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Location-Aware Services >> Where on Earth...?

2/1/2007

By Charlene O’Hanlon

Rave Wireless' Rishi insists the answer to that question is: none. With any location- aware service, he points out, users decide whether they want to be located. "We set important ground rules; universities can't arbitrarily pick out location data," he explains. "Students can choose to activate their location services, or not; it's strictly voluntary." He also maintains that his company makes it clear to higher ed clients that it does not pass on any user information to the university. "Students need that trust factor. Once it is set, these services become more accepted."

Indeed, UMES' Forsythe claims that students may have more to fear from their parents than from a university's locationaware services. "Parents actually want more access. They want their child's grades sent to them or they want us to track the kids to make sure they're going to class," he says. "But we tell them, ‘No, we can't do that.'"

Yet despite those safeguards, Carnegie Mellon's Sadeh admits that as location-aware services become more ubiquitous, both on campus and in the general population, privacy will become the 800-pound gorilla that can't be ignored. "I don't see these applications really taking off unless you take privacy into account," he asserts. "Increasingly, you see all these people who post things on MySpace or Facebook that they later regret posting. Slowly, people are learning that some things need to stay private."

Rave is looking at a new application it believes will both address privacy issues and provide valuable location-based services. Dubbed ID Wash, the program purports to recognize an entity in a particular location but not the identity of the entity. This app would be suitable for measuring the number of people using a particular pathway at any time, for example, or determining whether more shuttle buses are needed on a given route, Rishi says.

Looking Ahead

As location-aware services continue to take hold on campuses nationwide, the applications that address safety, functionality, and convenience for both the students and the educational institution will undoubtedly take center stage.

Mapping capabilities and device-aware applications are among the possibilities more frequently discussed by universities already using location-aware services, as well as human resources functions such as time-clocking and inventory control. UMES, for example, is looking at an application that automatically clocks in an employee when he or she crosses a campus perimeter, and "pushes" work orders to the employee's cell phone, based on the individual's location.

MSU is looking at similar LAS apps for its IT department, which has a student staff of about 150 and a full-time permanent staff of 15. Says Chapel: "This application would enable us to locate where our employees are on campus and, based on their abilities and location, direct them to their next service call rather than have them come back to the department and then turn around and go right back out." This will result in less time between calls and more calls completed in one day, he says, but adds that other application considerations may be less obvious.

"Although some applications are too complex to actually implement now, we need to think ahead of the curve," says Chapel. "But we've made some great strides, and the pace of development, as well as the reliability of the applications, is impressive."

Still, the success of LAS clearly will depend on the growing acceptance of ubiquitous computing. "Ubiquity is the always-on nature of devices, and I can envision, at some point, total coordination of those devices via location-aware services," Chapel offers. "Broadband cellular is the key to ubiquity, and cellular is filling the gaps to allow applications to seamlessly traverse networks."

WFU's Dominick sees LAS and ubiquitous computing becoming tightly integrated sooner, rather than later: "If you look at the technology direction, carriers are definitely looking to make that happen." With initiatives like Verizon Wireless' TheZON, carriers are currently encouraging content and application developers to help them make such ubiquity (and the incorporated LBS) a reality.

It may be some time before they are fully successful, but the integration of GPS into the devices is a decisive first step.

"Putting GPS into handsets not only allows [the carriers] to fulfill the 911 requirements, it also enables data delivery," says Dominick. "Plus, WiFi networks are becoming more prolific, so connectivity is becoming synonymous with location. Within five years, everything will know exactly where everything else is, at all times." In the end, we all may wonder how we managed to get along, moving around obliviously.

WEBEXTRA :: For resources and related articles on wireless and mobile computing, click here.

EDITOR'S NOTE :: We welcome feedback from campuses and vendors engaged in LAS or LBS initiatives, for future coverage. E-mail us at editors@campus-technology.com.

Charlene O’Hanlon specializes in technology reporting and is based in the New York area.

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