This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project seeks to dramatically improve the usability of location-aware devices such as mobile phones. Mobile internet devices herald a revolution in personal computing, but small screen sizes, awkward input capabilities, and poorly designed application environments can limit their potential. BigTribe addresses these problems with a Location Application Platform that incorporates adaptive location-based personalization, chaining context management and context-based applications. The personalization system tracks a user.s behavior and, using a new, distributed algorithm, predicts preferences and adjusts menu selections. Chaining context management helps users rapidly select venues, such as a theater, select activities to perform there, such as purchasing tickets, and then .chain. to other nearby activities, such as reserving a table at a nearby restaurant. Context-based applications present a natural user interface to find and operate on venues, friends or events. These innovations reduce the .clicks. users must perform to accomplish tasks. They will improve personal efficiency for a broad, price sensitive consumer market (including underrepresented populations not reached by Internet advancements), save people time, improve social interaction, make planning for meetings more efficient, and reduce fuel consumption. This work advances knowledge in personalization algorithms, location-based services, context-awareness, and ubiquitous computing.
