July 6, 2009 at 7:40 Mobile devices: the idea of the device
Recently I read a book by Howard Rheingold's "smart crowd. The New Social Revolution. ” In short, the book talks about the impact of information technology in general and mobile communications in particular on the life and development of our society. In addition, it is concluded that the main places of the center of the population of the Earth will be inundated with microcircuits that can communicate with each other. People equipped with such devices will constitute “smart crowds,” and their communication will take on unprecedented forms and opportunities. "
Based on what was read in the book, as well as thoughts expressed in the article on stickers , the idea of a device was born that would be nice to streamline a bit.
So imagine a device that:
1. Has a compact size, such as a flash drive or keychain.
2. Equipped with a certain short-range wireless interface (or several).
3. Long battery life.
4. Contains a unique ID.
5. It costs a little, and therefore is accessible to the masses.
Next, imagine that, being in the on state, this device is capable of detecting the presence of other similar devices in a small radius (for example, 10-20 meters) and interacting with them. What can this give us?
1. Exchange of contacts.
If we assume that the ID of each device is unique - you can uniquely associate the owner profile with this ID, that is, get an “iron” account in the network of owners of this device. In the profile, you can specify all the necessary contact details (phone, photo, accounts in other social networks, instant messengers, etc.). Thus, when meeting a person, it will be enough to press a button to transfer contact information from the memory of your device to the memory of the device of a new friend.
2. Automatic search.
Suppose, in automatic mode, the device is constantly trying to determine the presence of other devices in the available range, and if these are found, exchange their data with them (for example, only your ID). Thus, the identifiers of people who visited during the day from you within a radius of 10-30 meters are stored in the memory of your device. In the evening, having come home and connecting the device to the computer, you can view the profiles of these people online (similar to viewing people who visited your page in Odnoklassniki).
3. Dating.
In this mode, the device determines the presence in the accessible radius of devices with the specified parameters of the owner’s profile (for example, we want to meet a girl-programmer listening to drum & bass). If there are any, the device somehow signals this (backlight, vibro).
4. Friends of friends.
If the wireless interface allows, you can implement some of the routing protocols and provide the ability to communicate to devices located far (farther than the range of the wireless interface) from each other, through intermediate nodes. Thus, in the presence of intermediate links, you can define and share information with “friends of your friends” (by analogy with existing social networks).
5. The network.
If the bandwidth of the wireless interface allows, then it will be possible, by connecting the device to a computer / phone / PDA, to provide a network connection in the usual sense - the exchange of messages, files, access to the Internet, etc.
6. Information, advertising.
Installing such a device in scan mode in the store will allow the store to find out that you entered it and in the future (if you wish) to inform you about new products / discounts / promotions by e-mail (or something else) specified in your profile. Or, if you are walking within the radius of the device of a nearby store - information about new products / discounts / promotions can be transferred directly to your device.
7. Ratings.
In the wake of the sticker article: the owner of the device has the ability to rate (tag, review, etc.) the owner of another device (be it a person or, for example, a store). Ratings are stored centrally and can be viewed online. The device’s uniqueness to a certain extent identifies the evaluator, and can also prevent rating wraps (because for multiple ratings, you must have as many devices on hand).
All of the above probably causes a lot of questions. Here I am interested in the opinion of the community, because I have many questions.
The main question is what is the advisability of creating such a device?
One way or another, similar ideas have already arisen in the form of separate devices or technologies: special keychains for dating (I think they were common in Japan, I couldn’t find the link quickly), gadgets for sharing social network profiles, Bluetooth marketing and advertising campaigns.
However, in each case only one of the possibilities was realized. Does it make sense to create a universal device with which all described (and other) features can be implemented?
The second question is what other possibilities come to your mind besides those described?
The third question is which wireless interface could be the basis of the device?
Bluetooth? ZigBee? HomeRF? Personally, I really like UWB technology, I have been following its formation for a long time, it’s a pity that things are going somehow tightly with it. Its main problem is that with increasing distance between nodes, the transmission speed is significantly reduced. For example, at distances of the order of 3 m, a speed of 480 Mbit / s is provided, at 10 m the speed drops to 110 Mbit / s. However, for our hypothetical device this is enough with the head. Moreover, the component base exists - surface google shows that UWB chips and everything related are offered by many companies (for example, chips from Artimi , Wisair , Alereon) If I’m not mistaken, then these chips also support Bluetooth, which makes it possible to control / use our device using a regular mobile phone or PDA with Bluetooth.
The fourth question is, suppose the idea is good. What is the cost estimate for the development of the device?
Since I am not an expert in systems engineering, it is quite difficult for me to imagine and evaluate the process of designing and developing such a device. What can be the minimum cost of this device? I would like to hear the opinions of versed people.
