> So the way I see auraphone working at an event, you walk around and mingle as normal but yeah every one has their phone out and running the app but ONLY this app. You are still present and in the conversation not just looking at other distractions from your phone.
What is so magic about this app that it will make your phone not be a distraction? And how do you get everyone to download a new app? And if you can get them to do that, why not just exchange the info through a normal server? Then you could literally just tell the app which event you’re at (and sure, use Bluetooth for that, but a QR code or even just a link would probably work better) and then they don’t need to walk around with the app open.
It is a chicken and egg problem for sure. Will enough people install the app and will people keep it open and in foreground often enough. I need real event with like 100 people to test :)
The business card is more than just an exchange of phone numbers.
And at crowded events cell towers and wifi do have problems.
Someone can send a picture of the QR code to someone not at the event. With BLE and no backend I get that 100% assurance I was actually in the room with this phone, our phones talked, and I even know how many feet away that person is in real time.
Walking around with your phone out with an app open is inconvenient and a distraction, and a battery drain. Downloading a special app just for this is already too much friction unless the event requires it or the benefit is very tangible. But in most people’s minds, the benefit would be very hypothetical, and you need to get nearly everyone at the event to do it for anyone to continue to try to do it, I think. I don’t see how it’s going to work, other than at conferences where the attendees are perhaps already interested in this exact problem space and find it interesting to try.
And in this case, it can't by definition of not existing.
I think it depends a lot on the event. I would do all this at a 222.place after party if it placed me into buckets with the people I'm looking to meet.
Seems like the (only?) target audience for this would hardcode networkers going to network events. And honestly, I think people who go to a event like this don't have this problem of missing a connection they wanted.
1. potential customers / vendors (business network event)
2. potential mates (speed dating)
3. potential friends (222.place or timeleft)
I'd keep my phone out at a 222 event if the app guided me into a group of people that all share a specific interest.
Speed dating is called speed dating for a reason, you're supposed to be forced to meet everyone. Probably takes more time to setup yet another dating profile than it takes to simply go through the process.
From what I read on 222, their entire purpose is to get away from algorithms, apps, and whatnot.
Timeleft has, according to their landing page, six people per activity.
I don't mean to discourage, by the way. It's neat tech, I personally just don't see where it could best be used.
EDIT: I could see speed dating have some sort of "prompt" build on top of this. Say the app is rebranded to "SpeedDater" and the organizers said to download it. Then while in the event itself, the apps could give prompts or fun stuff to talk about in realtime, and then later you could eg. say yes/no after the fact, at which point the matches are unlocked. Not sure this requires the local-thing though.
https://i.imgur.com/HQ6hVMd.png
and there would be gamification for free drinks/food
It worked way better with a QR code.
That way there is proof of presence and the recieving person need not have the app installed.
I attend a lot of events, and most of the time, I just quickly whip out my phone and scan the QR code (which is usually on a lanyard around their neck).
We can both acknowledge the action taking place (which I believe is important for spam prevention / security / politeness), follow up later, and it takes 1/2 seconds. With this, I would be walking around wondering if the connection was saved or not and checking my phone, which is about the same time cost as just scanning the QR code.
The business card exchange or QR code scan exchange, I think, is important to create a legitimate link. I hate it when I go to events and people scan my QR code from a distance to hit me with cold calls and spam later (usually flip it the other way while not interacting with potential clients), which is sort of how this idea sounds, but weighted towards the spammers side.
Apple added "knocking", which they called called NameDrop, a few years ago. You bang two phones together and the simultaneous acceleration tells them to talk over NFC. But apparently Apple has gradually been locking down that feature because it's used to help organize protests.[2] Can't have that.
[1] https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/palmpilot-the-ultimate/...
[2] https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/software/apple-wants-to...
Do I want random f2p mobile games broadcasting my personal info 24/7 as a never killable background process? No. But sometimes I do want 24/7 stuff running!
OP's app is a great example. Technically doable but not allowed because of how locked down mobile phones are.
They removed it some time in 2021 or 2022 unfortunately.
Your idea is nice, but it’d easier if tighter integrated somehow with another platform.
I work on developing technology to solve sales and real-estate problems and streamlining/populating connections with people is a big issue. Exporting these to an excel sheet/csv is something that sales folk would absolutely kill for to make things easier to manage.
However, the hurdle to have enough get the application and have it running on both parties' systems while at the event is certainly a pretty strong bottleneck.
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