INFORM - Mobile Urban Exploration

The following was published in Inform magazine's January 2010 edition :

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INFORM - Mobile Urban Exploration
2009/10/11
by Will Rourk

Developments are being made today that are exploiting your phone's ability to supplement your 'real space' experiences. A particular area of this is focusing on the optical reader in most mobile phone cameras. Object hyperlinking, also known as mobile tagging, uses a mobile phone camera to read a special 2 dimensional graphic that can connect your phone instantly to network information. A group of specially coded graphics called QR (Quick Response) codes can hold alphanumeric information in the form of text information, phone numbers, email addresses, SMS texting messages, even geo location information and especially URLs. A QR code is composed of an encoded square data matrix that works much like a barcode where you have a target that graphically represents encoded information, and a reader - your mobile device - that can make sense of the coded message and reveal its contents to you. QR codes have gained large appeal in Japan where they were first developed, and are used in many aspects of modern culture, linking people to information regarding products, people and places via their mobile handsets. QR codes have been affixed to buildings as large posters or small, discreet icons that can instantly connect people with information regarding their surroundings.

These coded graphics have been widely adopted in Asia and Europe but are still slow to catch on in the US. However, an art project exploring the potential of physically encoding the built environment took place in New York City in 2004 called Yellow Arrows. The Yellow Arrow project sought to explore new ways of exploring city spaces via mobile technologies in developing what is becoming recognized as the geospatial web. Participants placed yellow arrow markers in public places that they found particularly engaging. The marker would direct its audience - anyone taking notice of the arrows - to send an SMS text message to a number that would then reveal something interesting or particular about the space they currently occupied. In this way, the arrows curated a whole new experience of urban spaces and objects. QR codes are doing much the same today, but more instantly and effectively, connecting people directly to information much the same way that captions do for museum pieces, except that the content accessed through a web browser can be more enriching and expressive than just text.

The future for object hyperlinking most probably will evolve into some non-physical agent of information connection. RFID tags (Radio Frequency Identification) have been widely used for some time now, mostly replacing barcodes as the means of containing retail product information. But the same means of information could be used to encode urban information, broadcast out to mobile device receivers. Another more promising technology is geo location. Currently geo location is becoming the next wave of social networking connecting people to people based on current location determined by your mobile device's GPS. Being in the "right" place could keep you instantly connected and informed. Most of these technologies are free to utilize with free reader apps for most major smart phones and code generators provided by developers such as Kaywa, Upcode, Shotcode and especially Google's Zxing project. With these tools all we need to do is just encode the content and curate our own experiences of the places around us.

For more information about QR codes and mobile tagging technologies please visit Will Rourk's blog at http://rezn8r.blogspot.com or at this QR code:

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INFORM - iPhone uPhone weAllPhone Will Rourk

The following was published in Inform magazine's Fall 2009 edition :

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iPhone uPhone weAllPhone
Will Rourk
2009-07-25

Apple Computer's iPhone has been a leader in the field of "super smart" phones by elevating mobile device technology to the level of a true computing platform, spurring the development of software that extends and customizes mobile phone functionality. The App Store has been the key agent in mobile accessibility by allowing iPhone and iPod Touch users the ability to download custom applications, or apps, directly to their devices with a network connection. This is a model that most mobile device providers are following today, such as Blackberry's App World, Google Android's Marketplace or Nokia's Ovi Store and the soon to be released Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

The enhanced functionality afforded by today's mobile phones can be a convenient supplement to office computing. Consider the network tools that come pre-installed on an iPhone. You can stay connected to your office and clients in a variety of ways over AT&T's EDGE and 3G networks, as well as WiFi, with built-in SMS texting, calendars and of course voice connection service. With push techology Apple integrates all of your communications features with its MobileMe integrated mobile service allowing instant syncing of text and voice messages, contacts, schedules and web browser favorites between your workstation, laptop and iPhone/iPod Touch. Recently Apple has released the MobileMe Control Panel for Windows so you can sync up your Outlook calendars and contacts and even your Internet Explorer bookmarks to your iPhone. An alternative to this is Google Sync which uses Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to allow syncing with your Outlook calendar as well as your Google calendars and Gmail contacts.

3rd party apps expand functionality into areas such as project management with client apps like Merlin that keep you up to date with project info stored on your servers. There are project collaboration apps like FuzeMeeting from Callwave, a web conferencing app that allows multi-user access to the same content between iPhones, laptops and workstations for discussion and review of project material.

