Posts Tagged: location

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19
Aug 08

Context Aware vs Location Based

“I must say that it’s been surprisingly difficult, in various conversations with folks not immersed in the IxD space, to get across the essential distinction between context-aware applications and location-based services (LBS)...Mac Funamizu has actually nailed two separate things here. The first demonstrates precisely what I, at least, mean when I use the words “context aware”: but for some residual core of basic functionality, the device’s capabilities and available interface modalities at any given moment are largely if not entirely determined by the other networked objects around it. If you pair the device with a text, it’s a reader; at the checkstand, it provides a friendly POS interface; aimed at the skyline, it augments reality.”

Link: Worth a thousand words, etc. (speedbird.wordpress.com)

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17
Jun 08

Sensing and the future of cities

Adam Greenfield analyses the impact of services like Citysense, a location-based service with a twist. I’m not entirely sure I agree with the thrust of his argument, though; the future of urbanism is surely about meaningful technology more than information.

“For example, one of the first things that drops out of the Citysense data is a statistically strongly significant degree of correlation between certain populations and specified locations in the city – in effect, the existence of self-selected “tribes” defined entirely by their behavior in space and time (Skibiski’s word, and one whose resonances I’m not entirely happy with). When you have access to additional information characterizing these locations – you know: is this a sportsbar or a leather bar? a Muni Metro stop or a parking lot? the Zeitgeist or the Top of the Mark? the drunk tank or the emergency room? – well, then, it seems to me that you have the beginnings of a concordance to the city. You can begin to make proactive decisions about how to make best use of the urban manifold.

“Nevertheless, it is transparently self-evident to me that this is the way we’re going to do cities from here on out…I’m seeing a big LED signboard tacked across the front of Zeitgeist’s doorway: “Garden now at 23% above threshold. Get your Tamale Lady orders in now!” And if that isn’t the future of cities, then I don’t know what is.”

Link: I have seen the future of urban life (speedbird.wordpress.com)

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9
Jun 08

Do we need LBS?

Bernhard Schindlholzer wrote that “even though I am confident that there will certainly be significant growth in some areas (i.e. vehicle tracking, in-car traffic information) I doubt that someday everyone will be using Google’s “Search nearby” feature to find the next ATM, restaurant or supermarket…the majority of people still roam in just a few locations and in general they do not move far from home. Vacations and business travel are exceptions – the percentage of time individuals spend in locations they don’t know is very small.”

Link: Do humans really need location-based services? (customer-experience-labs.com, via)

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24
Oct 07

Designing for Location-Based Services

“For users, the most important location is where they are now—making the dimension of location perhaps the most important design element to consider when creating new mobile user experiences. Location-based services have been percolating for years, but as Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, and other geospatial technologies become cheaper and more readily available, such services are working their way toward mainstream adoption. Location data has two intrinsic dimensions: absolute location and relative location.”

Link: Where Are You Now? Design for the Location Revolution (uxmatters.com)

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6
May 06

Driving directions

A wonderful piece from the New Yorker about the history, current technology and social aspects of in car navigation systems.

“In 1909, an engineer named J. W. Jones invented a device called the Jones Live-Map, which connected to a cars odometer. It consisted of a glass-enclosed dial, on which you could place a disk representing a particular trip. The disk had mileage numbers around the perimeter and driving directions printed like spokes on the face. As you progressed down the road, the disk would rotate, telling you where you were and what to do. Live-Map No. 16, for example, guided the motorist tourist from Columbus Circle to Waterbury, Connecticut (specifically, the Elton Hotel), telling him, at various intervals, to take right fork at flag pole, pass under trolley arch, or caution for dangerous curves. A promotional booklet for the Jones Live-Map read, You are always sure of your road. . . . You fly past sign boards at speed without a thought. You never stop to inquire your way. Right or wrong, all chance information is useless to you. You are as easy about your road as though you were running on rails. ”

Link: Getting There (newyorker.com)

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24
Apr 06

Mobile usage behaviours data collection project

“We have 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?”

(Are you at CHI in Montreal? Want to meet up? Send me an email)

Link: MIT Media Lab: Reality Mining (media.mit.edu)

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24
Mar 06

Design for the active lifestyle

A PhD thesis exploring the mobile device design considerations for the active lifestyle.

“Actively Mobile integrates traditional training tools with new mobile services, and enables voice communication with control. Because it is designed specifically for running, it is easy to use and supports the mindset of the runner in motion. Through a small device worn on the arm, wrist, or hip, the runer can access functionality only available currently by carrying several devices: a stopwatch, speedometer, heart rate montior, GPS, MP3 player, and mobile phone. Integrating these features creates new opportunities to support the running experience, including specialized servces desgined to aid motivation and performance.”

Link: actively mobile (interaction-ivrea.it)

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16
Mar 06

Location-aware reminders

“Our study revealed unexpected uses of location-aware reminders. We found that Place-It notes were often used for creating motivational reminders to perform activities that would vary in priority over time. This is similar to using post-it notes in highly visible areas for motivation. The locations for motivational reminders were often set at frequently visited places, such as home. We also found that a majority of the uses for Place-Its involved communicating with people through a variety of media (e.g. email, phone). Communication is typically not tied to specific locations, implying that location is being used as a cue for other kinds of situational context.”

Place-Its: A Study of Location-Based Reminders on Mobile Phones (700k PDF, intel-research.net)