Clothes Make the Network

Roland Piquepaille writes "Howard Rheingold is looking at how "wearable computers create ad-hoc wireless communities." Here is the main idea, introduced by Gerd Kortuem, a 38-year-old assistant professor, who recently moved to Lancaster University in England from the University of Oregon's Wearable Computing Lab. "As he sees it, the crowds who surround us every day constitute a huge waste of social capital. If you live in a city for instance, there are many who pass within a few yards of you each day who could give you a ride home, buy an item you're trying to sell, or consider you as dating material. Dynamic networking makes it possible to tap those resources through a momentary alliance among transient interest groups." Check this column for a summary or the full article if you have more time."

Comments

Sun's next slogan

[JessLeah]

Sun: The Panties are the Computer

will work for food

[buttahead]

great, now not looking in the eye of a drunk on the corner doesn't excuse me for not offering him a few buck. now his software will spam me until i pay for his next drink.

Obsolete before it starts

[SiliconEntity]

The physical world is so 20th century. The future is virtual.

Why 'wearable'?

[GMOL]

The thing I really don't get with all the wearable computer baloney is, what can you not accomplish with a small computer that you have in your pocket (i.e. a cell phone computer) as opposed to a "wearable" one?

Re:Why 'wearable'?

[Lemmy Caution]

Do you realize that the underpants gnomes are suddenly a lot closer to a revenue model?

Damn

[Anonymous Coward]

I hate people. Now I'll have to keep some around so I can get decent bandwidth.

Finally!

[Quaoar]

This new solution will take the work out of driving, dating, and purchases.

...shit, I'll have nothing to do!

Dont they have something like this.

[Cyno01]

I remember seeing ads for some little keychain thingy you programmed your intrests into and when you passed near someone with similar intrests both persons devices would go off. They didn't really catch on here, but i think they were popular in japan. Here i think so few people had them that if you fond someone with one you could pretty much gaurantee you had some similar intrests *cough*geeks*cough*.

Re:Dont they have something like this.

[handsomepete]

Well, there was this one (scroll down a bit)... The relevant excerpt:

Comverse customer EMI will soon unveil Keychain, a hand-held device for m-commerce, likely to fit on a keyring.

Jay Samit, new media senior vice-president at EMI Recorded Music in Hollywood, explains how it works: 'You're listening to the radio in your car, you love the song but you don't know who it's by. Flick the Keychain and it instantly knows which radio station you're tuned into, and where you are on the planet. It connects to the station, finds out about the track and sends you an e-mail to tell you where you can buy it.

'In a restaurant you find you love a bottle of wine. You could scan the barcode into the Keychain and it will e-mail you where you can buy that wine, on-line or in the physical world.'

Jay Samit says the Keychain will be given away free to listeners by radio stations. The feedback they will get on people's personal preferences as they use it to get details of broadcast songs will be invaluable as well as anonymous, safeguarding personal privacy. Advertisers will benefit from extra marketing data and sales.

Not quite the same thing, but equally frightening.

Hookers

[dagg]

This will be a boon for hookers. Here's a quote that was lost:

As he sees it, the crowds who surround us every day constitute a huge waste of johns and hookers. If you live in a city for instance, there are many who pass within a few yards of you each day who could give you a blow job, hand job, or kick in the jimmy (the fun way).

--
Find yer sex remotely

Ad hoc drug dealing

[GigsVT]

If you live in a city for instance, there are many who pass within a few yards of you each day who could give you a ride home, buy an item you're trying to sell,

No longer will drug dealers have to stand suspiciously on corners or in parks!

hrm

[carpe_noctem]

-sniff-...my network needs to be washed.

So when...

[sielwolf]

Is the first War-Pantsing going to occur?

"Woah, I sure hope that's a 802.11b antenna poking into my backside!"

Re:Why worried?

[zanerock]

Why would you be wearing a computer that broedcasts your personal information? Sure, they'll be commercial things that do this, but not all will, and if nothing else, carry a linux install (or whatever) in your pocket.

Or the people who:

[iamwoodyjones]

1) Want to stuff you into a barrell.
2) Want to rip you off.
3) Put you in their basement forever.
4) Want to spam you constantly for deals. Can't wait for the first Nigerian coat spam scam.
5) Trolls who will be constantly broadcasting that, "In Russia, you are the wearable computer...Searching for girls named Natilie and grits...First Shirt Post...Hey is this a first of a beowulf of cloths!"

A justification for technology, not a reason

[mickwd]

From the article: "If you live in a city for instance, there are many who pass within a few yards of you each day who could give you a ride home, buy an item you're trying to sell, or consider you as dating material."

So why not open your mouth and talk to some of them ?

Re:A justification for technology, not a reason

[Black_Logic]

What, ask everyone on the sidewalk if they want to buy your old network cards/computer parts and if they like long, moonlit walks on the beach? Seems silly to me. I don't think it's a justification at all, and it seems to me that this technology *would* get people talking!

