Defining Location-Based Services and Locative Media

In writing a paper on locative technologies, I found that the definitions of the key terms locative media (LM) and location-based services (LBS) out there are poor. Both academic and trade sources are either nebulously vague or miss the defining criteria and instead focus on the resulting effects. Wikipedia, for once, is useless.  I also believe definitions should be as parsimonious as possible (something academics do very poorly).

I've taken a shot at trying to define these terms before. But I think I'm getting closer to a useful definition:

Locative media and location-based services are digital media applications,
normally delivered via a mobile device connected to the Internet,
that use the geographic position of the device to
deliver geographically relevant content back to the user.

Considering common usage, I am tempted to remove the word "normally" from the above definition as the terms are almost used exclusively for Internet-connected mobile devices.

Caveats:

• Automatic positioning is not a necessity - users can select their location themselves, for example via scanning a coded image, selecting from a list, or entering a specific number, or a combination of methods (as Foursquare does)
• Graphical user interface, multimedia, and user interaction - bare-bones, single modality applications can be quite effective, for example SMS-based info, audio-only guides
• Content form is open - it can be information, news, social media, personal communication, entertainment, gaming, maps, directions, reviews, etc.

What's the difference between LM and LBS?
Great question - and there's no exact answer. I have never seen any one attempt to draw a clear distinction. In fact, the two terms are used so interchangeable within the past few years that they are almost synonymous in common usage.

There are some slight differences, however, that can be seen in the words themselves. Location-based services imply a service framework that is consistent with computer science and thus used more by developers and industry. Whereas, locative media focus on the media and its role and is used more by communication and media scholars. Earlier in the two terms history, LBS was also used to include GPS navigation devices, such as TomTom. Locative media was adopted by new media artists and thus the terms often carries with it the association of offering artistic experiences rather than the "service" type info (e.g. directions, contact details) of LBS. Also, locative media is used by some people to include any medium that exclusively delivers place-based information, such in-store digital signage and interactive kiosks in malls and museums.

The need for consistent terminology
As can be seen that new terms often change their meaning and that meanings can be in flux for many years. But, I think it is important to have consistent terminology for developers, marketers, scholars, and particularly and users. So I'm not sure it's helpful now for some people to still call paper maps and graffiti as locative media (even though they are relevant to our understanding of new media forms). This is my attempt to clarify the terms, but I'd love to hear how other people define the terms.

Types of Mobile Devices

While preparing for my research exploring sense of place and location-based services, I wanted to find out the mobile device types and usage patterns of participants.  I have previously offerred my take on the definition of mobile device and blogged on What exactly is a mobile device. I define mobile devices as having:

• ability to connect to the Internet (or other data network)
• supports user input and interaction
• offers multiple functionalities
• is lightweight and is less than 10"

In preparing for the survey, I thought I had all the major types of mobile devices listed.

Devices that are "mobile devices":

• smartphone (including "superphones", "world phones", and some feature phones)
• tablets
• netbooks and ultraportable laptop
• personal digital assistant (e.g. iPod Touch)
• GPS navigation device (a.k.a. car or personal navigation device)

Some participants used the "other" field to answer laptops and e-Readers. I also considered whether portable game consoles and digital audio guides (as some museums use) should be considered mobile devices.

Wikipedia's definition is pretty broad. To them a mobile is "small, hand-held computing device, typically having a display screen with touch input and/or a miniature keyboard and less than 2 pounds (0.91 kg)". Wikipedia lists calculators, digital cameras, and MP3 players as mobile device.  I normally love Wikipedia but I think they are stretching the term to entail pretty much any portable electronic device.

Perhaps these are all just types of handheld computing devices. I think my definition, however, fits the core functionality of what a device needs as a category term.

So although although all the devices mentioned so far have some computing power and many have network connectivity (as even many e-Readers and digital cameras now have). But an e-Reader and digital camera are pretty much single function devices.  The Kindle e-Reader does have the cool ability to of user interaction in the ability to highlight passages of eBooks and share them online with others, but users can't create substantial content and it essentially it is a single function device (hence the name even).

Laptops may be portable but they aren't portable enough to allow ubiquitous access - a trait that I think is central to the concept of mobile device (opposed to just portable device).

This is the definition I'll be using for the indefinite future in my research.  I'd love to hear any feedback on additional criteria to include. I'd also love to hear of any other devices that would fit this definition.

