Thesis Overview
Synchronizing communication and navigation devices for in-car use

With the rise of mobility, people stay connected to their social networks and are reachable by others while on the move. Meetings are arranged on the fly, schedules get changed and appointments get cancelled. Anyone with a mobile phone needs to invent excuses for not being available when someone tries to reach them.
Connectivity now depends on the person rather than the space, which means a person can choose to stay connected to his personal area network wherever he is: at home, at work and even in-between, in his car.
Car space is a transit space, a space between our departure point and destination. The decisions we make at our departure point may change on the way to our destination because the conditions may change. The decisions we make in car space affect those traveling with us in other vehicles, or when someone is waiting for us at our destination. I am interested in ways of communicating decisions made in car space.

How do we communicate with people in the car and outside the car and what types of communications happen within ad-hoc networks between cars on the road? What are the devices and interfaces that people use for communication?

Do habits change with the aid of new technology? What new social patterns emerge from the rise of mobile communication? Can mobile devices make us aware of and enrich our social encounters?

How do cars communicate with their occupants, how do they communicate with each other on the road? How are new technologies being used in the car space? Do they actually help occupants of cars or are they another source of problems to deal with?

Featured in:
Cover of September 2005 issue of Tele.com.tr, Turkey's leading telecommunications magazine
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com
http://www.engadget.com
http://www.usernomics.com

Responses:
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Bill Moggridge, IDEO

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Nathan Shedroff

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Anne Kirah, Microsoft Corp.

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Totally COOL! :-)"
Jim Parsons, co-founder, Mexens Technology