Mobiscopes for Human Spaces

Here's a great article on Mobiscopes (?!) called Mobiscopes for Human Spaces that discusses sensor networks:

A mobiscope is a federation of distributed mobile sensors into a taskable sensing system that achieves high-density sampling coverage over a wide area through mobility. Mobiscopes affordably extend into regions that static sensors cannot, proving especially useful for applications that only occasionally require data from each location. They represent a new type of infrastructure—virtual in that a given node can participate in forming more than one mobiscope, but physically coupled to the environment through carriers, including people and vehicles. Mobiscope applications include public-health epidemiological studies of human exposure using mobile phones and real-time, fine-grained automobile traffic characterization using sensors on fleet vehicles.

You can also read the entire proposal as a PDF version.

Well worth a read if you're into sensors!

Via Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends

Also from Piquepaille's site, an interesting post on 'Digital privacy behind virtual walls'
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Cities turn to GPS to wipe out graffiti

CNet News reports that GPS, digital photography and computer databases are helping some cities battle to obliterate graffiti:

Graffiti Tracker takes pictures of graffiti before it's painted over, using GPS cameras that record the date, time and exact location. The company analyzes the graffiti, for example checking whether it is gang-related, and stores the pictures in its database...

...Police use the information to track or predict where a particular tagger will strike next. Once perpetrators are caught, law enforcement has evidence to prosecute them for a string of offenses.

Tracking the tagger now!

Read the full story - 'Cities turn to GPS to wipe out graffiti'

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Tracking contaminated airline cabins

Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends discusses new sensor technology for detecting hazardous toxins in an airplane:

With the numbers of airline passengers always increasing, the regulation authorities are more concerned than ever by the possible contamination of air cabins by contagious viruses, such as SARS or H5N1. This is why Purdue University researchers have developed a system that can track a pathogen substance to an area the size of a single seat. The system uses sensors to locate passengers releasing hazardous materials. But more importantly, it uses a mathematical technique, called 'inverse simulation,' which analyzes 'how a material disperses throughout the cabin and then runs the dispersion in reverse to find its origin.' This system could one day alert the pilots in real time -- and even be deployed in office buildings.

Read in full in Tracking contaminated airline cabins

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Innovations in Computing

A couple of new 'news' stories recently broadcast are of interest here. First, there is Microsoft's 'looks like a normal coffee table' PC:

After years of covert development, Microsoft says it will release a computer that uses the tabletop as its high-resolution display, recognizes objects placed on the surface and skips the traditional keyboard and mouse in favor of fingers on the screen.

The company envisions a variety of uses. In one example, people place a card on the table to call up a virtual stack of digital photos from a computer server and then rotate, resize and spread them across the table using their hands. In another, diners split a tab by dragging icons of their meals to their credit cards.

Read more in 'Microsoft Surface brings computing to the table'

Secondly, BusinessWeek has a piece on 'Dawn of the Ultra Mobile PC' which talks about the race to bring out the latest gizmo devices:

It's an ultracompact computer with a twist. Palm is positioning the sleek clamshell device, which will sell for $499 after a rebate, as an alternative to carrying a larger, conventional laptop. It offers a nearly full-size keyboard, a 10-inch display, and comes with a selection of applications including a word processor and spreadsheet. But Hawkins believes it will be most useful when people also carry smartphones, like Treos or BlackBerrys (RIMM), and transfer e-mail to Foleo when they're in sit-down mode. "It's a companion to your phone and companion to you,"

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Robotic ecologies

In an interesting architectural piece from Roland Piquepaille's post Architecture and 'robotic ecologies' the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Architecture has started a new program about 'robotic ecologies':

"This research is not just about architectural machines that move. It is about groups of architectural machines that move with intelligence." Apparently, buildings tracking our movements and adapting their shape or texture according human presence are not far fetched. Maybe one day, we'll talk to our homes and they'll answer...

picture courtesy of Roland Piquepaille's site

Above is a picture of "Super Galaxy, a NYC Tropospheric Refuge." This is "a high-rise apartment complex that's constantly in motion and responds to the needs of its inhabitants."

