DomeView : community-based digital bulliten boards and mobile phone interaction

Abstract

Our thesis is that a networked public display/kiosk system, that provides information for a local community, functions best when it is decentralized and interactive. We deployed such a system at MIT that has two aspects, DomeView for distributed decentralized display and content distribution, and PhoneView for enhanced user consumption of that content. PhoneView is an implementation that we propose to solve a number of issues with current interactive public kiosk deployments, as well as enables scenarios of enhanced interactions. By using the Hands-Free Bluetooth profile as the basis for the communication between a mobile phone and a kiosk, we provide an enhanced personalized interaction for all passersby with Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones, without requiring the installation of custom software. Some examples include the ability to remotely control a kiosk, exchange calendar and contact data with the kiosk, and play games on a kiosk with other users via one's mobile phone. By removing the software installation barrier and providing new mechanisms of public interaction, this implementation is ripe for wide-spread and immediate adoption across multiple public kiosk platforms.