Mobile communications have a strange way of connecting us and isolating us at the same time. We’re constantly in contact range of friends and co-workers thanks to mobile phones and wireless PDAs and such. And yet by using these devices, we detach from our immediate environment.
A next generation of devices and services is working to push the energy the other way, and to enable mobile communications technology to locate the opportunities for personal contact that surround us all the time. Says Charles Ribaudo, co-founder and co-CEO of one such project (Jambo Networks):
”Every day, people who could make a difference to each other pass each other by. They are strangers and their connections remain invisible opportunities. Maybe they both attended the same school, or one needs what the other sells or one person needs a job and the other is looking for a great employee. But, if people can’t see these opportunities, then they can’t catch them.”
These new services use various combinations of wireless technology, mobile phones, and even the global positioning systems (GPS) found in more and more devices, and tack on social networking software that can make the connections. So, for example, if you were an alumnus of a major university that had subscribed to the Jambo Network, you might be in a Manhattan coffee shop checking your e-mail and get a notice that a fellow alumnus was right nearby…perhaps even next to you. Or, if you were checking your PDA at a conference to find other attendees struggling with a particular professional challenge, the software would connect you to others in your immediate area with the very same issue.
Jambo is targeting airports, university campuses, trade shows, and existing social network providers such as LinkedIn, Tribe, and Friendster as first clients. Other services are focusing on active users of mobile phones, who might want to find a friend nearby.
While I often say the arts managers are in the metaphor business, we are also in the connection business. It’s worth watching advances in both worlds.
UPDATE: You can catch a glimpse of the next next generation of these environmental contact scanning devices in CrowdSurfer, a new software and networking system designed to work with certain wireless phones. Through the system, you can figure out if that guy standing near you at the bus stop is a friend of a friend of a friend.