Read more over at Architecture and 'robotic ecologies'

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Cosmopolitan paradoxes

Cosmopolitan paradoxes:
Migration and emergent systems of transnational rights

Mediterranean Mobilities Network, CeMoRe: www.medmobilities.net

29 June 2007, 10:30-16:30

@ the Institute for Advanced Studies, Lancaster University

SPEAKERS

Professor Lydia Morris, Department of Sociology, University of Essex
‘Managing contradiction: Civic stratification and migrant rights in Europe’

Dr Liza Schuster, Department of Sociology, City University
‘The realities of the New Asylum paradigm’

Dr Eleni Hatzidimitriadou, European Centre for the Study of Migration and Social Care, University of Kent

‘Matters of agency and social transformation for migrant women from Mediterranean countries’

Dr Gabriella Lazaridis, Department of Sociology, University of Leicester

‘Social capital, agency and pathways to inclusion: The case of Albanian migrant women in Greece’

Please contact Pennie Drinkall if you would like to attend at p.drinkall@lancaster.ac.uk

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Designing mobiles for the world

BBCNews in 'Designing mobiles for the world' discusses not so much how mobile phones have shaped global communications but rather who shapes mobiles:

Jan Chipchase tours the world looking at how people use mobile phones in their everyday lives and, more broadly, how people live.

"This is my office, my workspace," he says, pointing to a map of the world. In the last 12 months he has visited 15 countries, carrying out eight full-scale research projects.

Mr Chipchase's focus is on the uses to which people put their phones; where they keep them, how they answer them, and a million other details about our relationships with these devices that have helped shape our world. On the street, in homes, in the office, in pockets, handbags, at the marketplace, and in the community - Mr Chipchase tries to put mobile phone use into the context of the culture and landscape he is in.

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The day the Earth became an 'urban planet'

May 23, 2007, transition day based on the average daily rural and urban population increases from 2005 to 2010. On that day, a predicted global urban population of 3,303,992,253 will exceed that of 3,303,866,404 rural people.

Jamais Cascio notes in his blog Open the Future that 'Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - It's the day the Earth became an urban planet':

For the first time in history, more people live in cities than in rural areas. This is, in many ways, the single most important indicator of whether we'll survive this century. Here's why:

Urban centers support people more efficiently than do small towns, villages, and the countryside. This isn't just true environmentally or economically; it's arguably also the case when it comes to the kind of intellectual ferment that drives innovation. New ideas are the sparks coming from the friction between minds -- and you get a lot more friction in the city. Urban growth, over time, makes us all stronger.

Cities require complex support systems, however. Complex infrastructure offers plenty of opportunities for failure, whether via natural disasters or human causation. Isolated failures will happen, and not pose a systemic threat. But repeated -- or un-repaired -- system failures would inevitably drive people out of the cities, by choice or by necessity.

Read more here

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Beijing Auto Fleet to Top 3 Million

GreenCarCongress writes in 'Beijing Auto Fleet to Top 3 Million by June' that the number of automobiles in Beijing will reach 3 million by June, according to Mayor Wang Qishan.

The number of newly registered automobiles in Beijing is growing by 1,000 a day. According to Wang, cars registered in Beijing reached 2.997 million by this past week, of which 2.18 million are privately owned.

“The fast increase in the number of automobiles in the city has not only brought along traffic congestion, but also posed great pressure to the city in fields such as resources and environment,” said Wang.

Consumerist mobility on the increase; sustainability in question...

World Congress on Time, Frequency and Navigation

Geneva, Switzerland, is the focus for satellite navigation this week as it hosts the first World Congress on Time, Frequency and Navigation. The event runs from 29 May until 1 June:

There will in fact be two events held at the same location. The 11th European Navigation Conference – Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ENC–GNSS) will focus on both the present status of and future developments in navigation systems. The conference brings together the scientific community, private sector and international navigation organizations with the goal of sharing research ideas and promoting development in the field of navigation.

The European Frequency and Time Forum (EFTF) – Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Frequency Control Symposium (IEEE-FCS) joint meeting will be held concurrently.

