Mid-Air Messages To Your Mobile 118
wilfie writes "Mid-air messages are content for delivery to handheld devices which is relevant to the user's current location. A serious trial of a system for delivering mid-air messages is to be financed by the UK government in the City of Bristol, according to an
article on the BBC website. The article refers to the Annotate Space project doing something similar in New York. The Bristol scheme looks like being a guide for tourists, but what other kinds of content would we welcome, and what would we not? Would we even be willing to pay for it?"
I can see it now... (Score:5, Funny)
Bacon in distress (Score:1)
Perfect if there is some kind of global variable in the device, which you can set: Hungry=1
Then that bacon won't be in distress before I eat it.....
Re:I can see it now... (Score:1)
For example, a mid-air system that delivers messages to you while you're in a certain area can also figure out where you are at what time on what day, simply by aggregating this information in one place. The researchers that I talked to worked around this (they were using GPS) by making the exact co-ordinates fuzzy and increasing the resolution from a few meters to a few miles. Thus you can't exactly tell where a person was at a certain time. However, in the article, the researchers are using bluetooth, which doesn't leave out much in the way of destroying location information. Which consequently means that the Government, or any company with enough money could come in, aggregate this information and track the devices that are mid-air message enabled. (and if we assume that people aren't going to be swapping cell phones every few minutes, then we can track the people themselves)
Re:I can see it now... (Score:1)
I can't help it. I see "city of Bristol", and I hear "chicken of Bristol"... I also nearly fought in the battle of Angnor.
advertising? (Score:3, Funny)
What wouldn't be welcome (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:What wouldn't be welcome (Score:2, Insightful)
Having this happen on foot would be annoying. Having it happen when driving would be simply dangerous.
This sounds like perhaps the best reason to be a luddite since the pop-up ad.
Re:What wouldn't be welcome (Score:1)
I don't know though. I would perhaps pay some money for a tourist information system in a foreign city. It'd be a whole lot better than some pisspot tourist guide. Apart from that, I just don't know. Seems like it'd not be something I'd use a lot.
Bad Idea. (Score:2)
spam. (Score:5, Funny)
What I don't want.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Is a bunch of dogooders putting anti-smoking bubbles near stores, anti-meat bubbles near markets, anti-fur near malls, add to infinity.
Re:What I don't want.. (Score:2)
Don't force your spam on me in a different way.
That is all I am saying, just now they have a more narrow casted target because they can put them in places they know will have the traffic they want.
Spam is spam no matter which way you slice and serve it.
Re:What I don't want.. (Score:2)
yea right (Score:1)
Re:yea right (Score:2)
Re:yea right (Score:1)
Advertising. (Score:5, Funny)
I can see it now... (Score:1, Redundant)
Re:I can see it now... (Score:1)
Anywho, mod it down.
Re:I can see it now... (Score:1)
RIAA BAD.
two days later
RIAA BAD.
Update by T:Yes, this is a dup, but they are still bad.
Re:I can see it now... (Score:1)
I think the same thing happens to the editors when they post new stories...
get ready for the spam (Score:1)
Location based spam. (Score:2)
Location specific Spam? (Score:4, Interesting)
Just imagine: you're walking down the street, when your handheld beeps to inform you that the local drug store is having a sale on panty liners (or condoms, or whatever). Now, if you're male, you might be a bit irked by this. Or what about the local porn shop having a sale on goatse.cx?
A system like that would make me get rid of any hand held I had, and I definately wouldn't pay for it.
Re:Location specific Spam? (Score:1)
Blasphemer! (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Wouldnt pay for it. (Score:2)
Significantly? (Score:2)
The majority of new subscribers are on pay-as-you-go, which is a nominal charge for a handset and then paying for service (with the result that young people often cannot make outgoing (non-emergency) calls because they have temporarily run out of credit).