The fifth question is what is the complexity of the implementation?
Suppose the device is created. What licenses and what else is needed to start selling it legally?
Will we discuss it?
Based on what was read in the book, as well as thoughts expressed in the article on stickers , the idea of a device was born that would be nice to streamline a bit.
So imagine a device that:
1. Has a compact size, such as a flash drive or keychain.
2. Equipped with a certain short-range wireless interface (or several).
3. Long battery life.
4. Contains a unique ID.
5. It costs a little, and therefore is accessible to the masses.
Next, imagine that, being in the on state, this device is capable of detecting the presence of other similar devices in a small radius (for example, 10-20 meters) and interacting with them. What can this give us?
1. Exchange of contacts.
If we assume that the ID of each device is unique - you can uniquely associate the owner profile with this ID, that is, get an “iron” account in the network of owners of this device. In the profile, you can specify all the necessary contact details (phone, photo, accounts in other social networks, instant messengers, etc.). Thus, when meeting a person, it will be enough to press a button to transfer contact information from the memory of your device to the memory of the device of a new friend.
2. Automatic search.
Suppose, in automatic mode, the device is constantly trying to determine the presence of other devices in the available range, and if these are found, exchange their data with them (for example, only your ID). Thus, the identifiers of people who visited during the day from you within a radius of 10-30 meters are stored in the memory of your device. In the evening, having come home and connecting the device to the computer, you can view the profiles of these people online (similar to viewing people who visited your page in Odnoklassniki).
3. Dating.
In this mode, the device determines the presence in the accessible radius of devices with the specified parameters of the owner’s profile (for example, we want to meet a girl-programmer listening to drum & bass). If there are any, the device somehow signals this (backlight, vibro).
4. Friends of friends.
If the wireless interface allows, you can implement some of the routing protocols and provide the ability to communicate to devices located far (farther than the range of the wireless interface) from each other, through intermediate nodes. Thus, in the presence of intermediate links, you can define and share information with “friends of your friends” (by analogy with existing social networks).
5. The network.
If the bandwidth of the wireless interface allows, then it will be possible, by connecting the device to a computer / phone / PDA, to provide a network connection in the usual sense - the exchange of messages, files, access to the Internet, etc.
6. Information, advertising.
Installing such a device in scan mode in the store will allow the store to find out that you entered it and in the future (if you wish) to inform you about new products / discounts / promotions by e-mail (or something else) specified in your profile. Or, if you are walking within the radius of the device of a nearby store - information about new products / discounts / promotions can be transferred directly to your device.
7. Ratings.
In the wake of the sticker article: the owner of the device has the ability to rate (tag, review, etc.) the owner of another device (be it a person or, for example, a store). Ratings are stored centrally and can be viewed online. The device’s uniqueness to a certain extent identifies the evaluator, and can also prevent rating wraps (because for multiple ratings, you must have as many devices on hand).
All of the above probably causes a lot of questions. Here I am interested in the opinion of the community, because I have many questions.
The main question is what is the advisability of creating such a device?
One way or another, similar ideas have already arisen in the form of separate devices or technologies: special keychains for dating (I think they were common in Japan, I couldn’t find the link quickly), gadgets for sharing social network profiles, Bluetooth marketing and advertising campaigns.
However, in each case only one of the possibilities was realized. Does it make sense to create a universal device with which all described (and other) features can be implemented?
The second question is what other possibilities come to your mind besides those described?
The third question is which wireless interface could be the basis of the device?
Bluetooth? ZigBee? HomeRF? Personally, I really like UWB technology, I have been following its formation for a long time, it’s a pity that things are going somehow tightly with it. Its main problem is that with increasing distance between nodes, the transmission speed is significantly reduced. For example, at distances of the order of 3 m, a speed of 480 Mbit / s is provided, at 10 m the speed drops to 110 Mbit / s. However, for our hypothetical device this is enough with the head. Moreover, the component base exists - surface google shows that UWB chips and everything related are offered by many companies (for example, chips from Artimi , Wisair , Alereon) If I’m not mistaken, then these chips also support Bluetooth, which makes it possible to control / use our device using a regular mobile phone or PDA with Bluetooth.
The fourth question is, suppose the idea is good. What is the cost estimate for the development of the device?
Since I am not an expert in systems engineering, it is quite difficult for me to imagine and evaluate the process of designing and developing such a device. What can be the minimum cost of this device? I would like to hear the opinions of versed people.
The fifth question is what is the complexity of the implementation?
Suppose the device is created. What licenses and what else is needed to start selling it legally?
Will we discuss it?