Mobile Behavior: an Omnicom Group Company

The crowd at last night's Y+30 Meetup (via Dennis Crowley)

At last night's Brooklyn Future Meetup, or "Y+30", a handful of entrepreneurs and innovators in the mobile space spoke about location technology--specifically: What will location mean in 30 years? How will we feel connected to/interact with physical landscapes? What will change? What will remain the same?

Hosted by Sam Lessin at drop.io in their start-up's DUMBO loft, the panel included:

• Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai of Foursquare (the location based/game/platform)
• Greg Sibiski of Sense Networks (big data + location analytics)
• Justin Shaffer of Hotpotato (currently stealth location startup)
• Ted Morgan co-founder of Skyhook Wireless (positioning pioneers, based in Boston)
• Josh Rochlin, CEO of Xtify (API provider for location)
• Rob Lawson CMO of Brightkite (location-based social app)

Some of the most interesting conversation centered around how revealing one's location can change behavior. Morgan related an anecdote about how the mobile app Map My Run actually encouraged him not to cut his exercise routines short. He didn't want to disappoint "his fans," he joked. This may sounds crazy, but he's far from alone. Just as you control what you publish on Facebook or Twitter, you will control what goes out through location-based services. Place is just one more data point that says something about you, making up your online profile. Many Foursquare users cop to altering their routines to get more points or new badges. We will increasingly be able to shape perceptions of ourselves and accumulate "social currency" through where we go. In turn, brands and retailers will be able to take advantage of the technology to alter our own behavior. Rather than points, we may get a discount or some other incentive by going someplace else, for example.

Another point, made by Sense Networks' Sibiski, is how anonymized data will also change how we act. As Sense's CitySense and Google Maps is proving, we don't need to share our identity to get value from a location-based service (and we can skirt the many concerns about privacy and location data). I can find out what the traffic will be like on the way to work based on the number of people on the road, for example. As Rochlin pointed out, we can track the spread of diseases, which can put a stop to outbreaks sooner. Sibiski spoke about the potential of anonymous social graphs around location preferences. We can share information between other "people like me" and find that that if I go to this store a lot, I might like that store. Like what iLike and Last.fm are doing for music, just applied to place. Brands are already using Sense's platform to find out more about their consumers based on where they go, and as these data layers become richer, brands can use it to deliver much more targeted and relevant marketing.

As data about consumers is amassed, we'll (hopefully) have ownership of it--anonymous or otherwise. I should be able to make my information available to a service if I want a customized experience, or if someone has been gathering information passively, I should be able to delete it. Putting these controls in place will definitely help ensure that the future of location is a place we'll want to be.