4/15/2004 10:02:00 PM

Your Urban Network of Strangers
via smart mobs

...The principle metaphors of Jabberwockies are "digital scents" and "digital tagging." As individuals traverse an urban landscape, they simply infuse their path with a unique and detectable digital redolence....

As two people approach one another, each person's individually carried Jabberwocky mobile phone application transparently detects and records the other's unique identity. In fact the beauty of the application is that it still operates even if the other Bluetooth mobile phone is not running the Jabberwocky application. Over time each Jabberwocky application accumulates a log of unique entries of people that have been previously encountered.

Later, as the user crosses through another part of the city, takes the subway, or waits at a street corner, the Jabberwocky application senses nearby groups and crows and renders an abstract real-time visualization of familiarity. It is able to account for the amount of Familiar Strangers nearby as well as a notion of your shared history with them. This visualization provides an interface to groups and crowds rather than individuals, thus avoiding numerous privacy issues....

One of the most powerful elements of Jabberwocky is that it is not driven by the bits of an online network, but by actual real-life daily ebb and flow within our actual urban landscapes... (emphasis mine)