mobile social location (web directions @media version)
TRANSCRIPT
Street dataWe’ve always had static information in public space that’s designed to be interpreted by users of that space.
photo: http://flic.kr/p/9CKCw
Ratings and ReviewsThere have always been websites that let users rate and review places - sites like TripAdvisor have a huge amount of data collected over years.
And yes, Beijing has an official star-rating committee for toilets.
Mobile ContentIn the early days of small mobile devices, apps like Vindigo delivered static content by syncing to an internet-connected computer. The device is blind - it doesn’t know where its user is or anything about the environment in which it’s used. It has to be told.
The interfaces on these apps are usually very simple and fast, partly due to the low power devices, but also because they’re designed to be used in a hurry in public space.
Navigation
Turn-by-turn navigation - usually provided by Navteq, Teleatlas and Google - is the hot topic in online maps right now.
Photo by Perfesser - http://flic.kr/p/4cbfmj
Checking inIf we can translate a user’s location into something meaningful, we can add layers of information on top.
Checking inLots of interesting apps are based around the idea of “checking in” at a location rather than simply recording GPS tracklogs.
Place, not lat/long
A simple lat/long coordinate is not enough for most people-oriented apps. We need a way to turn a GPS read into a human-meaningful place such as a cafe, office or home. APIs and datasets to do this are starting to appear.
Photo by paalia - http://flic.kr/p/6sAzuf
Place, not lat/long
“electronic acquisition pays no attention to geography”—Chris Heathcote, 2004
A simple lat/long coordinate is not enough for most people-oriented apps. We need a way to turn a GPS read into a human-meaningful place such as a cafe, office or home. APIs and datasets to do this are starting to appear.
Photo by paalia - http://flic.kr/p/6sAzuf
Location brokersAs location information becomes a core part of many apps, we’re seeing services such as Yahoo Fire Eagle, Google Latitude and Twitter provide a way to selectively share your location with other applications. This can provide a quick bootstrap for a new app, and separate the problem of location acquisition (via many possible devices and channels) from application concerns.
Compass
We’ve had GPS for a long time and it’s been in affordable devices for a couple of years. Manufacturers appear to have only recently recognised that an electronic compass adds a lot to the picture that the “blind” phone sees by GPS...
Augmented Reality... in particular, knowing which way a user is oriented allows more effective overlaying of information onto their local context.
Photo by Marc Wathieu - http://flic.kr/p/5ZwuhQ
SensorsThe process of making devices less blind doesn’t have to stop at GPS and compass. Projects like Nokia’s Push N900 are encouraging users to augment their devices with new sensors and capabilities using platforms like Arduino.
Photo by Rain Rabbit - http://flic.kr/p/6Y8ejj
Sensors
http://blogs.nokia.com/pushn900/
The process of making devices less blind doesn’t have to stop at GPS and compass. Projects like Nokia’s Push N900 are encouraging users to augment their devices with new sensors and capabilities using platforms like Arduino.
Photo by Rain Rabbit - http://flic.kr/p/6Y8ejj
Visualisation
We’re becoming a more information-literate culture, and information visual and data exploration tools are becoming commonplace.
Visualisation
We’re becoming a more information-literate culture, and information visual and data exploration tools are becoming commonplace.
RealtimeThere’s growing interest in apps that can communicate in both directions between client and server - the return of Push. Protocols like XMPP and Pubsubhubbub are providing a way for an app to push information to users in realtime based on their preferences or their current context.