Sense of Place & Location-Based Services - Survey Summary

This past December, I designed a survey as part of my coursework for a PhD in Information at University at Toronto. As promised, I'm sharing my early results of the survey.

The survey sought to uncover foundational knowledge about how people form a sense of place (defined as the feelings and meanings attributed to place), the role of information in this process, and the potential of location-based services (LBS - defined as mobile applications or sites that deliver content based on a user's location). As location-based services are still an emerging technology, this subject has not been sufficiently addressed by academia or industry.

I'm still in the process of compiling and writing up the results, but here is a high-level summary of the findings grouped by research questions.

78 people completed the survey, with participants representing a cross-section of ages, education levels, and residences. 86% have a mobile device, with smartphones the most popular (68%) followed by GPS navigation device (31%), tablet (22%), and netbook (18%). Participants can be described as frequent users as over 80% (53 participants) indicated they used their device at least once a day.

1) What is the nature of relationships people have to places they encounter?

• 96% of participants indicating there was a place in which they associated strong feelings or meaning.
• When asked what place characteristics are meaningful, past personal experiences, physical qualities of place, and social dimensions received the strongest support with all over 75%.
• These findings confirmed phenomenologist place theorists, who believe that a relationship to place is a foundational experience in human existence and individual experience is the paramount way we process place.
• The factual elements of a place, its history and role in culture, were selected by at least half of respondents, the lack of stronger support for the these qualities was surprising as LBS can offer unique functionality to deliver this information (perhaps leading LBS have yet to effectively tap this).
• When describing a place where participants felt a "strong sense of place" in an open-ended question, 58 participants recounted experiences revealing personal experiences tied to place - a good example of this is: "Another place with a strong sense to it is an ordinary intersection... where I was told 'I love you' for the first time, in the romantic sense...the spot is still very dear!".
• Often accounts such as this reveal facets of a place hidden to others but are nonetheless significant - through LBS these types of accounts can now be made more visible.
• Descriptions of meaningful places often (67% of respondents to this question) mention emotions tied a place. Top mentioned emotions are nostalgia (fond remembrance), contentment, and excitement.

2) How are people currently using information in forming a sense of place?

• All participants agreed that access to information while at a given location is valuable.
• When asked to describe how they come to know of a specific place, experience was echoed here, with 50 participants indicating this was a primary information source.
• Personal experience was often described as an initial source of learning about a place, but was then followed by consulting various other information sources to learn more about place.
• Approximately half of respondents using two or more sources of information when learning about the place.
• When asked specifically the information sources participants use when visiting a new place for either a short (less than 1 day) or extended visit, the top five sources are (in descending order): Short visit - social network/word of mouth, website, pamphlets, mobile application, plaques. Extended visit: website, social network/word of mouth, print book, pamphlets, video or tv program.
• People are more apt to use an information source for extended visits than for short visits with the exception of mobile applications and plaques.
• In general, the more a visit demands of a person the more apt participants are to invest the time to consult a greater number of sources and more in-depth sources.

3) How, if at all, have mobile devices affected sense of place?

• The majority of participants with a mobile device are using it, in relation to place, to find location, directions or contact information.
• There is strong indication that participants are currently using mobiles to seek out facts about place beyond directions. This behaviour can be seen in the following comment: "I found out recently not to use a public car park ... after dark. The Foursquare entry had a tip that car thieves were targeting the car park".
• The ability to use mobile devices to record or share place was described by some participants as changing their experience of the place, as illustrated by this comment: "The process of inscribing your thoughts on a place while at that place is very useful in concretising your thoughts on that place. I think the practice of reflecting on the place to compose an entry requires a thinking about that place, and an ordering of thoughts about that place that gives meaning to the place (whether good or bad) and which in turn improves the memory one has of that place."
• Participants also expressed comments that they are experiencing the physical and digital worlds simultaneously, along the lines of "hybrid space" as discussed in academic litearature, this can be seen by this comment: "I pulled up a mobile app the other day when I took my children to a museum, so that I could supplement the information at the museum with information from the mobile app."
• The larger the device screen the more apt participants are to find something useful.
• The type of mobile device used does not have a strong association with usage of geotargetted information seeking via mobile device, the creation of place-based user generated content, or the likelihood to use a LBS.

4) What is the potential of location-based services to improve sense of place?