During site visits there are a variety of unit conversion tools and code database client apps. The Architect's Formulator is an app that provides access to over 200 formulas specifically for architects including electrical, carpentry and plumbing formulators, forumulas for concrete and excavation and steel design, HVAC and more. MadCAD.com is a subscription service that enables online access to AIA codes and more through their iPubs Store.

Mobile 3D is an emerging technology that allows you to view 3D models and data on mobile devices. Apps such as cadTouch and Solid Works' Drawings Now allow viewing of DXF, DWG and proprietary 3D file formats on the iPhone. An app called iTracer is a 3D raytracing utility that allows one to build and render 3D content on the iPhone.

If you don't have an iPhone, or even particularly like it, technologies are emerging for most all of the major mobile device manufactures to allow enhanced communications, project managment, specialized information access and 3D content to enable design professionals to stay connected to their projects.

For more links and references to technologies discussed in this article and more, visit my blog at http://rezn8r.blogspot.com

Helpful URLs
MobileMe Control Panel for Windows
http://www.apple.com/mobileme/news/2009/06/new-mobileme-control-panel-14-for-windows.html

FuzeMeeting
http://www.fuzemeeting.com/conference-features/iphone

MadCAD AIA Online Codes
http://www.madcad.com/

Architect's Formulator
http://www.multieducator.net/formulator/index.html

SolidWorks Drawings Now
http://labs.solidworks.com/Blog/Post.aspx?id=21

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INFORM - Web 2 4 U

The following was published in Inform magazine's Spring 2009 edition :

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Web 2 4 U
Will Rourk
2009-02-12

Staying connected to the World Wide Web is fairly easy today with technologies like WiFi and broadband networks. Keeping your work environment mobile ensures access to information wherever you need it. But why would one want to be connected to the Web all the time? What does the Web offer that entices professionals to go mobile? When considering the Web in a professional environment one might examine its potential utility. As frivolous and trivial as the Web seems for the most mundane and menial pleasures as one may take, it also offers an array of tools that responds to the unique conditions of a networked society. To fully grasp this potential there should be an understanding of what has become known today as Web 2.0.

The term Web 2.0 was put into the public psyche by O'Reilly Media during the first Web 2.0 conference in 2004. O'Reilly press is responsible for a majority of web technologies manuals and programming guides widely recognized by their trademark zoomorphic colophon. From the words of Tim O'Reilly, Web 2.0 allows for the "harnessing (of) collective intelligence" by "opening data and services for re-use by others." "Web 2.0 was the moment when we stopped using computers and started using the internet." The World Wide Web has evolved to a level of sophistication that elevates us from mere passive observers to active participants of networked content and information.

The concept of Web 2.0 is not based upon any specific version of technology but rather an attitude towards the way we use the Web. The web has evolved to a state of utility that allows the average user greater power to become self published in more interesting ways than was previously possible. The products of Web 2.0 help foster an environment where anyone can get their message out. Blogs like Wordpress and Google's Blogspot.com give people the space to pour out their ideas through text, audio or video. If you have a personal media collection that you want to share with the world you can post your videos on YouTube or your annotated photos on Flickr. Web 2.0 allows you to pull in just the news you find relevant via RSS or Atom feeds so that you can aggregate or mashup information in ways that are meaningful to your perspective. Aggregated news websites like Reddit.com and Digg.com let their readers become the editors by presenting news that has been tagged as interesting and relevant.

Probably the most widely recognized and engaging technological evolution of Web 2.0 has been the development of social networks. Fundamentally, Web 2.0 is all about networking, or better yet, working the net. Social networking services don't expect you to just go and gawk at someone else's personal presentation of content. When you visit someone's MySpace or Facebook page you are expected to share yourself as well. In the world of Web 1.0, or the Web-as-we-knew-it, a person's presence on the Web was like a one way street. You published your images, your essays and maybe even your video clips, and your goal was to lure people to that information so they could experience it like a magazine, all published and presented in a static unchangeable form. With Web 2.0 your content becomes everyone's content, and everyone's content becomes yours. The goal of creating a presence on the Web does not merely satisfy the need to be self-published but rather to participate in the promotion of a common interest through syndication. It is the potential for the sharing of ideas and collaboration upon which professionals might want to focus in order to make sense of Web 2.0 opportunities. Web presence is now synonymous with participation. For example search Facebook or Youtube for "sustainable design". You will be presented with a collection of web locations sponsored by individuals, special interest groups and design firms that not only allows you to absorb content but add your own thoughts and content to it as well. The Web has become a continuing conversation whereby you are able to contribute to someone else's message thus also making it your message.

