Having a Car does not mean Having Mobility
Posted on | August 31, 2010 | No Comments
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Tags: Beijing > China > Entrepreneurship > Traffic Jam
WolfWheels
Posted on | August 26, 2010 | No Comments
Tags: bike share > Education > Individualized Student Services > University
SoBi
Posted on | August 24, 2010 | No Comments
“SoBi is the first public bike share system to rely entirely on wireless technology for tracking, locating and unlocking bikes,” reports Mashable.
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Tags: bike share > mobile technology > NYC > social media
Piloting Health Services in Cities
Posted on | August 23, 2010 | No Comments
Asklepios Future Hospital Alliance just published our article on health service innovations in cities in their latest magazine issue. The alliance brings together leading global players in healthcare technologies around the Asklepios Future Hospital in Hamburg, where collaborators such as Microsoft and Intel have worked together with one of the world’s leading hospital chains to implement the latest in service, process and technology innovations in healthcare. Read our contribution here http://www.asklepios.com/upload/Piloting_Mobile_Health_2782.pdf which features our iDoc24 Showcase as a disruptive innovation in dermatology http://www.livinglabs-global.com/showcase/showcase/206/doctor-in-the-mobile-phone.aspx.
Tags: asklepios > Cities > health > idoc24 > innovation > living lab > mobile > service
I am Precious
Posted on | August 19, 2010 | No Comments
Breakfast, a New York-based group of techies and inventors, wants to bring internet to the real world. They want a world that is somewhat reminiscent of science fiction. The want the things we imagine in the future to be here today.
One of their projects, Precious, uses multiple technologies (including the Twitter API, GPS, SMS, and algorithmic analysis of various sensors’ outputs) to create a bicycle with a brain. Every 5 minutes, the bike reports temperature, cadence, humidity, road grade, speed, direction, and location in a text message. The text message is received and parsed by the Twitter API, and then analyzed by Breakfast’s servers. The analysis is meant to replicate that of a human brain, giving the bike real character and personality. (For example, if Precious is experiencing 90% humidity, 95 degrees Fahrenheit, a 10% grade and is heading due west into the prevailing winds, it might start compaining. Wouldn’t you?) The rider, Janeen, is riding across the U.S. to raise money for Team Livestrong.
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Tags: Bicycles > data broadcasting > GPS > mobile technology > travel
Oakland Zoning on Youtube
Posted on | August 17, 2010 | No Comments
We have written about the use of online media as a tool for city planning previously, including a specific example about the town of Cary, North Carolina. Today I want to highlight the efforts of the Oakland, California planning department, which is using Youtube as a means of education and public engagement.
The last time Oakland’s zoning code was updated was in 1965, and no matter where you live, the 1965 world was a very different one from the one you’re living in today. With that in mind, it makes sense for Oakland to embrace one of those stark differences – online communications and Youtube – to broadcast its updates. You will find four videos on Oakland’s Youtube Channel. Each of these is meant to prime the audience (the citizens of Oakland) for a thoughtful discussion on proposed zoning changes.
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Tags: government 2.0 > Oakland > urban planning > Youtube
Learning a Language on the Web
Posted on | August 15, 2010 | No Comments
A couple newspaper articles over the last six months have featured innovative online language learning websites and platforms. I thought I’d give you a round up of the seemingly best or most intriguing models out there.
On the most basic end of services is , an online market for digital recordings. Individuals can post passages that they are interested in hearing spoken aloud and any interested respondent can post a recording of the passage read aloud. Read more
Tags: digitized markets > Education > languages > New Business Models
Mobile Phone Growth Puts African continent in Limelight
Posted on | August 15, 2010 | No Comments
Last month the world welcome its 5 billionth mobile phone subscriber. A closer look at the numbers and growth behind this milestone revealed something a lot of us have been observing for a while: Africa’s mobile market is growing at an unprecedented rate. While the continent only lay claim to some 16 million subscribers in 2000, they are now home to half a billion subscribers. Underlying this surge is a trend toward using data services more than voice calls. Read more
Tags: Africa > Location Based Services
To Go Forward, Press Sideways
Posted on | August 12, 2010 | No Comments
Driving a car is a complex activity. One has to constantly monitor the surroundings in at least 180 degrees while simultaneously operating the machinery itself. In situations of suddent danger we often panic, our reaction instinctual. So, what happens when driving and something unexpected happens, requiring instantaneous response?
Too often, argues Japanese inventor Masuyuki Naruse, drivers stomp their foot — an instinctual reaction to danger — accelerating the car forward rather than hitting the brakes. And, how could we blame them? The accelerator and brake pedals are directly next to one another.
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Tags: automobile acceleration > invention > Japan > Masuyuki Naruse
Wohr
Posted on | August 10, 2010 | No Comments
Wöhr is a German company whose purpose is to compact parking space. They have worked with numerous European cities including Berlin, Amsterdam, Madrid, and Budapest. I had a look at their project outline for Budapest’s Parksafe 580, which is quite an impressive downtown car park.
Wöhr was presented with a special challenge in Budapest: the parcel chosen for parking had to have its façade maintained due to City ordinances. Additionally, the top 5 floors of the building are used as modern office space. This is probably very similar to many situations in old European cities, so this example will serve well.
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