Age of Context

Smart phones, sensors, wearables, ingestibles, data collection, and location-based technologies are converging with social media to deliver us into the new Age of Context (a new book by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel). More and more, these things are with us wherever we go: in the devices we carry, the things we wear, the cars we drive, and increasingly in homes and public buildings.
 
Making it easier to find TV shows, locate businesses, and detect cancer, contextual intelligence promises to make ads more useful and possibly even appreciated by their audience. Contextual technology is showing up in all kinds of devices and applications, and is enabling connection and communication to other 'things,' allowing new understanding, which can help us be healthier, prepared, informed, and just generally better off, especially when context is fully understood.
 
Technology could allow toothbrushes to report you to the dentist when you have a cavity; allow cars that can establish or destroy alibis for criminals or straying spouses; provide homes with mirrors to show you what you look like in the clothes on a hanger; and give a view of a new haircut before you make the appointment at the salon. As the technologies continue to evolve to help with contextual understanding, we can also start to think about predictive services and recommendation assistants that can help us be on time for an appointment, keep us healthier, and even help us protect our own privacy.

Speakers: Robert Scoble, Shel Israel, David Gunning