such a broad user context will widen the possibilites for interaction and game(play) design.
- New Locative Media Interfaces: research on the development of wearables that are location and context aware wearables and support new types of user interaction such as gesture/motion control and tactile feedback.
- Study the different types of proposals for locative metadata and determine which one(s) should be supported in KeyWorx to possibly be compatible with geotagged-media harvesting software/search-engines.
- Create a Waag MoSoSo application and releasing it to Amsterdam's medianetwork as an experiment?
- The development of Identity 2.0 and it's relation to Locative Media.