Where 2.0 Call For Proposal

Where 2.0 Conference 2007 Call For Proposals is out. The conference will take place May 29-30, 2007 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California, U.S. Topics of my interest include:

Ultralocal: Bluetooth, WiFi… these are the ingredients of ultra-local applications. Utilizing this information companies like Skyhook Wireless, Microsoft, and SixthSense are able to locate you and provide services. It seems like users would want them but they haven’t taken off yet. Is the killer app around the corner or is this never going to truly take off?

Mobile: Location-based services are increasingly being added to mobile phones. What will the next innovations be and where will they come from? Handset manufacturers? Carriers? Or a startup who outflanks both of them?

Visualization: Google Earth and Sketchup. Frappr. Windows Spaceland. These tools have turned us all into voyeurs and neogeographers. What are the advances in this area?

Wild Cards: There are also some wild cards in the geospace. Virtual worlds are currently fun and being used for experiments. Will they eventually become more than just geodata playgrounds? Does Microsoft’s Spaceland count as a virtual world? What rights do property-owners have over how their physical property are represented virtually? Games. People play games to explore their world, but in doing so they can be exposed to new technology. What are the latest advances in location-based gaming? How is it changing people’s perceptions?

Where Fair: For the third year in a row, Where 2.0 will bring forward the location aware tools, apps and hardware being created in garages and university labs for the Where Fair. The Where Fair is a hands-on, science fair style event where the creators of these location based projects can share their emerging location technology with others. Are you or do you know someone working on a cool location based project that would wow and amaze at the Where Fair?

Relation to my thesis: I might just do the trip this year…