Mediascapes is an HP Labs research project that makes it easy to author and play context-aware multimedia experiences. Simply put, a Mediascape plays multimedia content (image, audio, or video) on a mobile device based on context triggers. A trigger could be from a location sensor (such as GPS) to create a location-aware Mediascape. More generally, a trigger could be from any sensor, even a heart rate monitor, to create a context-aware Mediascape. This seemingly simple concept is actually quite powerful, as you can use it to create games, historical tours, educational tools, and many other applications. HP deployed Mediascapes at the Tower of London and Yosemite National Park.

An interesting aspect about Mediascapes is that it has an easy-to-use authoring toolkit that let's you create your own Mediascape. The current toolkit is available here and here and a newer version will be available in the months to come.

Mediascapes is driven by some creative researchers in my lab, and it originated as a collaboration between HP Labs and the Mobile Bristol project. HP is now taking it to the next level, and I'll give you updates as we progress.

HP is demo-ing a Mediascapes game at 3GSM World Congress 2007 in Barcelona. It is a research prototype, but we wanted to get it out there early to get some user feedback. Let us know your feedback if you get a chance to experience it at 3GSM. As always, any other comments and discussion are welcome, too.

3GSM UPDATE!  To get a Mediascapes demo at 3GSM, go to the HP booth and tell them that you're a blogger who wants to try out Mediascapes and ask for Phil.

 
TAGS: 3gsm,3GSM,HP,Mediascapes