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Score:2, Interesting)
Here's to a new promising technology that will hopefully avoid the pitfalls of spam (ha!)
remembering Douglas Adams
Re:The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Score:2)
So its location specific data related to the 'tour' you are on, though you could also leave geographic post-it notes for your friends
A nice side effect of the project is that it should give the town centre good, free, 802.11 access points. I say should as I was there in September and the APs were there but not active.
A better idea (Score:1)
Handy for Advertising (Score:2, Interesting)
Because of TIA and other information hoarding
initiatives, the merchants know what you like
and don't like.
For example, I run an on line fetish wear business.
I contract with bars in the seedier areas of town
to host one of these transmitters on their premises.
I do the same with the adult theatres and porno
shops.
As you walk past, or into, these businesses,
and I know (via TIA or other info hoarding
schemes) that you like fetish clothing, I can
beam messages to your palmtop about sales of
certain items (that I can customize for you).
Since you are in the mood (being in the seedy
area) this might be just enough to tip you
over to making a purchase.
Mark
Re:Handy for Advertising (Score:1)
For something really useful (Score:1)
For a good time... (Score:3, Funny)
Privacy issues forgotten? (Score:5, Interesting)
For example, a mid-air system that delivers messages to you while you're in a certain area can also figure out where you are at what time on what day, simply by aggregating this information in one place. The researchers that I talked to worked around this (they were using GPS) by making the exact co-ordinates fuzzy and increasing the resolution from a few meters to a few miles. Thus you can't exactly tell where a person was at a certain time.
However, in the article, the researchers are using bluetooth, which doesn't leave out much in the way of destroying location information. Which consequently means that the Government, or any company with enough money could come in, aggregate this information and track the devices that are mid-air message enabled. (and if we assume that people aren't going to be swapping cell phones every few minutes, then we can track the people themselves)
Worldboard & IBM (Score:4, Informative)
"What if we could put information in places? What if we could associate relevant information with a place and perceive the information as if it were really there?"
Cheers,
Joel
Road Conditions (Score:3, Insightful)
some radar detectors claim they can alert you to 'emergency' vehicles (trains crossing, ambulances, some even claim school buses). I have yet to see one work, but I would love if they did, especially with today's cars, if you have your windows up, you can barely hear a siren...and if your stereo's on, there's no chance in hell.
It'd also be great for alerting that there's construction ahead, or an exit's closed, etc.
I would prefer that this band be liscensed for specific services, or that everyone be required to send some sort of a signature that we could block on, or even a 'type' so we could single out restaurants, tourism, etc.
Re:Road Conditions (Score:1, Insightful)
It's your responsibility to PAY ATTENTION.
If you dont hear it, thats your fault. If you dont SEE it, you should have your license pulled.
I cant stand people who dont pay attention to whats going on around them while they drive.
Oh yeah, put the fucking cell phone away while you're at it. The last thing drivers need is more electronical bullshit to distract them.
I see someone's a little ticked off... (Score:2)
I don't like the fact that cars have gotten so well soundproofed against road noise.
I don't like drive through fast food, but hell, I've seen someone eating yogurt in her car, with the cup in one hand, the spoon in the other, while she's steering with an elbow.
And as for 'seeing' the emergency, there's this little concept called 'line of sight'. You see, in Washington, DC, there's these things called 'buildings', which are much, much bigger than the vehicles, and they're all over the place, which makes it hard to see the vehicles if they're not in a straight line in front or behind you. We then have other problems with things called 'hills' and other large vehicles which I like to call 'trucks'.
I've sat at intersections for minutes in DC, when I can hear a siren, but I have no idea where it is. [Doesn't help that my place of work is 2 blocks from a hospital, and 3 blocks from firestation]. People start getting really pissy and honking after a minute or so, which makes it even more difficult to tell where it is by sound alone.
As for my cell phone, yes, I do use it while I'm driving. I used it last night, in fact, to call WTOP [wtopnews.com] to report a three car accident in the snow, so they could make sure the police knew about it to get it cleaned up.
