While guidebooks may be a traveller's best friend when exploring new and unusual places, sometimes they fall short in providing up to date information. But a University of Queensland PhD student is hoping his research could change that by employing the latest developments in mobile communication.
Jeff Axup is studying the potential of “mobile information sharing”, a concept that goes beyond the traditional guidebook and introduces the concept of everyday people electronically sharing their experiences with other travellers while they are on the road.
“We are looking at ways for communities, or in this case backpackers, to communicate in a timely and immediate way,” Mr Axup said.
“Imagine if, as a traveller, you were able to get first hand information from other travellers who had just been to where you want to go.
“But instead of hoping to find the right person by chance, you could be notified when you are near them, or be able to rapidly search travel diaries of relevant people.
“What we are looking at is not really a replacement for guidebooks, travel agents or bulletin boards, but rather an extension or addition to existing methods to make the travelling experience richer and more rewarding.”
He said this concept of “social pairing system” could eventually be used by other types of mobile groups or communities such as business travellers, delivery workers or taxi drivers.
“I am looking at ways for people who have a common interest, but have never met before, to be able to easily communicate and share common experiences,” he said.
“Already that is happening in some degree with SMS, instant messaging and internet forums, but I am looking at small and local interactions that are very immediate and potentially helpful.
“This may involve things like geo-tagging, where people leave behind "electronic graffiti" for fellow travellers or other location-based services.”
Mr Axup said his research, done through the Interaction Design Research Division in the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, would ultimately lead to developing software applications that could be used on existing and future mobile phones and communicators.
This would support travellers who want to socialise and exchange information in new ways, but without the cost of buying new special-purpose hardware.
“You can always come up with a new and amazing piece of technology but the problem is making sure people will use it,” he said.
“That means developing the technology with users in natural environments and building inexpensive solutions that extend what they are already doing.
“Backpackers and even baby boomers are already very tech savvy.
“They are increasingly carrying higher-end technologies with them on the road and utilising new Internet technologies such as blogs.
“This is all about enabling communities to achieve what they want to do, but with less hassle and more effectiveness.”
More information on Mr Axup's work can be found at
http://www.itee.uq.edu.au/~backpack/
Source: University of Queensland
Related stories:
The travel industry should inform travelers about malaria, say doctors
Tour operators and airlines are wasting an ideal opportunity to warn travellers about the risk of contracting malaria in specific countries, say infectious disease experts on BMJ.com today.
Should doctors be increasing their carbon footprint by flying to medical conferences?
Are international medical conferences an outdated luxury the planet can't afford?
Every year thousands of doctors and scientists fly to meetings all over the world, but with climate change accelerating, can this type of travel be justified, two doctors debate the issue in this week's
BMJ.
Towards a new, more acceptable face for biometric security
Biometric security implies different things to different people. For some, applications that identify individuals based on their physical and behavioural characteristics will lead to a safer and more secure world. For others, they elicit fears of an Orwellian scenario where governments and corporations run roughshod over personal privacy.
Landmark study unlocks stem cell, DNA secrets to speed therapies
In a groundbreaking study led by an eminent molecular biologist at Florida State University, researchers have discovered that as embryonic stem cells turn into different cell types, there are dramatic corresponding changes to the order in which DNA is replicated and reorganized.
Just a numbers game? Making sense of health statistics
Presidential candidates use them to persuade voters, drug companies use them to sell their products, and the media spin them in all kinds of ways, but nobody - candidates, reporters, let alone health consumers - understands them. Health statistics fill today's information environment, but even most doctors, who must make daily decisions and recommendations based on numerical data - for instance, to calculate the risks of a certain drug or surgical intervention, or to inform a patient of the possible benefits versus harms of cancer screening - lack the basic statistical literacy they require to make such decisions effectively.
Researchers team up to probe iron-arsenic superconductors with new instrument
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory are part of collaborative team that's used a brand new instrument at the DOE's Spallation Neutron Source to probe iron-arsenic compounds, the "hottest" new find in the race to explain and develop superconducting materials. Rob McQueeney, an Ames Laboratory physicist, was part of that team whose findings, published in the Oct. 10 issue (101) of
Physical Review Letters, mark the first research produced with the aid of the new tool.
IBM builds online version of China's famed Forbidden City
IBM on Friday opened online doors to a virtual version of the famed Forbidden City in China that served for centuries as an exclusive realm for the nation's emperors.
NASA Maps Shed Light on Carbon Dioxide's Global Nature
(PhysOrg.com) -- A NASA/university team has published the first global satellite maps of the key greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in Earth's mid-troposphere, an area about 8 kilometers, or 5 miles, above Earth. The team's study reveals new information on how carbon dioxide, which directly contributes to climate change, is distributed in Earth's atmosphere and moves around our world.