Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Hi everybody,

The discussion on the last two topics is still going, and I'm really glad about that, the input is great!

Hereby I post the third discussion topic for the co-creation project "Creativity on the Move". This will also be the last topic before the co-creation session and the Summit. It's getting closer, I'm so excited!


Again you are free to let all your thoughts, ideas & knowledge flow when answering the following question:


What will be the next best thing in Content Discovery?

So what are your expectations, wishes, thoughts, ideas when it comes to the future of (serendipitous) content discovery both on mobile device and web.


Everything that is said during these dialogues will be used as input for the expert co-creation session before the Summit. Feel free to come up with anything that you find applicable!


Looking forward to your reactions,


Marieke

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Sounds like you were inspired by the Layar link with this one. ;) So, without harping on augmented reality...

What if mobile devices had an internal "user profile" similar to those found on Social Network websites. (Of course, this info could just be retrieved from Social Network sites via the user entering various service logins, but it would work the same regardless.)

Anyway, the device then, based on keywords, favorite activities (hobbies, books, movies, etc.), could initiate content retrieval and display based on a persons proximity to various POIs. Likewise, a person could setup certain rules to where specific types of media would be tied to certain locations (think "Personal Soundtrack"). Also, based on media that was tagged by the user, notifications could be triggered when the person was in proximity to items/areas (POIs) that related to those tags.

This could also extend into manual searches that a person initiated on their device. What if Web searches could be tied to a persons location and specific profile keywords. Example: A person searches for pizza and the search results pulls up several places that are local to the persons physical location (no need to search with city if you have a GPS on hand), as well as pizza places that are near to soccer fields (since soccer is on the of the person's interests), as well as a couple of not-so-close pizza places inside of movie theaters (because the person has indicated that they like movies), and lastly, there is a nearby store that sells Italian cook books (because the person enjoys cooking). All of this would then be mapped out in conjuntion with the person's current location.

Lastly, everything needs to be in real-time. Why wait for the person to manually input anything when the device knows exactly where the person is. And, if the device also knows what the person likes, everything should just become available whenever and wherever appropriate.

Tim

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Tim, great minds think alike. :D

The profile point is key here. With the right metadata available on your device, and in an accessible format, narrowing in on content highly relevant to your needs at specific times becomes easier. Actually I think the "master" profile(s) should be in the cloud itself (Ovi.com?) and updated to your handheld device as needed.

And we've discussed this before, but it makes sense also to have the ability to store/use more than one profile at a time on the device, for example business vs personal (and they should be identified to content managers/suppliers as such). Both profiles would match different meta sets (with some overlap of course).

This link is old, but it discusses an XML-based profile standard that would support what we're discussing:

http://xml.coverpages.org/cpex.html

I'm encountering difficulty finding newer info... maybe it didn't take off? Maybe time to revive it? Privacy is addressed which is certainly good.

Also:

http://www.xml.com/lpt/a/99

http://www.internetretailer.com/inte...omer-data.html

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

But, why limit it? If someone could just enter logins for every Social service they belonged to, the personal information would be endless. Think of finding info on your device that was triggered because of a Tweet you made two weeks ago about a website you thought was interesting. Or something triggered by a comment you made about someone's Facebook post. It could go on and on... :)

Tim

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

I wasn't aware I was limiting anything...???

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Sorry. It's the impression I get when you specify a single "place" (e.g., Ovi.com) as the profile repository. But, maybe I'm misunderstanding you. :)

Tim

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Hmm..

How about having an app that broadcasts a hash of your interest\keywords and alerts you when you come close someone with similar interests? This way, only those with exact interests\keywords will find each other. Then once application connects, you can have some sort of asset sharing areas (medias, web page, etc) for you to browse and exchange content.

Of course it should be made with plugins, this way any apps can take advantage of this system.
A common example for the plugin: a poker game can use this to find opponents around you :)

Yeah, this could be used in creepy ways too :D But don't you think it would be an interesting ways to discover mobile and dynamic contents around you?

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

There has to be a single master, a root source. That's unavoidable. The question becomes, "where do I store it?" As cloud computing becomes more ubiquitous, that question takes on increasing importance. In fact now that i think about it, I see a future battle over master profiles... no wonder Google is so opposed to Facebook's model...

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

That's what I don't agree with. Why not pull info from various sources (like aggregating RSS)?

Tim

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Cool. :)

Anything could be used in a "creepy" way... But, it's usually pretty rare.

Tim

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

I don't want MY data scattered. By that I mean the core stuff: name, address, etc. Even (especially) my contacts. Sure, some of my preferences can be scattered across the clouds, as it is now-- and it's a total maintenance nightmare. I absolutely hate having so many logins, user names, places to keep up with... grrr...

But let me back up a bit-- I don't mean it necessarily all has to be physically stored in a single location... just give me a management tool that let's me touch it in one place.

