Social software apps using mobile phones · 2004-02-11 20:32

Social software apps using mobile phones
ITP

dodgeball.com

text messaging app – 5 cities in the US
location based service
tell us where you are, and we’ll tell you who and what is around
focus on building things that real people can use now

(uses sms to email??)

dodgeball guide – user generated content on venues
circles – friend finder application
go onto the website to setup circles of friends
send your location by text, finds people nearby and send them a message that you’re there
scout – relationships based on proximity
listen to events in the area (e.g. 10 blocks)

why is it different?

opt-in location tracking
focus on landmarks, not street addresses
take advantage of near ubiquity of text messaging
only push content that people can act on / always relevant

“start thinking of phone as more than just a voice tool” – [heh, we’re now trying to go back the other way]

***

fiasco

street game for mixed physical/digital play

interests:
mixing on and offline communities
opportunities for revitalising public space

fiasco:
people take over street corners by participating in small pieces of street theater
make alliances and enemies as jostle for space
object is to dominate the map by putting one’s dignity on the line!

design research
‘turf’ – street as territory
tagging – personal mark making, identity in public places
street games – hopscotch
psychogeography – meaning and places, street as narritive
public performance – guerilla theatre
fun – santacon

alert given – 20 mins, Tompkin Sq Park
the stunt – player has to top previous player’s stunt
elements from website: object from city, urban situation, action
friend takes photos and uploads
website acts as amplifier, and sends out
other players then rate against reigning player
after a week, the challenge is closed, and map is updated

being built atm, roll out in spring

will people actually play the game?
how does conventional mapping change with social dynamics
capture richness/riskyness of physical world in game design

***

modus

problem – sharing personal media

http://stage.itp.tsoa.nyu.edu/~dc788/spring2003/netobjects/modus/

music selection in public spaces is not in the hands of the people
traditional jukebox is too passive
digital distribution systems are short-sighted

expedience, discovery and distribution

website – upload songs to a bar
username attached
personalities created over time
and how taste of music evolves

bar code reader on jukeboxes, given users cards, and user can swipe cards if they hear something interesting

how can you get people the music and still be legal?

tied into dodgeball
when you say you’re somewhere, jukebox pulls up your songs

***

interactive telejournalism

low cost live interactive news tv production

utilises ‘freely available’ broadband wireless networking

streams from telejournalists
comments from audience relayed back to journalists

push the meaning of interactive tv
tv isn’t going to go away
utilise stregths of internet and strengths of television

anytime, anywhere news gathering

http://www.walking-productions.com/itj/

****
Q: how do you deal with nonstandard vocabulary – e.g. names of places?
street addresses were really hard to parse
strips out spaces and punctuation to try and match
refines with user if there are similar results

Q: how will the interactive tv deal with quality?
more a homegrown CSPAN than a news show
more human may make it more engaging with viewers
role of the anchor becomes something different – good interfaces for the moderator

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