MicrosoftClose Proximity Communication System

Stephen Miller

Deepak Bhagchandani

The hurricane has just

passed by; the clouds

have begun to thin and

the rain seems to be

slowing. The entire area

seems to be underwater.

Richard has been alone in

his attic for the last 3

hours. He had to move

up there when the water

began flowing into the

lower levels of his home.

He’s tried yelling, but

either he is truly alone or

everyone else is in just as

much trouble.

He’s becoming more

concerned by the minute;

the water has been rising

slowly and even with the

slowing rain he is afraid

his attic might flood, too.

When the rain began to

ease off, Denise cracked

her second story window

and pulled in her family’s

canoe she had

thoughtfully tethered to

the gutter when the

water first began to rise.

She clambered in to the

canoe through the

window. She wants to try

and communicate with

her extended family, and

see if her neighbors are

doing OK.

Her phone has battery,

but there’s no cellular

service to be found.

Richard needs help,

Denise can give it.

It will be hours before

rescue workers will gain

access to the area.

How do we bridge the

gap between the two?

Research

People helping other people

“Even with his family safe, Akaiwa continues to scour the

streets on the lookout for other tsunami survivors who need

help. In his red fanny pack, he carries half a bottle of tea,

some water, two packages of cigarettes, a flashlight, Swiss

army knife and a lighter.”1

1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/17/hideaki-akaiwa-japan-tsunami_n_837250.html

Helpless in the face of insurmountable odds

“In a dramatic turn of events, 17-year-old Joseph Harasym

was left alone in his home on Staten Island, while his

mother and brother drove two vehicles to higher

ground. But according to the Daily News, the water rose

too quickly and the family was unable to return to Harasym.

Though his brother made several rescue attempts and 911

was called, no help came until the next morning. By that

point, the basement and first floor of the house had

flooded.”1

1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/02/hurricane-sandy-horror-stories_n_2060683.html

Research

Connecting with loved ones

His wife, Melissa Eugene, had already fled inland as Katrina

approached. And as he kept working — and not sleeping,

Duplantier says, "All I wanted to do was let you know I

wasn't dead, I was alive.“1

1. http://m.npr.org/story/5704652

Research

“When we spot a house that's at least partially

unsubmerged, the crew bangs on the roof and windows

with fists and oars and shouts…—"Anybody home?!", "Food

and water! We're here to help!", and (once), "Hot dogs and

beer!" When there's no response, someone sprays a hot

pink X on the side wall…

Rescue efforts take time

“Expect to be on your own for the first 48 hours.”

– Bloomington Fire Department Chief Roger Kerr 1

1. Interview with Chief Roger Kerr, via Justin Hinman, Liz Mikolaj, & Thai Yue

Research

Flutter is an open source ARM-powered wireless Arduino

with 1000m+ (3200 ft) range and 256-bit AES hardware

encryption for $20.

Exemplar

Research

People in your immediate vicinity are your best chance at survival in the

first 24 hours after a disaster.

“Expect to be on your own for the first 48 hours.”

– Bloomington Fire Department Chief Roger Kerr

Key Insight

Connecting to loved ones is an essential part of any disaster experience.

Duplantier says, "All I wanted to do was let you know I wasn't

dead, I was alive.“1

Insight

1. http://m.npr.org/story/5704652

Connecting people in “dark zones” is both possible and feasible with

existing technologies.

Technology like the Flutter Arduino extension demonstrates the

viability of our design. These technologies can be used to create

local, ad hoc networks of individuals.

Insight

Problem Space

Close proximity helpGive people the means to start helping without

waiting for disaster relief organizations or the

government to mobilize.

Knowledge of loved ones

Leveraging radio technology to reach the

farthest distance possible to find loved ones.

Core

Light in the darkUse the phone to create hope by making it easier to locate

people in a close proximity.

Back to Denise & Richard…

Richard has resigned

himself to a long wait.

He’s doubtful help will

arrive before the water

subsides a substantial

amount and has been

deciding how he will

ration the small amount

of supplies he brought

with him to the attic.

Denise is sitting in her

canoe, wondering what

her next step should be.

She has no cell service.

Except for the occasional

sprinkle of rain and gust

of wind, her block seems

pretty quiet.

While Denise is thinking, she feels

her phone buzz once. She takes a

look at it and sees a notification on

her home screen.

Since nothing else on her phone

seems to working, she clicks the

notification to see what it’s about.

----

Richard receives the same

notification at roughly the same

moment as Denise. Desperate for

any connection to anyone, he taps

the alert to see what’s up.

Richard sees a list of names, one or

two of which he recognizes – he

thinks they might some ofhis

neighbors. He notices each name has

a “meters away” note, but Richard

ignores this as he is stuck himself.

He notices his best friend and

girlfriend are listed as “important

people” and vaguely remembers

setting these names as part of his

phone’s set up process.

His best friend seems to be OK, but

his girlfriend is listed as “out of

range.” He’ll worry about that as

soon as he figures out his own

current problem.

The message at the top of the screen

about “broadcast a status” seems like

something he could use, even

though he’s not sure to whom he will

be broadcasting. He clicks the

message to see what it can do.

He edits his broadcast to communicate his

dilemma, and goes back to waiting.

In the meantime, Denis

has opened up the Close

Proximity Communication

System on her device.

It shows her a list of names, some of

which she recognizes as her

neighbors’. She peruses the list,

noticing the “important people” and

broadcast sections. She ignores the

important people; her family are

hunkered down in the second story

room she just climbed out of and her

parents are 3 states away.

She notices Richard’s name and his

broadcast message. She remembers

some conversations they’ve had in the

past; she knows Richard lives alone.

She taps his name to learn more.

She clicks “Locate Richard”…

…and sees Richard’s location marked

on a map relative to her position. The

map is responsive, turning as she

turns. It even acts like a GPS, which

might be helpful if the roads weren’t

flooded with 10 feet of water.

With the general

direction in mind, Denise

puts her phone away and

begins paddling in

Richard’s direction to see

what she can do to help.

When Denise begins locating

Richard, he receives an alert

on his phone that she’s trying

to find him.

He immediately peps up

– someone knows where

he is and is (hopefully)

headed his way.

Your broadcast message is

pushed through the network

along with your location. It’s

limited to 140 characters in

order to minimize the strain on

battery life and data transfer.

Your “important people” are

chosen from your contact list.

It’s included to help people in

heavily populated areas keep

track of those most important

to them.

We limited the people

displayed to five as another

way to limit strain on battery

and data use.

CPCS is only active when the

device is unable to connect to

established cellular networks. There’s no way to guarantee

the general safety of a

particular area, particularly after

a disaster when the authorities

are stretched thin. In case

someone lives in a less than

friendly part of a city, they can

choose to deactivate the

location capabilities. This will

make them unable to use the

service at all.

The ability to block is included

as another safety precaution.

Future Strategies

Direct communication

Once they have located each other, enabling people to directly communicate

with each other using existing messaging and phone systems in the phone, by

leveraging our radio chip.

Assisting disaster relief organizations

Enabling disaster relief organizations to use our application to find out about

which areas are highly affected by analyzing mass status messages and also

providing required resources effectively.

Thank You

Special thanks to Marty Siegel, Microsoft Research, and the HCI/d 2014 Cohort