E-Shadow: Lubricating Social Interaction Using Mobile Phones

Abstract

In this paper, we propose E-Shadow, a distributed mobile phone-based local social networking system. E-Shadow has two main components: (1) Local profiles. They enable E-Shadow users to record and share their names, interests, and other information with fine-grained privacy controls. (2) Mobile phone based local social interaction tools. E-Shadow provides mobile phone software that enables rich social interactions. The software maps proximate users’ local profiles to their human owners and enables user communication and content sharing. We have designed and implemented E-Shadow on mobile phones. In our E-Shadow system, we allow users to perform dynamic and layered information publishing, making use of interpersonal relevance in space and time. Our system also provides a mechanism to help users perform direction-driven localization of an E-Shadow and match it with its owner. Experiments on real world Windows Mobile phones and large-scale simulations show that our system disseminates information efficiently and helps receivers find the direction of a specific E-Shadow with accuracy. We believe our E-Shadow concept and system can lead to a more tightly-knit temporary community in one’s physical vicinity.