This is so deja-vu. “Wild” ideas of local wireless LANs and such ARE being implemented out there. Project PlaceSite, based at SIMS at Berkeley, introduces a new way of using wireless networks — to create digital community services by, for and about people who are together in the same physical place. When you are somewhere with wireless, the page that loads when you open your browser is a PlaceSite page that tells you where you are and shows you all the other people in that location, who can choose to share as much or as little information about themselves as they want. It doesn’t require special software or hardware, it’s been tested in a coffee shop in Berkeley, it will launch in cafes around the Bay Area soon (?), and then the code will be released as an open source project. And I have a (geek) crush on all three founders. All in all, sounds like a great project.
On a more academic level:
- they’re asking some interesting questions, like ->What information, if any, would people like to share digitally with others in the same public place? How will the introduction of a digital information service by, for and about people in a physical café affect social interactions in that café? All in the context of larger questions about the effects of pervasive computing, aiming to use it to “strengthen community” and to maximize its social benefit…
- they’re working with interesting key concepts such as the “zombie effect” or “the third place”. my eyes hurt, need to print and read over coffee.
Oh, and the “related work” link on the page is now sending me off on an A.D.D. trip, wanting to look into this all RIGHT NOW instead of doing whatever it is I am supposed to. I don’t even remember.