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Good point. But, I'm not talking about "containing" data in any one form. Scattered or not, my ideas were not based around a requirement that we do anything (retrieve personal data, etc.). I'm talking about the device doing all of this. So, whether information is coming from your Facebook profile or your Flickr stream, or your Vimeo account, it doesn't really matter to you as an end-user.

Now, if we're talking about forming a singular, cohesive profile, then you are probably right. But, I'm just talking about data sources that feed some sort of real-time search algorithm.

Still, I must admit that I absolutely hate all of the logins I have to keep track of (in fact, that's why most of mine are the same). But, even OpenID fails at standardizing this (currently). And, we will never see a reduction of Social services -- only an increase.

Tim

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Understood Tim... I was just expressing my thoughts on content management. If we want to pull in stuff that's useful, we need to manage and push out the right hooks.

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Right, and I was expressing my thoughts on content discovery. That's where we had the disconnect -- which wasn't really a disconnect, but, whatever... :p

Tim

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

It would also be nice to be able to write a wish-list for shopping. Like I would like to buy the Dynamite Warrior DVD but I want it for less than 10€. With this info my device could alert me if I pass a store that has the DVD for this price. Maybe it could even work so that if they see that I'm looking for it for 10€ and it's 12€ at the store, they could give me a personal discount and sell it for 10€.

The thing I worry most about content discovery is that it might become too intrusive. I fear that if I check any checkbox everyone will try to push their stuff for me. I only want to get content that I'm really interested in.

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Tim,

very interesting cases indeed. If I'm reading you correctly, you see personal preferences and location as the key enablers for relevance. Are there any others you'd see as useful, like f. ex. time, current/coming calendar events, previously downloaded content etc.?

Otto

P.S. in case you didn't notice, I'm working for Nokia/Maemo for a related area

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

I would guess that some retailers and/or brands would love the idea of users providing shopping wish-lists (essentially preference profiles), because this could enable very targeted product offerings. At best it might become a win-win situation (like the discount scenario you describe). But I agree that in the worst case the potential for intrusion & creepiness could be high. :D

-Otto

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

I can see the opportunity to exploit Google's WebFinger project here. Think of it as being like Gravatar, but not just for avatars - for profiles, openID, in fact every kind of information that should "just become available whenever and wherever appropriate".

Roger

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Read anything about "The Semantic Web"?

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Oh, of course there are... What about setting up "profiles" within the contacts app for everyone you know? (Of course, better yet, what if they were propagated by Facebook/other Social profiles, etc.?) Now, imagine walking around a shopping mall one day and you get a notification that it's your significant other's birthday tomorrow and it maps out all of the local record stores (one of your significant other's interests is music), especially the one that's 10 meters away in the shopping mall... Score! :)

Concerning "previously downloaded content," I sort of already touched on it a bit when speaking about "media" (e.g., photos taken, video shot, music listened to). This could definitely be translated to downloaded content. The only issue is retrieving some sort of standardized meta data from that content -- that is, unless the user took some time to tag each downloaded item (highly unlikely and definitely too much to ask of end-users).

Thanks for stopping by! :D

Tim

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

No surprise that there would be cross-pollination between topics, given that content discovery depends on content publication...

http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p...2&postcount=18

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Exactly, which is why automatic contextual metadata is sooo handy. Time/date stamp is the obvious easy one, and location is for devices that have that feature... but to go further we get into the area where devices like the N900 really set themselves apart from traditional cameras, recorders, at all. And to explore that we come right back to profiles.

I don't know how many people fully configure their digital cameras before using them (I don't) but I think it's safe to say we personalize our phones to a large extent. All of the info so used is potential metadata for media sharing purposes.

And we could go further with automated tagging as well... weather conditions, temperature, and as I mentioned in the intelligent postcard example (linked above), local events. All of this and more could be pulled in using an active internet connection, and shared to recipients in useful contexts.

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

So, my daughter was watching Madagascar when I came home tonight. I wondered about the brain sizes and intelligence levels of the various animals. Which is smarter, a lion or a lemur? A hippo or a zebra?

A good content discovery system would let me find that out. A good content discovery system lets me follow a train of thought:

Madagascar (movie) - characters - animals - encyclopedia - bookmark intelligence - compare bookmarks.

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Which brings us back to augmented reality, the ultimate (or maybe just penultimate) outcome of this train. True augmented reality will rely on a semantic web (thanks tswindell) which will rely on rich metadata sets which really on standardization (such a dirty word), and the crux of Cory Doctorow's distrust:

http://www.well.com/~doctorow/metacrap.htm

...and a shameless self-plug for my data cloud series:

http://tabulacrypticum.wordpress.com...days-for-data/

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Right. I was thinking along the lines of building your profile gradually in the background using your content access and usage patterns together with metadata that should be almost trivially available - music titles & artists & genres, location tags, browsing history and the like. But obviously there's a limit for the generalizability (is that a word?) for all this.

