A different paradigm for assessing contextual information on mobile

It is funny but when a couple of your trusted filters talk about the same thing in different context and time, you tend to sit up and pay attention. This is what has happened.

JP Rangaswami blogged about a Shazam for image in the context of a bird recognizing application. This was echoed by Fred Wilson a couple of months back when he suggested a similar application for tourists. Finally, Tomi Ahonen also talks about a interesting mobile service in Japan that 'uses the camera on the phone.... to read words (and) ..does a dictionary look-up and displays the word in Japanese on the screen.

All these suggested a big opportunity: creating a different paradigm for assessing contextual information:

-What happens when you can now assess the contextual information embedded in things around you?
-Can we see who else has retrieved the same information?
-How can we add more information to the image, wikipedia style?
-Will we see a big debate over privacy if I can now assess your information by snapping a picture of you?
-Can we now tell better stories or leave deeper memories if our images comes with the relevant information?

Posted in: mobile