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Ubicomp Watch--Cisco: Visual Networking
Cisco has been working hard lately to change their image to be more consumer-focused in contrast to their traditional network infrastructure, business-oriented focus. Their branding efforts come under the umbrella of "The Human Network" in which they are showing how Cisco products enable and touch end users. They even offer Cisco ringtones for download. You can find general information on The Human Network at this site:
One of their television commercials which caught my eye recently is one entitled "Visual Networking" (another Cisco branding term). This commercial takes place on a city street and shows a number of ways in which video (as delivered by Cisco in some way) is impacting people's activities, for example telenavigation and providing audio-visual instructions to help a guy fix a scooter.
Mixed in this are a couple of Ubicomp application examples, specifically: proximity-aware applications. In one case, a woman is walking her dog, and as she approaches a bus stop shelter, the poster-like display on the side of the shelter changes to an advertisement for gourmet dog food--an advertisement targeted for an "audience of one". Presumably, the display system has detected and identified the woman (based for example on her mobile phone ID), performed a network access to a database somewhere, identified her as a dog owner/lover and selected this particular advert for display. I am assuming this is the scenario as opposed to the display sensing the presence of her dog (although technologically this could be done as well).
In a second example, a guy is passing a large flatscreen monitor in a glass storefront window, and the screen displays a woman--presumably a significant other--who is also apparently passing a similar display on a street somewhere else on the planet. This causes them to recognize each other, stop and wave, and probably start a conversation. The logistics of this can make you think a bit--like coordinating the timing and synchronization of these two people and displays. But this is where things could get interesting in an application like this. Maybe a number of people in a person's personal network could be tracked. Or maybe this is an acquaintance who happens to be traveling in the same city, in which case the service offers a chance for the two to hook up.
The commercial is careful in portraying positive reactions by the actors in the video. The woman walking the dog stops in her stride and shows interest in the dog food advertisement. And the man and woman in the "telepresense" link are happy to see each other. An alternative reaction to these applications could easily be concern about the implications of the underlying surveillance and personal privacy issues involved in the tracking and profiling of people. My personal opinion is that this stuff is going to happen sooner rather than later, so it is good to get these ideas out in the open so they can be debated and managed accordingly.
The video is on this page (you will need to scroll down to the Visual Networking video):
Cisco video: Visual Networking
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