17:56, Tuesday 20 Aug., 2002 Link

Another 3G application: Collaborative filtering of locations. Your handset relays your location to a central server, which: runs your location through a Geographic Information System to find the properties you've been in; matches the properties against a business directory to see which commercial places (pubs, shops, cinemas, museums, tourist attractions) you've visited. Using the following pieces of information:

• what public places you visited
• the frequency and times of your visits to that town (to find out whether it's your home town, work town, or weekend visit)
• your previous behaviour, visits and frequency of visits
• a business directory joining together pub and shop chains and demographic details

...then you can compare that information against the same set of information for everybody else using the same service, and in particular against people who have the same kind of visits/interests as you, and use it to suggest: People like you also visited....

Imagine. You visit a new town for the first time, stop in at a cafe that looks nice, and hang around in a couple of little bookshops. Based on your behaviour so far, and the kind of places people like you enjoyed when they went to that town for a weekend, your phone recommends a small photography exhibition down a sidestreet you would otherwise have missed. Refine the suggestions by reporting back whether you had fun.