• Participants were not big users of LBS applications - of the people with a mobile device less than half have installed one of the most popular LBSs.
• The most installed used mobile applications with LBS functionality used by participants were Foursquare at 23%, Google 23%, and Facebook at 22%.
• All three of these, with the exception of Google’s Places, predominantly revolve around geo-social networking. Although place-based information can be found in the form of "tips" left by friends or made public, the core functionality of these leading apps are tracking the whereabouts of one’s social network.
• Of the participants using LBS, they expressed appreciation for the ability for the applications to enhance their sense of place by learning more about a place, as typified by these comments: "I think they have affected how much I can find out about a place and provides access to types of information about a place that I wouldn't otherwise have access to - provides richer dimensions to knowing about a place" and "Location based services have, by bringing other peoples social gazetteers into consideration, made a sense of place easier to achieve."
• LBSs were also mentioned by participants as improving their attachment to place.

5) What could be done with mobile technology to improve sense of place?

• To meet the needs of users, however, there improvements to LBS or mobile technology in general are need. Over 60% of participants offered suggestions.
• The top five suggestions were:  better content (32% support) , new functionality (26%), personalization features (21%), user experience improved (21%), and content available in more locations (17%).

Final thoughts

As one considers the possible implications for location-based services accessed via a mobile device to affect sense of place, the current iterations of technology may not reflect the qualities of future versions. The LBS market is rapidly evolving and new features and innovations as well as improvements to existing features will undoubtedly continue. Ideally, I would like my research as it continues to be able to inform future developments in this area.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this survey!

I held a random draw for an iTunes giftcard and a participant from Vancouver was chosen.

I'll revise and enhance these findings as I continue my data analysis. But I'd love to hear any thoughts below on these early results.

Locative Media Definition

I recently attended a conference on locative media and the definition of locative media offered, and one that is often assumed, is that locative media are mediums that address a physical space through digital technology.
It is safe to assume there is consensus that locative media, should be media that address the location issue. But I find the digital assumption to be problematic. It may be useful for writers and pundits to use the term to distinguish it as a trend or as emerging technology, as per the use of term social media.

I think digital is not a defining traits so much as the ability to (easily) access a medium's content while in the referenced space.

Films, for example, would not generally be locative if viewed on a screen or television. So Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams about the cave paintings in southern France are not locative. But it could be, if it was  viewed on a mobile device or laptop while at the cave (or the cave authorities have a screening room at their interpretation centre). It's more feasible to consider a scenario of watching a clip of Woody Allen's Manhattan on a tablet while sitting in Central Park.

Access to the medium is definitely a defining trait too. Books about a place are not often easily accessible while at a given location unless one has planned ahead and brought the book along (as happens with travel guides). But this access barrier is breaking down with the growing popularity of e-books (although the form of the medium, i.e. its length, makes it less suitable for place-based consumption).

So if many media have locative aspects, perhaps the term locative media is meant for media that are exclusively locative, that is primarily consumed while at a location? This would be the case for interactive kiosks that malls and museums often use for wayfinding and other place-related information. Digital media don't have a monopoly on locative however, as plaques and print guestbooks, for examples, are non-digital and exclusively locative. The idea of exclusivity is problematic as some media may be mostly used while at a location, for example travel guidebooks or geosocial networking apps, can be also used a lot while in various locations.

I'm thinking that a definition of locative media would then be media that address place and are used while in the place.

I think discussing what the term locative media means is important not just for researchers and scholars in the field, but for developers and content creators. Considering the prior media that have come before and offer their strengths and weaknesses can be invaluable for guiding design and technical decisions.

Geo-Terminology

The topic of location-aware mobile applications are certainly a growing area. Whether an application used more for fun and reviews such as Foursquare or to find nearby businesses such as the Yellow Pages app, I believe this type of technology will become increasingly ubiquitous and embedded in an increasing number of applications and online services.

My research has been examine how these applications function and are constructed. I've encountered a lot of jargon and key terms to the area that I find it useful to clear up. So I spent some time on Wikipedia (an invaluable source).

So here are a few terms that comprise or are a form of a mobile location-aware application. All definitions are for the most part from Wikipedia, unless otherwise noted. My comments are in curly parentheses {}.