Photo by Hugo! - http://flic.kr/p/2yr85
mattb
bopuc
tominsam
moleitau
moia
The social graph(s)
See http://www.hackdiary.com/2010/02/10/algorithmic-recruitment-with-github/ for this section
lingrch
charlenopires
Allinthedata
georgepalmersnowblink
miyagawa
simonw
tmtmtmtm
andrew
jtweed
ntoll
melo
danlucraft
thesmith
fhelmberger
braindeaf
jjl
nikolaypurzelrakete
yncyrydybyl
eightbitraptormcroydon
pierslowe
alexstubbs
timcowlishaw
rux
tcaine
jasoncalesvetlyak40wt
andybeeching
jonocole
geoffgarside
FND
maccman lifo
kanzure
sh1mmer
molilymikestenalfredwesterveld
thechrisoshowdeepak
samsoir
dennyhalim
sartak
bileckme
danski
tomafro
dstrelau
aphillipo
jystewart
cbetta
julians
smtlaissezfaire
themattharrisperigrin
dhilton
barbie
greut
thommay
superfeedrbruntonspall
Floppy
edouard
arcanez
stig
floehopper
Jonty
rarepleasures
gugod
danwrong
tonyg
tonyl
tyru
jensy
jaygooby
georgebrock
bob-p
pusewicz
lawrencec
bumi
melito
jason23z
psd
matagus
rjray
NeilCrosby
dvydra
grillpanda
bru
the-experimenters
mxcl
chris-d-adams
joshbuddy
pkqk
rlivsey
professionalnerd
richardhodgson
tomdyson
jberkel
dsingleton
cv
nefarioustim
Roelven
cc
andyhd
flunder
hungryblank
colin
digdog
bingos
ja
tobypadilla
filipeamoreira
thmghtd
simonmaddox
si
james
pjbarry
straup
cdent
richardc
marcusramberg
tomtaylor
nothingmuch
jaigouk
rmetzler
ask
chrisroos
hdurer
robmckinnon
zachinglis
c9s riklomas
fidothe
atl
memespring
whomwah
otfrom
richardkeen
phae
salfield
ashbbobtfish
stever
danieljohnmorris
normdrewm
gillesruppert
webiest
rjw1
tomyan
isofarro
fredrikmollerstrand
topfunky
petemounce
libin
camelpunch
olly
micrypt
bbcpete
BenWard
nogeek
iamdanw
jibes21
kenlim
benpickles
pablete
craigw
nevali
cyrildoussin
dwhittle
gfx
lazyatom
sammyt
IanPouncey
steppenwells
jwheare
muesli
natbat
ginader
stonegao
philnash
esneko
BenHall
thrudigital
Rodreegez
mojodna
cwninja
reddavis
rafl
holizz
brett
AndrewDisley
eartle
gerhard
bradleywright
rondevera
monadic
matthewford
acastro
tims
crowbot
timd
dorward
jaikoo
tackley
Marak
carlo
sriprasannaabecciu
newbamboo
BenJam
aubergene
baob
lrug
vancaem
elliottcable
ejdraper
jcoglan
acme
twoism-dev
minty
muffinresearch
matth
mattb
threedaymonk
dannyamey
chrismear
cheeaun
guioconnor
metade
deanwilson
kraih
bricas
russss
SteveMarshall
osde8info
natematias
skarab
techbelly
dougma
kalv
ebrettfelixcohen
mokele
garethr
e1i45
matclayton
threebytesfull
mikewest
baseonmars
wakatara
spjwebster
dwo
kurtjx
blaine
monkchips
rozza
harry-m
kulor
liquid
davorg
zaczheng
ejeliot
evilstreak
andrewmcdonough
dann
tim
willi
stinie
evangineer
voodoochild
tommorris
tonytw1
philhawksworth
hubgit
gklopper
haifeng
lingrch
charlenopires
Allinthedata
georgepalmersnowblink
miyagawa
simonw
tmtmtmtm
andrew
jtweed
ntoll
melo
danlucraft
thesmith
fhelmberger
braindeaf
jjl
nikolaypurzelrakete
yncyrydybyl
eightbitraptormcroydon
pierslowe
alexstubbs
timcowlishaw
rux
tcaine
jasoncalesvetlyak40wt
andybeeching
jonocole
geoffgarside
FND
maccman lifo
kanzure
sh1mmer
molilymikestenalfredwesterveld
thechrisoshowdeepak
samsoir
dennyhalim
sartak
bileckme
danski
tomafro
dstrelau
aphillipo
jystewart
cbetta
julians
smtlaissezfaire
themattharrisperigrin
dhilton
barbie
greut
thommay
superfeedrbruntonspall
Floppy
edouard
arcanez
stig
floehopper
Jonty
rarepleasures
gugod
danwrong
tonyg
tonyl
tyru
jensy
jaygooby
georgebrock
bob-p
pusewicz
lawrencec
bumi
melito
jason23z
psd
matagus
rjray
NeilCrosby
dvydra
grillpanda
bru
the-experimenters
mxcl
chris-d-adams
joshbuddy