Read more in 'World satellite navigation congress in Geneva'

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Early Warning System to Prevent Pandemics

The Lifeboat Foundation have an interesting and informative post on tracking the progression of pathogens. In 'Researchers Endorse Global Early Warning System to Prevent Pandemics' the author Brian Wang says that

Five evolutionary stages of pathogen progression from animals to human transmission have been identified. A proposed monitoring system of viral chatter has been proposed to provide warning of new diseases before they spread to humans.

A good read...

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Food for the future?

NewScientist Environment has a latest addition to the discussions on energy fuels for cars in the future. In their article 'Starch diet could power car of the future' they say that:

Green cars of the future could run on a syrupy mixture of starch and water, according to new research.

Researchers have found a cocktail of enzymes that converts starchy syrups to hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen can then be fed into a fuel cell to run an electric car, or even used in an ordinary combustion engine.

The team says its technology is the solution to three major hurdles that stand between us and a hydrogen economy: safe and cheap production, storage and transportation of hydrogen.

Well, at least it's a different approach than cutting down crops...

The Digital Nexus of Post-Automobility

Finally, I am happy to report that our first CeMoRe report from the 'Alternative Automobility Futures' project is available as a pdf download:

The Digital Nexus of Post-Automobility by Kingsley Dennis & John Urry


ABSTRACT

Rapid dynamic changes in several key areas are transforming the physical geography of global regions as well as their interrelations. In this Report we set out a list of processes that we consider pose significant influence upon future mobilities, lifestyles, and social relations. We identify these as global climate change; global security and the ‘War on Terror’; digital technologies and pervasive computing; and the rise in complexity thinking. This Report demonstrates how their possible combination and synthesis could impact upon mobility trends within technologically developed regions, specifically upon automobilities. Taken individually they pose significant impact; taken together they have the momentum, power, and potential to create major shifts in how socio-technical mobilities are framed. By taking automobilities, and their transformation, as the focus we outline how we conceive a possible shift occurring that would take individualised automobility use from a series to a nexus system, particularly one framed within physical/digital networks. Principally we frame these dynamic systemic changes as shifting the car system from being autonomous to becoming post-car automation. This transition would take place within a parallel shift towards increased digitisation of physical movement whereby coded environments and software-sorting systems would frame such future mobilities.

This online paper may be cited or briefly quoted in line with the usual academic conventions. You may also download them for your own personal use. Any comments welcome!

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Mobility Going Mainstream

Technology News reports that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of recognised mobile workers:

Well over a third of executives reported that at least 20 percent of their employees can be considered mobile workers, according to a global survey conducted by Nokia and the Economist Intelligence Unit. Far from being a requirement for just a few specialized technology firms, business mobility is now seen as broadly applicable to companies in many industrial sectors...

...Nokia and EIU polled more than 500 global executives across a range of industries to find out how their organizations were using business mobility. The survey's finding revealed a keen interest in mobility technology that CIOs recognize as reducing operating costs, improving workforce agility and collaboration, and attracting and retaining the best talent.

Well over a third of executives reported that at least 20 percent of their employees can be considered mobile workers, defined as those who spend at least one day a week away from the office. Far from being a requirement for just a few specialized technology firms, business mobility is now seen as broadly applicable to companies in many industrial sectors, the survey showed.

Read in full here

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Science Journal goes 'Second Life'

Another addition to Second Life! Now Nature, the well-known scientific publication, is becoming a multimedia platform that includes include blogs, podcasts and even a Second Life presence:

Nature's presence on Second Life: As shocking as the Queen moving to Las Vegas
Timo Twin wanders along a beach looking slightly confused, then zigzags up a nearby hill. "Finally! I knew it was here somewhere," he says. Across a vast square the logo of his company, Nature, is emblazoned in big white letters on a red background.

Twin has arrived in his new realm, on an island in the online role-playing game Second Life. The name of the island is fitting: Second Nature. The avatar bears only a vague resemblance to the real-life Timo, a tall man in his late 30s with a slightly round, Harry Potter-like face. His real name is Timo Hannay, and he is something like the representative of the scientific journal Nature in the virtual world.

