The Digital Analyst

This is my first attempt at live-blogging a panel at a conference.  I’ve copied the notes I took below with very few edits to give you an authentic feel for what it was like to be in the audience at Social-Loco.  I apologize if they’re a little discombobulated, but that kind of comes with the territory of  6 people talking at the same time on stage.

The Future of Geo-Social Apps

Moderator: Di-Ann Eisnor, VP, Communtiy Geographer, Waze

Panel:

• Ian Heidt, Product Lead, Neer
• Sam Altman, CEO, Loopt
• Alexa Andrzejewski, CEO, Foodspotting
• Robert Scoble, Managing Director, Rackspace
• Andreas Winckler S. Advanced Technology Engineer, BMW Group

It all starts with context. 

1. It’s before you go out.  Can it help you find what you want? (has to go beyond search though)
2. Then once you’re at a place, what do you do?  Can it help you figure out what to do when you get there?
3. Third is sharing your experience with other people.

Notes:

• Location-Based Apps (LBA) help you when you’re searching for answers in a foreign environment.  Those are the situations where LBA can be magical.
• There is a lot more potential for LBA in cars.
• All of the censors being integrated into cars can add a lot to the driving experience.
• The censors in your gas tank can power an app that intelligently suggests refueling options based on proximity and price.
• The camera is one of the biggest censors for delivering context in any device, including cars now.
• How do we take all these inputs and make them “human-understandable”?
• We’ll start linking emotional state to locations. How are you feeling in a place? Do you dig the vibe?
• The camera drives augmented reality.
• Color is an app that leverages these techniques.  It’s aware of the devices around it.  It maps the audio of a room.
• There are multiple ways to get these answers around mobile social. Battery is the killer.  What’s the most efficient?
• You can use accelerometers to count steps, audio to recognize ambient noise, etc.  What’s the most useful and efficient use of your device’s limited capabilities?
• Mobile devices aren’t just used on the go.  They’re used in our homes.  How can we add value to the home experience?
• What about location-tracking?  Privacy?
• Companies have been tracking our cell phones forever.  They tracked OJ in 1992 by his cell phone.
• Personalized control.  Balancing user-customization with ease of use can be difficult because privacy fluctuates greatly in different contexts.
• Foursquare is integrating everywhere, which is why it isn’t over-hyped.
• We’re wasting a lot of energy because we haven’t optimized our traffic experience, leveraging data about traffic jams, energy
• You can compete with your friends about who can save energy.
• Only 21% of people are motivated by gaming mechanics – limited potential there.
• We’re refining our understanding of game-mechanics and adapting to what’s useful to people.
• Game-mechanics are a great way to jumpstart a service, but it needs to move the product forward to realize its potential.