pkqk
rlivsey
professionalnerd
richardhodgson
tomdyson
jberkel
dsingleton
cv
nefarioustim
Roelven
cc
andyhd
flunder
hungryblank
colin
digdog
bingos
ja
tobypadilla
filipeamoreira
thmghtd
simonmaddox
si
james
pjbarry
straup
cdent
richardc
marcusramberg
tomtaylor
nothingmuch
jaigouk
rmetzler
ask
chrisroos
hdurer
robmckinnon
zachinglis
c9s riklomas
fidothe
atl
memespring
whomwah
otfrom
richardkeen
phae
salfield
ashbbobtfish
stever
danieljohnmorris
normdrewm
gillesruppert
webiest
rjw1
tomyan
isofarro
fredrikmollerstrand
topfunky
petemounce
libin
camelpunch
olly
micrypt
bbcpete
BenWard
nogeek
iamdanw
jibes21
kenlim
benpickles
pablete
craigw
nevali
cyrildoussin
dwhittle
gfx
lazyatom
sammyt
IanPouncey
steppenwells
jwheare
muesli
natbat
ginader
stonegao
philnash
esneko
BenHall
thrudigital
Rodreegez
mojodna
cwninja
reddavis
rafl
holizz
brett
AndrewDisley
eartle
gerhard
bradleywright
rondevera
monadic
matthewford
acastro
tims
crowbot
timd
dorward
jaikoo
tackley
Marak
carlo
sriprasannaabecciu
newbamboo
BenJam
aubergene
baob
lrug
vancaem
elliottcable
ejdraper
jcoglan
acme
twoism-dev
minty
muffinresearch
matth
mattb
threedaymonk
dannyamey
chrismear
cheeaun
guioconnor
metade
deanwilson
kraih
bricas
russss
SteveMarshall
osde8info
natematias
skarab
techbelly
dougma
kalv
ebrettfelixcohen
mokele
garethr
e1i45
matclayton
threebytesfull
mikewest
baseonmars
wakatara
spjwebster
dwo
kurtjx
blaine
monkchips
rozza
harry-m
kulor
liquid
davorg
zaczheng
ejeliot
evilstreak
andrewmcdonough
dann
tim
willi
stinie
evangineer
voodoochild
tommorris
tonytw1
philhawksworth
hubgit
gklopper
haifeng
http://jung.sourceforge.net/
http://gephi.org/
http://measuringmeasures.com
There’s a lot of hard computer science around processing graphs. The Jung library makes this a lot easier.
http://lucene.apache.org/mahout/
There’s also a lot of hard computer science around machine learning. Mahout is building scalable Hadoop-based libraries for recommendation, clustering, collaborative filter and auto-classification.
http://lucene.apache.org/mahout/
“scalable, Apache licensed machine learning libraries”
There’s also a lot of hard computer science around machine learning. Mahout is building scalable Hadoop-based libraries for recommendation, clustering, collaborative filter and auto-classification.
Red dot feverSchuyler Erle coined the term “red dot fever” - the naive tendency to plot datapoints on maps without thinking through the design implications. It’s very easy to fire up a map API and add markers to a map without realising how unclear the representation can become. Information can often be processed by clustering or filtering before being mapped. Indeed, maps aren’t always the best representation of place data.
100 50 000500 1 000 5 000 10 000 30 00020 0003 0002 000
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70
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200 300
Population (millions)
1 000
100
10
<1
1
2006 data for countries & territories from UN Statistics Division, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and others sources as stated in:"Gapminder documentation 2007:1" at: www.gapminder.org/publications.
Free to copy for non-commercial useE-mail: [email protected]
www.gapminder.org
Regions
Sub-Saharan Africa
Arab states
Europe & Central Asia
Americas
Asia & Pacific
BY: $
Gapm
inder World Chart 2006 - Ver. January 2008
Gapminder World Chart 2006
RichPoor
Sick
Healthy
Antigua & Barbuda
Dominica
Faeroe Is.