Re:A justification for technology, not a reason

[nEoN nOoDlE]

How about because you don't know them? If you're looking for a ride home for instance, are you going to ask any and every stranger on the street if they are going in the same direction? Or if they're selling exactly the thing you're looking for? of course not. I think this would be a very good thing since it will definately open up communication between strangers.

Re:A justification for technology, not a reason

[goon america]

So why not open your mouth and talk to some of them ?

Because your wearable computer (AKA cellphone) can talk to EVERYONE in a 100 yard radius INSTANTLY and determine for you which will be likely to be the most interesting for a voice-based chat.

Re:A justification for technology, not a reason

[Travoltus]

You would not want to try and FORCE people into interacting with others on terms that they do not find desirable. This is already the cause of friction and conflict, hatreds, and violence.

Striking up conversations with strangers is becoming more and more hazardous - emotionally and, sometimes, physically - and less and less fulfilling.

The success or failure of this new technology is a direct testament to the dis/satisfaction people have with traditional interpersonal communication.

Rather than try and plug up all new and unexplored methods of coping, why don't we step aside, allow technology to give us new methods, and let the people tell us how they feel about the system, and thus, what they see as proper reform?

Maybe this new system will fail. Maybe it will succeed and we will be forced to re-examine the system of interpersonal communication.

Techno geeks pissing on this new development is as backwater, ignorant, intolerant, and close-minded, as those who screamed about the telegraph, radio and television... ... or Luddism going to be the wave of the future...?

incidentally, that article is the exact same one

[deft]

that the "borg weekly" ran 250 years ago.

Do we really want to meet anymore people?

[c13v3rm0nk3y]

Speaking as someone who has lived and worked in some of the busiest urban areas in the world, my feelings are that most of us have already made all the "connections" we need.

Most of us spend our time deliberately ignoring each other, as even the smallest new interpersonal relationship can only offer so much in exchange for the necessary work.

Perhaps the article is meant to be more of a projection based on how the internet has change how we build relationships. Speaking only for myself, when I'm on my way home or to the office, the last thing I need is yet another social interaction with a stranger. Especially if this interaction is some banal eBay exchange or "hi want to chat?" ping. I already have enough places to meet people for commerce and dating, thank you very much.

Maybe the same folks who use IRC or instant messenging 24 hours a day will like this kind of anonymous mobile communication. Perhaps they will build fluid and mobile communities that move from area to area.

I just don't it fitting into my life, or anyone I spend time with.

java phones

[austad]

I was thinking about this last week with a couple of friends. With the new mobile phones that are being released which have Java capabilities, it would likely be trivial to write an app which would scan your area for other bluetooth devices running the same app, and do a comparison of the data you've entered to see if you are a match. Whether you are looking to buy or sell something, find a ride, or find a date, you could enter this info into your phone, and when it finds another in range with matching interests, it can beep/vibrate/send your photo to the other phone/etc.

Unfortunately, I think the latest java compliant nokia doesn't have bluetooth, and my t68i doesn't have java. I think the Ericsson P800 is going to have both, and siemens is supposed to be releasing a new one in january that I think has both of these features. The real barrier to this is getting people to install it on their phones, most people aren't technical enough to know how to do it, most people aren't going to pay for the app so it would have to be free, but probably the best way would be to convince some wireless provider to just preload it on their phones and advertise it as a feature to get more customers. Which may not be so hard to do since it's a very interesting use of technology which real people may have an interest in, and it shouldn't be hard to design either.

Yet another spam delivery vehicle?

[VenTatsu]

I can't wait till I walk down the street, my wearable stating that I'm single, and I receive a message like "Looking for a guy like you, check out my live web cam and chat at TeenCollegeSluts.com" every ten steps.

Re:driving?

[Subcarrier]

Yeah a HUD will work great when driving. Trying to read an email and drive 65mph at the same time?

Who says you have to read emails while driving? Think new applications. You could receive audiovisual driving instructions, alerts, traffic updates, etc. Traffic signs could broadcast a wireless signal so you see them a mile away no matter if they are covered in snow or grime.

In general, the main thing about about wearable computing is about improving the user interfaces. A T9 keypad and an LCD display the size of your thumb just don't cut it.

Virus

[Gudlyf]

Now when someone says, "stay away from him -- he's got some kind of virus," it won't just mean someone's got the flu.

A bar scene...

[Sayjack]

As I scan the bar....

nmap girl.in.corner.of.bar

Starting nmap V. 3.00 ( www.insecure.org/nmap/ )
Interesting ports on girl.in.corner.of.bar (192.168.1.23):
(The 1596 ports scanned but not shown below are in state: closed)
Port State Service
13/tcp open daytime
517/udb open talk

Muttering to myself...damn, port 79 is closed...
Did I just post this? Gawd I'm a geek....