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Venture capitalist Albert Wenger wrote on his blog today that the road back from COVID-19 could start -- as early as May -- provided we're able to get our act together around three essential things: masks, tests, and tracing for everyone. We have all been talking about the importance of these things over the last few weeks, but I think it's worth mentioning just how quickly some of this is starting to happen.
Both Apple and Google have announced that they are building a voluntary contact-tracing network. By May, they hope to release a set of APIs that other software developers will be able to build on top of. Bluetooth will be what is used to detect when humans are in close proximity to each other. Eventually, both companies plan to integrate contact tracing right into their operating systems.
Here's how it might work:
Of course, we are also seeing new startups emerge, like this one here called Coronatrace.
Similar to what Apple and Google have in mind, the app will be a voluntary contact-tracing network. By using it, your phone will begin to log how you move about, something that is already happening today with many of the apps we already use. Should someone test positive for COVID-19 (they would need to update their health status within the app), it would then immediately notify the network and anyone who might have crossed paths with them.
Obviously it would be far better to simply have a vaccine. But the experts are saying that will take some time -- 12 to 18 months? And in the interim, we're going to need to get the global economy back up and running. Seeing solutions like these being developed makes me hopeful we'll be able to do that sooner rather than later.
I just discovered an interesting Dallas-based startup this morning called TOOR. They were on Shark Tank and haven’t yet launched their product, but it’s essentially a connected lockbox. Lockboxes are a mainstay of the residential real estate industry (they hold the keys so that co-operating agents can show a property) and they are becoming even more common nowadays because of Airbnb rentals.
What caught my attention about TOOR is the app that goes along with the lockbox that also allows people to search for homes. Once you’ve found a home you can even find an agent for an escorted tour. I’m not clear on the exact workflow, but I am thinking that if you buy this connected lockbox you then have the opportunity to put your home up for sale on their platform.
This is interesting because the app will also verify user identities and scan people’s IDs, so it helps to solve the security problem that agents today now solve. I could imagine the app storing my credit card so that if I go into a home unescorted and I do something mischievous, it then charges me. It also makes it really easy to just drive around and pop into homes by instantly scheduling appointments.
In any event, I may have the exact user flows a bit wrong, but it’s fascinating to think about how something as simple as a connected lockbox could start to chip away at the status quo.
Venture capitalist Albert Wenger wrote on his blog today that the road back from COVID-19 could start -- as early as May -- provided we're able to get our act together around three essential things: masks, tests, and tracing for everyone. We have all been talking about the importance of these things over the last few weeks, but I think it's worth mentioning just how quickly some of this is starting to happen.
Both Apple and Google have announced that they are building a voluntary contact-tracing network. By May, they hope to release a set of APIs that other software developers will be able to build on top of. Bluetooth will be what is used to detect when humans are in close proximity to each other. Eventually, both companies plan to integrate contact tracing right into their operating systems.
Here's how it might work:
Of course, we are also seeing new startups emerge, like this one here called Coronatrace.
Similar to what Apple and Google have in mind, the app will be a voluntary contact-tracing network. By using it, your phone will begin to log how you move about, something that is already happening today with many of the apps we already use. Should someone test positive for COVID-19 (they would need to update their health status within the app), it would then immediately notify the network and anyone who might have crossed paths with them.
Obviously it would be far better to simply have a vaccine. But the experts are saying that will take some time -- 12 to 18 months? And in the interim, we're going to need to get the global economy back up and running. Seeing solutions like these being developed makes me hopeful we'll be able to do that sooner rather than later.
I just discovered an interesting Dallas-based startup this morning called TOOR. They were on Shark Tank and haven’t yet launched their product, but it’s essentially a connected lockbox. Lockboxes are a mainstay of the residential real estate industry (they hold the keys so that co-operating agents can show a property) and they are becoming even more common nowadays because of Airbnb rentals.
What caught my attention about TOOR is the app that goes along with the lockbox that also allows people to search for homes. Once you’ve found a home you can even find an agent for an escorted tour. I’m not clear on the exact workflow, but I am thinking that if you buy this connected lockbox you then have the opportunity to put your home up for sale on their platform.
This is interesting because the app will also verify user identities and scan people’s IDs, so it helps to solve the security problem that agents today now solve. I could imagine the app storing my credit card so that if I go into a home unescorted and I do something mischievous, it then charges me. It also makes it really easy to just drive around and pop into homes by instantly scheduling appointments.
In any event, I may have the exact user flows a bit wrong, but it’s fascinating to think about how something as simple as a connected lockbox could start to chip away at the status quo.
The most notable change is a front and center map that shows you all of your check-ins. You can also zoom in and really explore where you’ve been, geographically. Swarm refers to it as a “virtual memory book.”
Lifelogging is absolutely the main reason why I use Swarm and why it still finds itself on my home screen. One of the reasons I enjoy blogging is that it’s a public diary. Swarm is a modified version of that for me. So this change feels right.
My other Swarm use cases are being able to share check-ins to Twitter and serendipitous encounters with friends.
But the more I use Swarm the more I think that divorcing this use case from Foursquare (this happened in 2014) was a mistake. If Swarm is now about lifelogging (instead of just playful check-ins) and if Foursquare is about finding the perfect place to go out, then why not merge these experiences?
Tell me where I should be going, let me make lists of places I want to go, and then let me log it to my diary along with tips for other people.
At the time of the divorce, the data seemed to suggest that very few people did both of these things within the consolidated app. People either checked-in or they looked for a place to go. Rarely did they do both.
Perhaps that would be different with lifelogging.
The most notable change is a front and center map that shows you all of your check-ins. You can also zoom in and really explore where you’ve been, geographically. Swarm refers to it as a “virtual memory book.”
Lifelogging is absolutely the main reason why I use Swarm and why it still finds itself on my home screen. One of the reasons I enjoy blogging is that it’s a public diary. Swarm is a modified version of that for me. So this change feels right.
My other Swarm use cases are being able to share check-ins to Twitter and serendipitous encounters with friends.
But the more I use Swarm the more I think that divorcing this use case from Foursquare (this happened in 2014) was a mistake. If Swarm is now about lifelogging (instead of just playful check-ins) and if Foursquare is about finding the perfect place to go out, then why not merge these experiences?
Tell me where I should be going, let me make lists of places I want to go, and then let me log it to my diary along with tips for other people.
At the time of the divorce, the data seemed to suggest that very few people did both of these things within the consolidated app. People either checked-in or they looked for a place to go. Rarely did they do both.
Perhaps that would be different with lifelogging.
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