-Otto

EDIT: As Texrat says above, automated contextual metadata is certainly important here. It could conceivably be produced by all kinds of apps for different types of content.

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Well, it was fun participating in these preliminary discussions. For unexplained reasons I didn't get selected (have to admit to being surprised and disappointed) so whoever did, do us proud!

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Texrat: Did you get a rejection letter or something?

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Yes I did. No useful details though.

I am really, really stunned, too. But crap happens.

Time to change my flight plans... :(

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

I didn't even see a place to apply for the co-creation project. :(

Nah, just come and hang out in Amsterdam! It is a really nice city. A great museum, too.

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

There's a thread here somewhere with volunteer and nomination requests. I really thought my broad experience would get me in. :(

I'd love to come a day early but doubt I can afford a hotel room. Heck, I still don't think we have final word on the Summit rooms, and if I did come early I'd want to have the same room or at least hotel...

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

That would be "Longlist potential participants co-creation session 8th October".

A week ago, I replied to Marieke's private message request for information, but I haven't heard anything since. How were you notified?

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Got an email today to email address registered here saying thanks but no thanks. Expressed surprise and regret, got another sorry but thanks but no thanks again.

If you haven't got a rejection that may be good in your case. Typically rejections go out first in my experience.

I'm getting the impression that being nominated by other members here may have been a deciding factor. That could also work in your favor.

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

I think a smart agent would be awesome. This software agent would take info from browser searches, MP3 ID, EXIF in pictures, etc to form a profile of what type of content I consume, and offer it to me in a non-annoying way.

This software agent could be linked to Ovi and my Ovi profile. In that way, regardless my device switching, the agent would help me to find my content.

The big problem? Privacy. I guess there could be multiple boxes you could check or un-check to avoid the agent scanning stuff you don't want to.

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Mozilla Weave is useful to synchronize your content discovery between your Mozilla browsers. I will thoroughly enjoy it on my Nokia N900.

The nice thing? You decide what data you sync (bookmarks, open tabs, cookies, history, etc), data with server is transfered encrypted, login/passwd is different from master passwd, the server side is completely open source allowing you to run your own server.

So e.g. instead of having to e-mail yourself a URL you can just sync it with Mozilla Weave, and instead of having to log in with your N900 you can use the saved login/passwd from your Mozilla Firefox on laptop instead.

Firefox location API will also be interesting...

PS: Sad you're not invited Texrat...

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Right, which is where you expect the agent to "learn" over time, which brings us back to the semantic web and ultimately to (some good approximation of) artificial intelligence.

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Or this...

http://halfbackflanker.files.wordpre...er-800x600.jpg

Sorry, the joke was inevitable.

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Who is that supposed to be. Google?

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

Maybe (http://www.walyou.com/img/google-chr...ft-windows.jpg). At times they see to be too interested in my personal data.

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

The next best thing in Content Discovery?

Recognizing that there is no absolute truth, i.e. one right answer. What I like to see is different than what you like to see. Recognizing the context: what I would like to see at any given moment is influenced by the context of where I am and what am I doing.

Then again, recognizing the common patterns. I share my tastes tremendously with few of my friends. If they like something, I'm very much likely to also like the same thing.

I.e. being able to get this information and utilize it out while still preserving privacy. Content Discovery systems would recommend content and functions to me based on a set of real other users, and what they have selected/preferred in a moment that has the same kind of context as my current moment, without the system having to reveal what this set of users is. And I don't think these can be predefined or designed with manual intelligence, it would just need to be a self-learning and adapting system. Regression analysis, neural networks etc. The more people would use it, the smarter it would become.

Re: Third discussion topic for co-creation project: CONTENT DISCOVERY
 

I don't know if this would be reasonable, so please correct me, but I'd go about it like this:

Nokia has some dealings with facebook, so just make sure that when you set up a facebook app. on say N900 or whatever device the disclaimer giving Nokia access to the personal info is there. Redo this for X number of social sites and pool the data at say OVI. Then you use this data as a basis for interactions, such as girlfriends birthday, stores with music that the person likes (although this will probably direct them into OVI music instead, but still) etc., this will also be perfect for integrating with the GPS/Maps feature. You then add onto this data with the actions performed by the customer, searches for restaurants etc. possibly autoupdate facebook if you say buy three albums with the same band?

Now even I feel that this is invading quite a bit on my privacy, and as I've stated before I live in China so I know something about the subject (btw, they should probably include renren wang as well for us china-dwellers). But if you want a device that acts on your likes you will have to tell it about them, it's like any good relationship really.

I think the biggest problem will be to get people to set up the account and start using it, this needs to be made ridiculously simple and pain-free, maybe start by using the device number and then tying that to the accounts accessed by it? Assuming of course that people are OK with this sort of thing.