Matt Stabeler

I have been thinking alot recently about why we might be doing this research into delay tolerant networking, and what possible applications of the research are, and whilst waiting for a simulation to run, I thought I would write up one idea I came up with, which I call – Cogs.

The idea is probably a little too over the top for reality.

‘Cogs’ (as in cognition) are little packets of thought, that encompass the idea of something, either a feeling/mood, a specific piece of information, or a directed message. These ‘cogs’ are shared between people who meet, and are spread around an area by people,  and depending on the ‘cog’, are received by like minded people.

The idea being that knowledge about what is going on around people, is passed around, giving other people the opportunity to join in, get a feel for the mood in the area, and perhaps actively seek out places based on the cogs eminating from them. Some examples:

• I’m walking though temple bar, and a come across a really good band playing in the open, who I enjoy listening to, and I think others will to. I emit a ‘Cog’ with a feeling (happy), location (place: temple bar, range: 500meters),  interests (music,band,awesome,[genre],[song title]), and likely lifetime (1 hour) attached to it, this general ‘cog’ gets broadcast to those nearby, who may also be enjoying the band, they in turn broadcast this to others, and so on, until the time runs out, or the message travels further than is useful for that message (e.g. 500m). Some users may actively subscribe to certain interests, places, or people (senders), others may just browse the incoming stream of cogs for interesting things.
• I remember something I have to tell someone, but I’m not in a rush to get it there, so a emit a direct ‘cog’ with a message attached, and make it private with key, and the key of the recipient(s). This cog, rather than be broadcast to everyone, is directed through only those people I meet, that are on the shortest path (in time) to the recipient.
• I think of a witty joke, decide leave it in the form of some digital graffiti in my favourite pub, I emit a cog, with a fixed location, and a very long time-out, I emit it to those people nearby who are willing to accept such items (fixed and long term), perhaps the bar staff and regular patrons. This cog is then transmitted only to those people nearby, and is not carried any great distance away.