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thingfinding application

Submitted by heavymeta on 23 March 2009 - 5:10pm to Discussions.

I encountered a formulation of "thingfinding" (http://is.gd/ozjk) today and it got me thinking that this could be the basis of a fairly easy-to-make and really awesome DIYCity application. Could we begin to build a ground-up database of things in the city?
I'm imagining a smartphone app that just allows you to take a picture of something, say what it is, and then it gets entered with location data into a database. Perhaps it would also allow for some additional metadata to contribute to its description.
Eventually, everything people care enough about to submit might go in here. Everything from favorite types of shampoo to the Brooklyn Bridge. It would be the beginning of a kind of location-based catalog of the stuff that exists in the city. Eventually, you would be able to query it and find the closest place to buy that shampoo, or in a broader way to find anything else you needed or were looking for.
Maybe it could just start as a database of people's favorite things, and see where it goes from there. I'd be happy to help out on this if anyone is interested in developing the concept/application.
Ian-- ***

23 Mar17:48

i think its a great idea...

By banackbread

i think its a great idea... check out http://ourfaves.com/ as a model... its a great site, but underutilized.... maybe a good starting point to work from.

23 Mar21:43

index of things

By heavymeta

Sorry - didn't mean to block comments - think it was some kind of system glitch that I've been informed is now fixed.

Ourfaves is something I hadn't seen. It seems like the Yelp model in some ways. I was thinking of a database that would extend to an even more granular level: individual products in stores; individual dishes in restaurants. The best use might be things that aren't necessarily for sale - like shady quiet spots, well-placed park benches, interesting grafitti, etc. In general, it would strive to be a complete, georeferenced index of everything in the city.

It's almost embarrassing to state that as a goal, but it could build slowly and from very simple contributions.

23 Mar21:49

i totally agree... some of

By banackbread

i totally agree... some of those non-monetary thins are included in ourfaves... there is also another site... which recently got taken down and is being replaced (check here for the updates http://www.ifeelearth.com/ )

that tracked locations and stuff by google map according to mood (hungover, calm, sleepy, etc)

But I get the level of detail you are going for.... Interested in developing concept for sure... as for application, I am afraid I am of NO help....

25 Mar13:45

thingshowing

By jrez

Thingfinding is already out there in many forms and shapes.

There is quite a deluge of location based applications that collect and provide data about things, including people's individual perspectives about these things. We should begin to look at how this data can be aggregated into a single thingshowing portal.

An important aspect then is how we bring it into the city and make it accessible for people without smart phones.

25 Mar15:50

Re: thingshowing

By John Geraci

>> Thingfinding is already out there in many forms and shapes.I agree, and was going to say the same thing.  Lots of data out there already, from Flickr maps (my neighborhood here:http://www.flickr.com/map?&fLat=40.69&fLon=-73.988&zl=5  ) to Socialight, to whatever.
And that's a good thing, I think, because actually trying to get people to input that much data into your system if you build it from the ground up is a nearly impossible job.  Much better to just hook into the existing data, pull out the stuff that is useful to people, and aggregate it all in one central spot, IMO.
And that gives me an idea - a while ago someone posted something about "what could we do with Everyblock when it gets open sourced?"  Seems like this could be a good answer to that question.

25 Mar22:34

Re: thingshowing

By heavymeta

That would be a very interesting use of Everyblock. I'm interested in a level of granularity that I suppose Flickr comes closest to.

Has anyone had any experience with Earthmine (earthmine.com)? I applied for the beta. They've actually created georeferenced 3D models of several cities. It enables you to, for example, specify that something is in the upper window of a building. Like a deeper Google Earth in some ways.