Device Level

- Context awareness - "computers can both sense, and react based on their environment" {e.g. time of day, light level, noise level, location hence "location awareness}

- Geolocation - "identification of the real-world geographic location of an object, such as a cell phone or an Internet-connected computer terminal. Geolocation may refer to the practice of assessing the location, or to the actual assessed location"

Application Level

- Location-based service (LBS) - "information or entertainment service, accessible with mobile devices through the mobile network and utilizing the ability to make use of the geographical position of the mobile device"

- Locative media - "media of communication functionally bound to a location. Locative media are digital media applied to real places and thus triggering real social interactions.... Many locative media projects have a social, critical or personal (memory) background"

- Local search - " specialized Internet search engines that allow users to submit geographically constrained searches against a structured database of local business listings. Typical local search queries include not only information about 'what' the site visitor is searching for (such as keywords, a business category, or the name of a consumer product) but also 'where' information, such as a street address, city name, postal code, or geographic coordinates"

- Geotargeting - "delivering different content {e.g. advertising} to that visitor based on his or her location"

- Augmented reality (AR) - "live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input, such as sound or graphics" {and increasingly text-based data are being considered AR too}

User Level

- Geosocial networking - "social networking in which geographic services and capabilities such as geocoding and geotagging are used to enable additional social dynamics" {e.g. Foursquare}

- Geographic information retrieval (GIR) - "augmentation of information retrieval with geographic metadata. Information retrieval generally views documents as a collection or `bag' of words. In contrast Geographic Information Retrieval requires a small amount of semantic data to be present (namely a location or geographic feature associated with a document)"

- Geographic relevance - "relevance denotes how well a retrieved document or set of documents meets the information need of the user" {in geographic terms, relevance most often would relate to proximity of the document/object to the user, but other forms would be temporal proximity (travel time) and the visibility of desired resource}

- Geofence - "virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic area. A geo-fence could be dynamically generated - as in a radius around a store or point location.... When the location-aware device of a location-based service (LBS) user enters or exits a geo-fence, the device receives a generated notification" {this could be used to block users from accessing user-generated or non-sanctioned georeferenced information about that location/business}

- Geomessaging - not in Wikipedia but here's my take - user messages (either delivered via email, SMS, or application-based) to friends or themselves georeferenced to a specific space that can only be received when at that designated space

Data Level

- Hyperlocal - "Oriented around a well defined, community scale area with primary focus being directed towards the concerns of its residents.... Hyperlocal content, often referred to as hyperlocal news, is characterized by three major elements. First, it refers to entities and events that are located within a well defined, community scale area. Secondly, it is intended primarily for consumption by residents of that area. Thirdly, it is created by a resident of the location"

- Georeferencing - "establishing {an object or document} location in terms of map projections or coordinate systems"

- Geospatial metadata - "metadata that is applicable to objects that have an explicit or implicit geographic extent, in other words, are associated with some position on the surface of the globe"

- Geocoding - "finding associated geographic coordinates (often expressed as latitude and longitude) from other geographic data, such as street addresses, or zip codes (postal codes)"

- Geotagging - "adding geographical identification metadata to various media" {implies user-generated tags & folksonomies, per Flickr}

- Geoparsing - "assigning geographic identifiers (e.g., codes or geographic coordinates expressed as latitude-longitude) to textual words and phrases that occur in unstructured content, such as "twenty miles north east of Jalalabad".... Two primary uses of the geographic coordinates derived from unstructured content are to plot portions of the content on maps and to search the content using a map as a filter. Geoparsing goes beyond geocoding. Geocoding analyzes unambiguous structured location references, such as postal addresses and rigorously formatted numerical coordinates. Geoparsing handles ambiguous references in unstructured discourse"

- ISO 19115 - "standards for Geospatial metadata. ISO 19115 defines how to describe geographical information and associated services, including contents, spatial-temporal purchases, data quality, access and rights to use."

- GeoRSS - Wikipedia's definition was lacking, so I went to the GeoRSS website for this: "As RSS and Atom become more prevalent as a way to publish and share information, it becomes increasingly important that location is described in an interoperable manner so that applications can request, aggregate, share and map geographically tagged feeds."

- Keyhole Markup Language (KML) - "XML schema for expressing geographic annotation and visualization within Internet-based, two-dimensional maps and three-dimensional Earth browsers"

System Level

- Geographic information system (GIS) - "any system that captures, stores, analyzes, manages, and presents data that are linked to location(s)"

- Global positioning system (GPS) - "space-based global navigation satellite system that provides reliable location and time information in all weather and at all times and anywhere on or near the Earth when and where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites"

- Local positioning system - "Unlike GPS or other global navigation satellite systems, which are positioning systems with a global coverage, local positioning systems don't use technology that has global coverage; they use local technology or technology that has local coverage. Examples of this local technology include cellular base stations, Wi-Fi access points, and broadcast towers"

- Gazetteer - "geographical dictionary or directory, an important reference for information about places and place names, used in conjunction with a map or a full atlas"

- Geo-block - Wikipedia doesn't have this term, but Michael Geist covers the topic well in his article Geo-Blocking Sites a Business Rather Than Legal Issue. Essentially, as it applies to the Internet, a geo-block identifies a user's IP address and restricts access to content if the user is not in a pre-approved zone. In contrast, geo-authentication can allow a user entry into an online system or site based on their IP location.

