MeshPotato
Submitted by: Mahmood Choudhury
Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?
WHAT IS A MESHUP ?
MeshUp is a next step of the mashup in the sense to merge and integrate different data sources and processing devices. It uses new information and communication technologies to collect and merge data and contents in new integrated applications, communication and information services.
HOW IT RELATES TO YOU ?
You are the centre of your world and it revolves around your needs.
You need to know instantly who, what, where, when, why and how ?
It could relate to crime, health, traffic, pollution, education - anything that connects to you and affects you as a person.
You do not want to click between different websites or windows to compare, analyse, read and find out information.
You want to view everything in one place - one screen and in one go.
You type in your postcode and then it presents you with a visual construct of all the bits of information it connects to. This could include any news content, articles, reports, stats etc.
What you would see when you typed in your postcode is a spider diagram with a map in its centre. As you click on different areas of the map or locations, the content in the windows would change and update.
For example, you typed in postcode XL1 2DW - this would show up as a map location. You will then be able to see all related content about crime, education, spending, news etc in related windows beside the map.
There will be windows and sections that show different elements of information sourced from data sets and the internet.
So whilst you are looking at school data for your local area you can view related content from Youtube in a small window. You can view traffic alerts in real time as a ticker tape or view web cam streams that show what it looks like.
You will also have options where you can compare or find out directions between locations. For example, you type in XL1 2DW and YG1 6FC. It will then show you all the information that links these two locations together.
Everything is related to everything else - it is just about finding the right associations that links information together.
With this tool you can search many datasets and have related content sourced from the Internet all in one go. It is like searching Google, Yahoo, Lycos, MSN and BBC in one go and having the results displayed side by side.
Different information content will be integrated with each other to present the user with a rich, multi faceted user interface.
This would be useful when wanting to find out about crime in and around your area. You type in a location and it then shows you related news content, youtube videos, images and stats.
For example, if you are viewing crime stats about your area it will also display any related user generated content uploaded by others. This could be videso or images that alert or show crime or warnings. This could include CCTV footage of a crime that took place near where you live or any images taken by people on their phones etc.
In this way you get more in-depth information that is centred around a specific query but sourced from many different locations.
Content would be updated regularly from the different sources so you are kept up to date with the latest news, developments, stats, facts and information.
What information or services do you need?
maps, traffic data, population data, health, postcode data, schools, pollution, crime data
Posted by Lance on 24 September 2008 at 08:07 PM
Sounds like everyblock.com, have you seen that? Also city-data.com for the US, which is not as granular.