So how does one leverage Web 2.0 professionally? Networking giant, Cisco Systems Inc., presented some interesting ideas in an episode of their web show, TechWiseTV. In this episode entitled "Applying Web 2.0 to your Business Challenges" (http://www.mytechwisetv.com/page/31+Web+2.0?t=anon) Cisco's hosts presented the Web2.0 environment with a warning to professionals. Dismissal of these technologies would be perilous since blogs, wikis and social networks are emerging as powerful tools for communication. Web 2.0 is a platform for collaboration and networking that drives home the fundamental concept of globalism. Communication on a global level has never been easier. With Global communications also comes global recognition. Cisco also acknowledges the drawbacks of relying on free tools, since most of these utilities are no cost to the public. Depending on who you let into your Facebook or MySpace environment, you will most likely encounter fairly unprofessional conversation. There's also the ever vigilant prospect of security to consider. You might not want to impart sensitive client information on a social network that is open to the world.

For those that may not trust the freedom and democracy of the Web there are corporate solutions such as Cisco's WebEx Connect or Oracle's Beehive. But for those that appreciate what is given to us freely, there are ways to make your social networks more professional. The Social Media University Global, or SMUG, blog is devoted to helping professionals understand how Facebook can be used as a business tool. (http://social-media-university-global.org/facebook-business/) The "University" is basically one guy named Lee Aase. In his blogpost entitled "Top Ten Facebook Business Uses," Aase describes the different types of Facebook groups (open, closed, secret and sponsored) that may appeal to businesses looking to get into the social networking world. Businesses use Facebook groups as a way to build their own "fan" base by providing descriptions of their services, not just in text, but in audio and video as well with links to their own webpages and sales contacts. It's like the YellowPages on steroids except that your listing is global, not just local. And better yet it's all free!

Now that Facebook, MySpace and myriad other free social networking tools are being utilized in full force, where is social networking headed? Perhaps something down the pike may arise from multidimensional social networks like Second Life where people meet, communicate and interact in 3D virtual space. Second Life includes tools that let you build your own buildings and shape your own spaces online. Think of the potential of meeting your clients in their new virtual home modeled upon the designs of their real-space home? They'd have the chance to navigate the spaces you've designed while you design them. Or perhaps the future will look more like the current trend where communications are getting more compressed. Microblogging is the popular way to communicate these days with tools like Twitter and Jaiku whereby people communicate short messages of 140 characters or less. This is a web technology born right out of the culture of text messaging on mobile phones. SMS or short messaging services are favored by many whose lives have become consumed by mobile technologies. Conversations are extremely short and concise and some savvy texters may even utilize the coded LEET (or l33t, or 1337) language to help get the point across. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet) But mobile technologies are really where all of this is headed. The smartphone is evolving into a more robust handheld computing device with the help of technologies such as Apple's iPhone and Google's Android operating systems. With these phones you can take Web 2.0 with you no matter where you go since the Web runs quite smoothly on 3G high bandwidth networks. Technologies that combine GPS with software such as Dopplr and Google's Latitude make your phone a location aware device so that social networking in a mobile environment begins to foster more real-space collaborations. With Web 2.0 apps running on your mobile device perhaps we'll be making more face-to-face rather than Facebook meetups.

Unsurprisingly though, the next paradigm-changing technology to affect the Web is already upon us. Web 2.0 has perhaps already peaked, and now we can anticipate even greater utility from the World Wide Web. For the next phase is not necessarily Web 3.0, but a trend towards what has become recognized as "cloud computing." The full realization of cloud computing will place the majority of our applications, tools we use everyday on our computers like Word, Photoshop or CAD, onto the Web. This means that you no longer clutter your computer with an array of applications. You just access the applications you need from an applications service provider. This will be accomplished via a technology called SaaS, or software as a Service. Currently the best way to sample this particular future of the internet is to explore the applications already given to us for free from Google. Google Docs is a robust and fully featured text editor given to you for free as a Web service application. I typed this article and stored it in my own Google Docs account. All of this functionality is provided via your favorite web browser - or any web browser. In fact web browsers are becoming more utilitarian and application-like. Take Firefox's Flock browser for example. It keeps you directly connected to all of your Web 2.0 technologies with which you have subscribed and presents them all in one space while you also surf the internet.

Does your office use Web 2.0 technologies to leverage your business needs? Let me know. Let everyone know. Log into my blog at http://rezn8r.blogspot.com, and let's begin a conversation about the interesting and innovative ways your company utilizes the Web.

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