- Location-based advertising {similar to proximity marketing} - "advertising that uses location-tracking technology in mobile networks to target consumers with location-specific advertising on their mobile devices.

Finally two good parting concepts:

- Space vs. place - "Geographic space is the space that encircles the planet, through which biological life moves. It is differentiated from 'outer space" and 'inner space' (inside the mind). One definition of place, proposed by Tuan, is that a place comes into existence when humans give meaning to a part of the larger, undifferentiated space. Any time a location is identified or given a name, it is separated from the undefined space that surrounds it. Some places, however, have been given stronger meanings, names or definitions by society than others. These are the places that are said to have a strong 'Sense of Place'"

Geospatial Web or Geoweb - "merging of geographical (location-based) information with the abstract information that currently dominates the Internet. This would create an environment where one could search for things based on location instead of by keyword only – e.g. 'What is Here?...The geoweb also promises to make geographical information much more ubiquitous, opening geoinformation up to the mass market."

What Exactly is a Mobile?

The term "mobile" is used all the time in media, business, academia, and by users without a common and precise definition of the term.

A definitive sense of the terms is complicated by the rapid expansion and evolution of portable devices connected to the Internet. Smura, Kivi, and Toyli (2009) believe a mobile device must meet three criteria:

1. ability to make voice calls
2. physical size of device (they do not specify exact dimensions but the implication is the size of a thin laptop or smaller)
3. the operating system.

Their definition, however, already appears to be outdated. They focus on voice-enabled networks rather than Internet access, the latter appearing now to be the defining point in distinguishing mobiles from cellphones or personal digital assistants (PDAs).

Indeed, mobile voice telephony has been decreasing in volume and duration since 2007 (Thompson, 2010). People are instead increasingly using their devices for text messaging (SMS), emailing, and accessing Internet-enabled apps or sites. Smura et al.'s definition of mobile would also exclude the immensely popular iPod Touch, which allows users to interact with Internet content but does not offer the ability to make phone calls.

Size criterion is a critical determinant as the portability and ease of access in multiple environments is a core difference between mobile devices and other portable, Internet-enabled devices such as laptops and netbooks. Smura et al.'s definition does include laptops and netbooks, but their inclusion precludes the essential degree of speed, ease and flexibility of access that entails being "mobile".

Additionally, a key difference is that online content for a mobile often must be formatted or coded specifically for that device compared to the relative universality of online content displayable on browsers on PCs, netbooks, and laptops.

Smura et al. do foresee complications arising from other devices increasingly blurring distinctions. The inclusion of operating system as a defining trait helps distinguish between devices that are “limited, for specific purpose” (p. 58). Digital cameras, e-readers, and game consoles now are able to allow Internet connection and online interaction (to a limited extent), but the primary goal of this is to support the core functionality (i.e., photography, reading, or gaming). Mobile devices, on the other hand, are portable computing devices running multiple software (e.g., contacts, calendars, document processing, file management, etc.) and offering a range of multi-modal inputs and outputs, including text/SMS, email, instant messaging/chat, voice telephony, photography, video, applications, and mobile Web browsing. Hence, the operating system is not a central characteristic; rather the key difference is between devices with single versus multiple functionalities.

There are overlaps across technologies, but to clarify future discussion, I offer the definition of a mobile device as a device that has:

• the ability to connect to the Internet
  
• supports user input and interaction,
• offers multiple functionality
• and has the physical size of a tablet computer or smaller

Consequently a mobile device includes smartphones (e.g. BlackBerry, iPhones, Androids, Nokia.), tablets, (e.g. iPad, PlayBook, etc..) and networked portable media player and personal digital assistants (e.g. iPod).

Agree or disagree?

References:
Smura, T., Kivi, A., & Toyli, J. (2009). A framework for analysing the usage of mobile services. Info, 11(4), 53-67.

Thompson, C. (2010, August). On the death of the phone call. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/07/st_thompson_deadphone/