Read the full story in Spiegel's 'For Science Journal, Web Is 'Second Nature''

Urbanization of Panic

The excellent and highly recommended blog Subtopia recently posted a piece calledUrbanization of Panic (from which the above photo was taken) in which was discussed how 'panic has become the main ingredient that binds the urban experience, perhaps even determines the geopolitical climate as well'. The post also referred to an interesting brief article called City of Panic written by Franco Berardi in the journal Voices of Resistance from Occupied London, from which I take a couple of quotes:

The metropolis is a surface of complexity in the territorial domain. The social organism is unable to process the overwhelmingly complex experience of metropolitan chaos. The proliferation of lines of communication has created a new kind of chaotic perception...

...The city of panic is the place where nobody has the time anymore to get close to each other, for the caresses for the pleasure or for the slowness of whispered words. Advertisement exalts and stimulates the libidinous attention, person to person communication multiplies the promises of encounters, but these promises never get fulfilled. Desire turns into anxiety and time contracts.

The industrial-urban over-stimulation and media-kill is a rising facet of urbanized spaces, along with increased wireless information flows...

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Global net censorship 'growing'

BBCNews reports in 'Global net censorship 'growing'' how state-led censorship of the net still continues to grow around the world:

The study of thousands of websites across 120 Internet Service Providers found 25 of 41 countries surveyed showed evidence of content filtering. Websites and services such as Skype and Google Maps were blocked, it said.

Such "state-mandated net filtering" was only being carried out in "a couple" of states in 2002, one researcher said. "In five years we have gone from a couple of states doing state-mandated net filtering to 25," said John Palfrey, at Harvard Law School.

Still the contestations between top-down hierarchy and bottom-up activism and open participation - when will the control freaks stop??

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MediaCity: UK

This is an interesting development in urban new media and architecture, based in Manchester - it's called MediaCity: UK and, according to the website blurb:

MediaCity:UK is a new media city, an innovative, creative hub, to rival other new media cities emerging around the world.

MediaCity:UK is surrounded by water. At its heart is a triangle of iconic buildings, The Lowry, Imperial War Museum and a new media complex, home to the BBC.

A new network of tightly knit streets, squares and boulevards will cascade down into a huge waterfront piazza, a place to watch the sunset, enjoy a drink or a concert, and have some great conversations.

MediaCity:UK, based at Salford Quays, is Manchester’s waterfront. It enjoys all the benefits of the City Centre, with the space for an explosion of new media and creative industries.

MediaCity:UK is for people of all ages to live, to work, to learn, to create, to think, to relax, to visit, to enjoy…and to dream.

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Phone as a Virtual Tour Guide

This TechReview article talks about how mobile phones and PDAs are using built-in sensors that can detect position, light, and motion:

Now researchers at Hewlett-Packard's (HP) Bristol, UK, lab are writing software that lets people have a little fun with these sensors. Last week, HP Labs launched a site that offers location-based games and city walking tours. The site also offers a tool called a wizard for modifying some of the existing games and tours, and a downloadable software-writing tool kit for more-advanced users who want to create applications from scratch.

"We think this will be a new genre and a new medium of experience," says Phil Stenton, research manager for the project, known as mscapes.

The HP project combines physical data with virtual information, a concept that's known as augmented reality. As location-based technologies have improved and PDAs have become more powerful, various forms of augmented reality have been gaining traction. Nokia is working on a project, for instance, that will help people navigate new areas. The user simply points a cell-phone camera at a restaurant or office building, and, using GPS coordinates, software associates a hyperlink with the image. (See "Hyperlinking Reality via Phones.") In the commercial world, some museums and tour companies--including one that takes people around San Francisco--use location-detecting gadgets to guide sightseers.

So now we're moving towards sensoring the future through our phones...

UK Social Network Conference

UK Social Network Conference:

13-14 July 2007
Queen Mary College
University of London
E1 4NS London
United Kingdom

The UK Social Network Conference offers an interdisciplinary venue for social and behavioural scientists, mathematicians, computer scientists, physicists, statisticians, and others to present their work in the area of social networks. The primary objective of the Conference is to facilitate interactions between the many different disciplines interested in network science. The Conference provides a unique opportunity for the dissemination and debate of recent advances in experimental, theoretical and applied network research.

***Important dates***
Abstract Submission Deadline: Monday 21st May Registration Deadline: Monday 4th June

***Conference website***
www.busman.qmul.ac.uk/networks