Project-5
Project-5: Using a Location-Based Service to Influence Personal Energy Usage
Topics: Front-end Development, Back-end Development, API Integration
Abstract: As portable devices become more powerful and ubiquitous, businesses will need to leverage these devices in order to stand out from their competitors. Any service that utilizes the location of a person's device is referred to as a Location-Based Service, or LBS. One such LBS is Foursquare, a location-based social networking application that allows its users to "check-in" to the locations they visit. While Foursquare is mainly used for social networking purposes, can it be used for other purposes, such as to help people become more aware of their energy usage when traveling?
A basic framework has been completed for Footprint, an application that utilizes the existing travel data captured by Foursquare in an effort to help Foursquare users understand how their travels affect their carbon footprint. By utilizing existing data, Footprint minimizes user effort required to create and interact with travel information, thus increasing the likelihood of user participation within Footprint.
The goal of this project is to extend Footprint by exploring human-centered computing concepts such as user interface design and system usability. There are a wide range of possible areas of work, such as concepting/prototyping, front-end programming, and back-end programming.
Current State: Here is a screenshot of Footprint in its current state:
The components of Footprint are:
Header:
The header shows the total mileage a person has associated with their Foursquare check-ins. This total is then broken down into self-powered miles (e.g., walking, biking), mass transit miles (e.g., bus, subway), and driving miles. Adjacent to the mileage totals is an area that will be used to show accomplishments that a person has achieved based on the changes they’ve made to their travel habits. In the example above, the user is being congratulated for biking over 35 miles within the previous 2 weeks.
Destination Table:
The destination table is a list of each check-in a person has made via Foursquare. The table columns are:
- Destination: The name of the destination, as found in Foursquare. The link takes the user to the Foursquare page for that venue.
- Check-In Date: The date of the check-in
- Start Point: The start point represents where the user was before arriving at the current destination. A person’s ‘homebase’ will be specified before the user can interact with the Destination Table
- Mode of Transportation: Currently the user can choose one of the three options shown below.
- Last Stop: If the destination is the last stop, the system assumes that the user returned to their homebase immediately afterward (and calculates the additional mileage accordingly).
- Ignore Check-In: If the user doesn’t want the data associated with the current check-in to affect their Footprint totals, they can select this checkbox.
- Update: Clicking the Update button updates the database with changes made to the current destination’s travel data. This update is performed asynchronously without reloading the web page.
System Architecture:
- Front-end: HTML/CSS + jQuery
- Back-end: PHP + MySQL
Objectives: Since only the basic framework of Footprint has been built, there are a number of areas that can be improved upon, including:
- User Account Management: Before it can be consumed by the general public, Footprint will need a complete user management workflow (creating an account, password change, log in/log out, et cetera)
- Google Maps API Integration: Footprint current calculates mileage traveled by using the straight-line distance between two points. A more accurate way to perform this calculation would be to utilize the Google Maps API instead. Taking this a step further, an interface could be built that allows the user (if they choose) to map their travel path using the Google Maps interface.
- UI Refinement: The current Footprint interface is essentially a “working wireframe”, i.e., black and white with moving parts. There is opportunity to modify the UI significantly, both in appearance as well as functionality.
The size of the group working on this project will determine the scope of deliverables. If this project appeals to you but there is another area not listed here that you would like to work on, please contact me and we can discuss your ideas.
Additional Reading:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Location-based_service
- http://foursquare.com
- http://groups.google.com/group/foursquare-api/web/api-documentation
- http://www.joesiewert.com/2010/04/how-to-use-the-foursquare-api-with-oauth-and-php/
- http://gowalla.com/ (One of Foursquare’s competitors)
Sponsor: Jason Zietz (jizietz@vt.edu)