Unfortunately, there's no place along the Suitland Parkway to pull over to make/take a call, and I'm on call 24x7, so I have answered my phone while in transit, as I need to know if I need to turn around, and get back to a terminal immediately, or if I have enough time to sit in traffic and make it home/to work before things get worse.
So, please take your thumb out of your ass, and channel your hostility into more constructive criticism. If you have a problem with something, come up with a solution; just saying it's bad, and you don't like it isn't doing anyone any good... hell, writing a letter to your state/federal/county/city government would be more beneficial than some flame on a website.
Re:Road Conditions (Score:1)
Workmen set up a beacon near their work site which broadcasts a signal on a specific band which is detected and a special indicator lights up.
As far as emergency vehicles go, it wouldn't be hard. I remember hearing that in some cities emergency vehicles transmit a signal when their siren is on which is picked up by some traffic signals, the lights then change their cycle as much as possible (cant just go green->red right away) to accomidate the emergency vehicle's passage. So, just put that everywhere and have the next generation of radar detectors tune into that as well.
And for those of you living in states that forbid such devices as radar detectors it's usually only illegal in commercial vehicles (such as big rigs and such), but they make special versions (specifically for big rigs and the like) that only pick up construction band (and i'd imagine other specific beacons like at truck scales and such). So, just build onto those models instead of the dodge-a-ticket versions.
Re:Road Conditions (Score:2)
Several ideas... (Score:5, Interesting)
Another thing would be interesting sites or things to look for. For example, you're drinking in an old bar, you bring up the service and can view different messages like "This bar caught fire in 1938. See the charred board behind the bar on the right-hand side? They left that as a reminder." or you're at a scenic turn-off in the mountains you might get "If you look to the north-west, you might be able to see the skyline of [insert city]."
Of course there's the whole advertising thing, but depending on how it's setup, it could be a good thing. Walk into a store, get virtual coupons or something.
Something else that could be kinda fun would be a graffiti board of some type...probably have numerous problems, but c'est la vie.
Re:Several ideas... (Score:2)
Re:Several ideas... (Score:1)
This could be funny.. (Score:4, Funny)
Glad to ignore ads... (Score:1)
Like stepping in dog shit... (Score:2, Insightful)
I just know a whole cadre of people out there will mine the world with mid-air goatse.cx pictures.
Lemme think... NO! (Score:1)
Look at this. More and more people have cell phones and rely on them like ground phones.
Now, when I buy a Toshiba DVD player a Bestbuy, I give what as an info when I'm asked for my informations for guarantee purpose ? My cell phone number. Then, using this, cross-referencing database, one can know what I buy most (am I an audiophile ? or a computer geek?). Then, I can get targeted spam on my mobile.
Laugh all you want, but it's getting to this. Saw the movie MINORITY REPORT, in which Tom Cruise gets some publicity depending on what he bought last week at a store via his retinal scan ? He gets in a boutique, then the hologram says "Hi, hope you're happy with the jeans you bought last week. Maybe you'd like to know green Gap sweaters are on sale this week !". We're not up to the retinal scan technology as a day-to-day method, but on mobiles? Why not... This is where we're getting, wether we like it or not.
Incidentally (Score:1)
*PAY* for it? (Score:2)
Did this really need asking? And on Slashdot? C'mon, you may as well ask if we would support Hillary Rosen for president (well, over Dubya, perhaps [G]).
The Slashdot crowd largely likes privacy, and *particularly* dislikes government or corporate sponsored intrusion on their personal space. Would we pay for this? We'd abuse the hell out of it to make it totally unuseable, more likely - I for one can think of a nice script to enumerate every single arcsecond on Earth, meaning every 101ft a person walks, they'd get another message saying "you are here".
Re:*PAY* for it? (Score:2)
Graffiti (Score:2)
But having a "graffiti wall" at every place could be seriusly misused... even if is easier to clean than the phisical ones. Maybe every note will be associated with the data/phone number/whatever of the one that wrote it, but that could have other problems (privacy, wanting to be an anonymous coward, whatever).
