Mobile Behavior: an Omnicom Group Company

Toshiba is developing a system that tracks patterns in users' mobile behavior to then predict and provide information accordingly. It will use sensors in consumer mobile devices such as GPS and accelerometers, which detect movement and rocking, to assist in making prediction possible. Looking closer at this emerging technology, we might spot possible applications and effects on our behavior and psychology.

So what kind of practical utility will this have for users? Say you're leaving the apartment in the morning, your phone would automatically display train schedules for the nearest station. Because your mobile phone is on you at all times, it would be imprinted with your lifestyle patterns and make it possible to recommend restaurants as you get up out of your chair around 1:50pm to get lunch. The more powerful mobile devices become, the more they know about us.

This also points to the importance of context and location, and Google's plans for intuitive mobile search. Like Toshiba, they also want to present information to users before they realize what they're looking for, bringing their web-based behavioral tracking to the real world.

As these predictive systems mature, and more advanced sensors begin to capture an increasing amount of data about our behavior, how will being served by a "mobile secretary" affect the way we think? At this morning's Wired panel discussing The Future of Space & Time, Chief Scientist of Sense Networks Tony Jebara told us that GPS technology is shrinking our hippocampus, or the brain region that controls spatial navigation.

Our phone is already an outboard brain, giving us the ability to access a vast amount of data whenever needed. Google Maps lets us leave home without necessarily planning ahead.  Some may be worried that this reliance on technology might dumb us down, but perhaps by Toshiba freeing us of the small stuff, we will become more efficient in other areas.

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BusinessWeek just came out with a roundup of the "Most Intriguing New Businesses," which include a handful of mobile start-ups we've been watching. Here we get all meta and do a roundup of their roundup...

CitySourced

CitySourced's iPhone application lets people snap pictures of potholes, graffiti, and other annoyances and send them directly to the right person at City Hall.

Also see: @TC50: Mobile StartUps that Build Upon Human Behaviors

Bump

One of the hottest free iPhone apps, this software from Bump Technologies lets users share personal contact information and photos simply by bumping two phones together.

Also see: MobileBehavior TV Episode 5: Will Mobile Kill The Business Card?

FitBit

FitBit sells a $99 gizmo that tracks movement, exercise, and sleeping patterns. The data zips wirelessly to a Web site, where you can chart your progress.

Layar

Layar has created free software that lets smartphones deliver "augmented reality"—text and images laid over scenes viewed through a device's camera.

Also see: WTF Augmented Reality Parts One and Two

Sense

Sense Networks' technology, which crunches real-time, location-based data from wireless carriers and cars, can be used to craft next-gen marketing and ad campaigns.

Also see: Find Your Tribe With CitySense

Ever since the dawn of web, businesses, researchers, and even artists have been experimenting with crowdsourcing. Tapping the wisdom of the crowds is not just a smart PR and CRM strategy, it's a much more efficient way to collect information. Sentiment analysis, Aardvark's human search engine, and Victor & Spoils are all examples.

Mobile opens up a new angle on crowdsourcing, one that takes on a more stealth approach. While social media thrives on active participation, powerful data is being collected via our mobile devices while we, for the most part, remain unaware. Around the clock, our phones are collecting real-world information, mapping social processes, and transforming us into human sensors.

We naturally navigate the world using five key senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. With these we construct the realm we live in. In the past, people have discussed ways to integrate these with computers, or build on them using technology. You could say that this is already happening. The current iPhone has about ten sensors including GPS, a compass, microphone, and camera. Smart phones can collect and process the data we are sensing 24/7, even measure the impact of ads we see and hear. With a guided purpose, businesses are using this to observe and innovate while we passively contribute information from our traveling selves.

We've covered Sense Network's Citysense, a startup that uses points of GPS and WiFi positioning data to view San Francisco's live activity and hotspots. After a quick download, data is collected automatically without need for further user action. With this it is possible to view what days of the week are busier, what venues are crowded, and where everybody is going from your current location. (While companies like Foursquare and Buzzd are beginning to provide these popularity contests as well, they are based on active check-ins.) Cartogrammar takes users' photos to paint Harvard Square based on dominant colors of geo-tagged Flickr photos. This passive crowdsourcing is much like sentiment analysis, which takes the pulse of web users by translating expressed emotion into hard data.

As with Citysense, mapping is natural application of this. Companies like Waze, Google, and Biketastic are crowdsourcing the actual creation of real-time traffic reports. Using previous speed and direction data, collected via mobile, Waze can predict future highway buildup and explain unusual situations.

This new forecasting and mapping is also applied to crowd flow through retail and other indoor locations by Sense Networks and Path Intelligence. The latter sets up receivers across a specified area that catch the frequencies sent out as mobile phones ping their towers. With this, they can observe movement through a building, saw a mall for example. This has powerful implications for everything from architecture and urban planning to advertising and marketing.

With data coming in every second of every day, our modern society now has a real-time pulse to be monitored. Like weather forecasters, employees at companies like Path Intelligence are able to use this to predict the future as well as act on alerts and unusual occurrences.

Of course, all of this might spook consumers just a bit. A recent report from Berkeley and UPenn showed that between 73 percent and 86 percent of adults opposes tailored advertising when they found out how it was done. Those techniques include tracking behavior on websites and in retail stores.

Considering this data is all anonymous and not tied to user profiles, that should quell concerns some. But expect to see much ado about this practice in coming years, as well as many more mind-blowing applications of it.

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.