SCHAUMBURG, Ill. ? 6 January 2005 ? Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today announced the top 10 college finalists in its MOTOFWRD competition, a nationwide challenge asking emerging innovators to depict ? either through words or visuals ? the future of seamless mobility, a set of solutions that will provide easy, uninterrupted access to information, entertainment, communication, monitoring and control when, where and how we want regardless of the device, service, network or location.
Chosen by a panel of six industry experts including founder of dodgeball.com Dennis Crowley, founder of blackplanet.com Omar Wasow, futurist Dr. James Canton, youth culture expert DeeDee Gordon and sci-fi authors Cory Doctorow and Catherine Asaro, finalists include:
Hey, That Would be Nice! ? Andrew Davidson, Purdue University
A young filmmaker, Davidson's piece takes a voyeuristic tour of real life ? seamless mobility style. His personal soundtrack follows him from bed to bath to car to work and more, and disaster on a picnic date is averted when his seamless system detects a forecast for rain in advance.
A Day in the Life of SM ? Linda Deng, University of Southern California
Multi-tasking has never been so efficient. Deng's seamlessly mobile world takes a businesswoman from morning to night, waking her early to avoid a traffic jam, rescheduling meetings as factors in her day change and even ordering lunch without a repeat of the previous day's menu...all automatically and without interruption.
Mood Phone ? John Finan, Duke University
Who knew technology could affect mood? Finan's short story makes social interaction nearly painless for a young man affected by Asperger Syndrome, a mild form of autism, giving him a communication tool that senses others? moods seamlessly.
Seamless Mobility Will... ? James Goodrich, Northwestern University
Goodrich's vision of seamless mobility facilitates economic development, advances health care, and allows people to communicate across language barriers. His essay also explores a promise of cheaper, more accessible devices, software for ?rent,? allowing users to pay for functionality only when needed, and self-organizing, viral networks to give service to difficult-to-reach communities.
College Life 2010 ? Brian Ho, Virginia Tech
It is a dream come true ? your personal computer, PDA, GPS navigation platform, cell phone MP3 player and credit card all in one place. Ho's concept brings all of the information to display in the user's peripheral vision via specially-equipped glasses and a wristwatch.
One Life is Worth the Universe ? Arvind Nagarajan, Yale University
Seamless mobility crosses oceans with Nagarajan's short story of a foreign visitor's medical emergency. A heart attack leaves the gentleman unconscious behind the wheel. His communication system stops a car, avoids a traffic accident, translates and immediately conveys his medical history to local emergency responders, and even contacts his wife in the opposite hemisphere.
Outspoken Architecture ? Ryan Panchadsaram, University of California, Berkeley
Panchadsaram's graphic piece redefines the notion of speaking your mind. His Outspoken Architecture prompts people to sound off via mobile video devices on everything ? concerts, current events books and more. The information is shared with others around the world who search the topic or are alerted to the video posting when in the area of the event, venue or tangible space by their location-aware devices.
Creature Comforts and Crucialities ? Cameron Quinn, Western Washington University
Being pulled over on the freeway is usually a sign of illegal activity, but not in Quinn's world of seamless mobility. In his story, the vehicle with sirens is an ambulance and the driver is a 50-something man in the early stages of cardiac arrest. The heart monitor embedded in his watch alerted local medical officials just in time.
PARKYOURMOTO ? Rebecca Shostak, University of California, Los Angeles
Some of the most brilliant ideas have been penciled on cocktail napkins. Shostak's digital arts parking solution is another such gem, delivering a cell phone-based tracking system of available parking spots and fees for any city. No more circling the block for a spot or digging for quarters for the meter.
A Different and Better Day ? Bart Stein, Brown University
Chalking the answer to a math problem on the front board is old news. Students in Stein's short story work from interconnected 'smart boards? at their desks ? everything displayed on the teacher's board is on the students? and algebra problems can be solved by a student right from his seat for the class to view.
"We reviewed a wide range of ideas about the next generation of communications and seamless mobility for the MOTOFWRD college competition," said Crowley. "Each of these finalists demonstrates unique solutions for the future of technology and how it can change the way we experience the world around us."