Traffic reports (Score:3, Interesting)
That would be cool. Especially if you are driving in unfamiliar territory and don't know the local radio stations.
Re:Traffic reports (Score:2)
the Signal to noise ratio on this would be unbelieveable, and people just wouldnt use it.
Discover article (Score:3, Informative)
There was an excellent article on this same topic in Discover [discover.com] recently. The possibilities are nice... leaving "personal notes" for your friends at a specific spot in the world. I think the best quote from the article was this one: "When you can stand where others have stood and learn how it affected them, and then share your own impressions in return, public space becomes more deeply public than it was before." It reminds me of a nice book on Native American religious tradition [amazon.com] by Vine Deloria, Jr [ipl.org]. The idea of bringing technology back to the "primitive" notion of public spaces is appealing to the hippie inside me.
Also of note in the Discover article is a brief introduction to geo-caching [brillig.com]. Unrelated, but sounds like fun. :)
--madgeorge
Who whants to know? (Score:1)
The question isn't ..... (Score:2)
On the otherhand I can see the benifits of being paid to be spammed. And before anyone co-ops it
1. Buy Pager, cellphone, PDA etc.
2. Walk by Walcobiz
3. Get spammed
4. ??????
5. Profit.
Actually, the real question is... (Score:2)
Re:Actually, the real question is... (Score:2)
Doncha think?
Well yes, but for one problem. (Score:2)
Lately, I've been seeing a movement away from the spam-free product in a lot of cases. Take, for instance, the movie industry. You pay to get in, and then you get spammed for 20 minutes before the film starts. I'm seeing a bit of this in the cell phone industry, as well - some SMS advertising has started creeping in lately, even though I pay for my phone and service.
The problem is, advertising is a value-added revenue stream for the manufacturer, who is always looking for some way to get the cost down a little bit more, underneath that of their competitors. Of course, it's just a pointless race to the bottom - ye olde Prisoner's Dilemma all over again - but advertising is slowly creeping into every facet of our lives, and I doubt we'll be compensated one cent for it, ever.
perfer (Score:4, Interesting)
also, this may help eliminate men seeing feminine higene adds
Reminds me of a Bristol University demo (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Reminds me of a Bristol University demo (Score:1)
To Temple-Meads? Why would anyone in their right mind want to do that?
wonderful another euphemism ... (Score:1)
Ok, so I didn't read the article... (Score:2)
If there was a standard for this such that message types could be discriminated to allow for filtering, it would be a great way for local governments to broadcast anything from tourist info, to traffic alerts, to even safety warnings. Since it would simply be data, it can also be easily formatted in a way usable to disabled persons(blind, deaf, Outlook user, etc). If it had directional info as well, it could even be used to replace and enhance crosswalk signs.
Hey, I bet you could even use something like this to coordinate mass population movements in evacuation scenarios. A central computer or even a distributed algorithm could instruct people to avoid choke points.
Red Light District... (Score:2)
Guide for Bristol (Score:1)
A TXT message on your phone:
BZZT "Warning, you are now entering Hartcliffe, please now for your own safety"
BZZT "Warning, you are now entering Easton, please now for your own safety"
BZZT "Warning, you are now entering Barton Hill, please now for your own safety"
ETC
Re:Guide for Bristol (Score:1)
I wouldn't pay to have it... (Score:2)
How does it work? (Score:1)
So I'm just trying to figure this out - is this actually broadcasting a signal in a single area, or is the device using cell-network/GPS/whatever to figure out location? The idea of location-area tech has been around for a while. A lot of research has been done on this, like Cornell's Graffiti [cornell.edu], ABTA [lancs.ac.uk], Intel [intel.com], and somewherenear [somewherenear.com] , but I haven't seen lot of practical application actually come out.