Greenland
Kiribati
Marshall Is.
Monaco
N.Mariana Is.
Palau
San Marino
Seychelles
St. Kitts & Nevis
Tonga
American Samoa
Anguilla
Montserrat
Turks & Caicos Island
Tuvalu
Nauru
Andorra
Bermuda
Cayman Is.
Isle of Man
Liechtenstein
British VirginIslands
Jersey
Aruba
Bahamas
Bahrain
Barbados
Belize
Bhutan
Brunei
Cape Verde
Comoros
Cyprus
Djibouti
Equatorial Guinea
Fiji
Fr. Polynesia
Grenada
Guam
Guyana
Iceland
Luxembourg
Macao
Maldives
Malta
Mayotte
Micronesia
Netherlands Ant.
New Caledonia
Qatar
Sao Tome & Principe
Solomon Islands
St. Lucia
St. Vincent & Grenadines
Suriname
Vanuatu
Virgin Islands(U.S.)
Samoa
Sierra Leone
Albania
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Benin
Bolivia
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Botswana
Bulgaria
Burundi
Central African Rep.
Congo, Rep. (Brazzaville)
Costa Rica
Croatia
Denmark
Dominican Rep.
El Salvador
Eritrea
Estonia
Finland
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Guinea
Guinea Bissau
Haiti
Honduras
Hong Kong
IrelandIsrael
Jamaica
Jordan
Kuwait
Kyrgyz Rep.
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
LithuaniaMacedonia
Mauritania
Mauritius
Moldova
Mongolia
Namibia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
NorwayOman
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Puerto Rico
Rwanda
Singapore
Slovak Rep.
Slovenia
Somalia
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Tajikistan
Timor LesteTogo
Trinidad &Tobago
Turkmenistan
United Arab Emirates
Uruguay
West Bank& Gaza
Serbia &Montenegro
Afghanistan Angola
Burkina Faso
Cambodia
Cameroon
Chad
Colombia
Côte d'Ivoire
Ecuador
Ghana
Guatemala
Iraq
Kenya
North Korea
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Nepal
Niger
Peru
Senegal
Sri Lanka
Syria
Tanzania
Tunisia
Uganda
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Sudan
Algeria
Argentina
ChileCuba
CzechRepublic
Hungary
Kazakhstan
Malaysia
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
Venezuela
Taiwan
AustraliaBelgium Canada
Greece
Italy
South Korea
Netherland
Spain
Congo DR(Kinshasa)
Egypt
Ethiopia
France
Germany
Iran
Philippines
Thailand
Turkey
UK
Vietnam
Brazil
Bangladesh
Indonesia
Japan
Mexico
Nigeria
Pakistan
Russia
USA
China
India
Money Gross National Income per capita - in US dollar by exchange rate (log)
Low income countries Middle income countries High income countries
Maps aren’t the only way to show geo-data
OutdoorsIt’s important to be humble as a mobile developer. Never forget that your application may be used in the street, in parallel with another app or activity, and for less than 30 seconds at a time. Your app may be the irritation standing in the way of someone getting the information they need right now.
Photo by JanneM - http://flic.kr/p/6sjM3e
“A typical user pulls a device out of a pocket or bag and uses it for a few seconds, or maybe a few minutes, before putting it away again.”
—iPhone Application Programming Guide
Data entryPhones are usually not great data entry devices. When we built the Dopplr Social Atlas mobile application, we allow users to record places they like with a minimal interaction - only two taps are required. We upload these pings to the Dopplr website and complete the data gathering through the website at a later time. This allows us to use large widgets such as maps and autocomplete that would not be practical on the small screen.
RoamingBe aware that (particularly outside North America) many apps are used outside their phone’s home country. Roaming data charges are still disturbingly high and not everyone is organised enough to swap SIM cards at the airport when they travel. Be conservative with your use of data.
“35 ways to find your location”
Chris Heathcote, Etech 2004
There’s a great set of slides from Chris Heathcote reminding us that GPS isn’t the only way to find your location. There are many other technical and cultural approaches.
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/et2004/view/e_sess/4657
A phone isn’t just a pocket computer that runs apps.
It’s a bridge between the internet and the real world.