So Near and Yet So Near
While the introduction of Adobe’s Sensei and the Awareness API may seem completely different, they both help streamline and assist a user’s experience in different ways. It will be interesting to see how the two could be brought together. How might a mobile version of Sensei combined with awareness apis contribute to a designer’s process?
Another example of an app utilizing awareness and proximity apis is Nearby, which seems to have been announced at the same conference as the Awareness API. As in the video about Awareness Api and how it works, the developers of Nearby describe how the app provides more opportunities and input for the user by utilizing and maximizing the sensors that already exist in phones. Since it has been developed to work with all android systems “all the way back to gingerbread and Apple systems back to 7,” its range is wide open without the need to segment users based on the system their device is using. The presenters explain its device-to-device communications and cross-device interactions that simplify the exchange of information and the acquisition of apps/features using proximity both within and outside of an app. These features could be useful in the car repair app I’m exploring. As made clear on Edmunds developer network api console site, there are many ways an awareness api could connect with and learn about a particular vehicle or group of vehicles. In one small way, with a proximity/awareness api, a user could potentially tap the new car repair app within a certain range and it could determine the car’s VIN and history, eliminating the need for a user to input the license plate, VIN, etc. This could be most helpful when adding a temporary car, like that of a friend or relative, to the app for a short-term inquiry/assessment. Of course, the potential for and value of proximity and awareness apis have much broader and more important usefulness across a vast realm.