I ran across something new that does something like this that I have some hope for, called annotated earth [annotatedearth.com]. They appear to be in the initial stages still, but the way it works appears to be open (as in encouraging third party software - they seem to be the infrastructure and data for location-aware info). I especially like the Iraqi Weapons of mass destruction [annotatedearth.com] thing, good info to have if you're wandering around Iraqi, Hehe. Don't know if it's really going to work, still waiting on mobile devices that can use the technology they've done.
Anyway, I'll be interested in seeing how this goes.
=-H
User generated info. (Score:1)
How about user moderation akin to slashdot as well? Set my threshold where I want it and be able to ignore all the pricks who don't have anything real to say.
Great for taggers... (Score:2, Insightful)
Content is the easy question (Score:2)
In a "benevolent dictator" model you have a single source of information. This dictator has total control of the selection of information. It is by far the most limited system, and usually the least valuable. The "electronic tour guide" is a perfect example of this type of system. This type of system will often fail unless the dictator is considered to be the primary customer.
In a "competitor model" you have anywhere from a few to a few hundred information providers competing to deliver desirable information. Radio and television are a good example here. There are few enough sources of information that the user of the system can evaluate them and select the ones that provide information he finds valuable. The information providers are constantly struggling to provide more desirable information than their competitors.
By far the most powerful system is an "open" model where any user of the system can be an information provider. Telephones, the WorldWideWeb, slashdot, and email are examples of this kind of system. Here the challenge is for design of the system itself to ensure that people receive valuable information. In the telephone system this is predominantly solved by making the source of the information pay for delivering the information. The WorldWideWeb solves this problem by only delivering information that a user explicitly requests. Slashdot solves(?) this problem through the moderation system. Email fails to solve this problem.
-
Short answer: NONE! (Score:1)
Really long answer: Look, if I wanted advertising, I'd wake up.
Traffic jams, available parking and so much more! (Score:1)
I think this type of system is ideal for traffic reports, since they must be updated.
Other potential applications include allowing a driver to know whether a particular level in a carpark has parking available (to avoid those row by row searches)
I think one of the strongest possibilities lies in carpooling... You could submit your destination into a queue along with your capacity for passengers, and you could bring strangers with you. How about that! I think there is a similar system already at work, and a dating-type version of it in Japan.
What I would like to see... (Score:1)
GSM Cell Broadcast (Score:3, Interesting)
I worked on this in 1999, so you can assume that it was never a huge success. Most telco's couldn't figure out how to make money from it and so never bought it. There's not enough text space for adverts and people would quickly get sick of SPAM messages.
I realise that it's slightly different to what's being proposed here, but it does sound rather similar.
Willing to pay for it? (Score:1)
I live in Bristol (Score:1)
beep beep you have 10 new messages
arse
i need a new t-shirt
beep beep you have 10 new messages
fcuk
i will go and watch the sk8 kids
beep beep you have 10 new messages
and from the way i read it they might not even be adverts so (yeah right) but from the way i read the news it will be some sort of floating ethereal billboard all accross town.
walking throught the centre on a sat night all these will be the messages you will get from the loverly townies that inhabit the 150 or so pubs in the square mile
-beep-
i like larger
beer beer
you looking at my woman
fcuk off
i hate every one
i got a bottle to ram in your face
etc etc insert dumb racist homophobic comments here
-beep-
thanks but no thanks
Akira
Re:I live in Bristol (Score:1)
Re:I live in Bristol (Score:1)
As with so many recent "innovations"... (Score:2)
My second thought was to recall a _Calvin and Hobbes_ panel: "Calvin's Pitcher of Plague: $1.00 not to have any."
Would I pay? To get rid of it, maybe....
One good use... (Score:1)
Re:MID-AIR MESSAGES?! (Score:1)
Suggested messages would be things like "Anvil above you accelerating at 9.8m/s^2" or perhaps the more immanent "Don't look up - just run".
(In all seriousness, this could have been useful to cover areas of the Canadian rockies in recent weeks - it would make a good avalanche warning system, since we already have decent avalanche-spotting, but mainly lack rapid in-situ delivery of the info)