I like New Scientist because they quote fairly. For those who want to know exactly what I said to Paul when he asked for a quote, it was this:

This seems like a very interesting piece of work. It is likely that this kind of prediction would be very accurate - people tend to follow regular patterns of behaviour, even walking the same routes each day. There is clearly a valuable aspect to generic and anonymised predictions like these, for they would allow us to ensure that the necessary computer resources are in the right places at the right times - so everyone would always have a good wifi signal for example.

However there are clearly some major privacy issues. It does paint a slightly Orwellian picture: how would you feel if your future movements and even your future happenstance meetings were all predicted in advance by exploiting your previous patterns of movement? The police might love it as a way of predicting the movements of criminals (akin to Philip K Dick's "Minority Report"), and advertisers would love it as a way of tailoring adverts, but what if anyone could predict exactly where you will be and who you will be with? It's a stalker's dream!

Speaking personally, I am comfortable with the idea of the technology around me being optimised for my personal usage - if I walk through the park each day I'd be pleased to have wifi access optimised for my usage as I walk. I'm uncomfortable with the idea that my movements and social interactions could be predicted, and that prediction could be available to anyone. If it is anonymised so that specific places become "hotspots" for meeting people with specific interests this may be better; although I question the need for computer predictions to enable this.

But what do I know? It would not surprise me if Google+ or facebook has this feature by this time next year...

Note I've been collaborating with Soo Ling Lim for some time on AppEco - a simulation of mobile app ecosystems. Not quite the same motives, but we hope it will be very useful. Keep an eye on: the AppEco website.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/24/tech/mobile/heart-monitor-smartphone-app/

I also just gave a talk at a NERC-funded Mobile App Workshop, held at 86 St James' Street in London. It was filmed, so you may be able to find the talk online sometime in the future. Details of the event here.

I don't suppose I'll win, but it's nice to be nominated!

I've lost track of the number of magazines and newspaper articles on the iStethoscope... and to my surprise I have even been nominated for the Index 2011 Design Award, Denmark, as well as UCL's Public Communication Award. I don't suppose I'll win either, but always flattering to be considered! Finally I managed to find another TV piece filmed last month (also starring my PhD student Arturo Araujo). Enjoy!

The following day a car took me to Shepherds Bush and I appeared on the BBC Breakfast Show, and chatted on BBC London's breakfast show. Later I chatted on yet more radio shows across the UK, in addition to interviews from more newspapers and magazines from around the world. The story was also in the Telegraph, The Daily Mail, and the Metro newspapers in UK, the Sydney Morning Herald and several others in Australia, and many, many others around the world. I was also called by NBC and Fox News in USA asking for permission to use photos and videos for items they were running on the app.

I've also received calls from companies and interested people worldwide, and there has been more than one offer of a licensing deal, some quite surprising.

The result of this unexpected (and greatly appreciated) attention is that my little app made it to number 1 in the whole AppStore in the UK, and became the 2nd highest grossing app! It's now starting to slip back down to normal medical app sales levels; as it does so I am able to see exactly how many sales are needed to reach each position in the rankings. I may do another post on this sometime!

Many of my recent appearances are online, here are some of them:

BBC News Technology: Stethoscope app created for smartphones

BBC News: Phone app turns mobile into stethoscope to monitor heartbeat

CNN interview

BBC Breakfast TV interview

The article can be found online here, and I include a copy of it below.