new location based social networking system

i have grand dreams of an interconnected future. being able to walk through a city and chat with anyone in a one mile radius, or simply knowing who else is in the library with you, is a way to bridge the immense space that computers can put between people. while kids are locked up in their rooms, ignoring their friends, isolated but playing a cool video game, i hope one day we'll change it around - if kids are going to game, let them do it outside.

gaming aside, the university of michigan has created a program that might change the way we instant message, by bringing location sensing into a chat program's capabilities. the program, called mates, could automatically list the people around you, through gps, positioning systems, or simply as a result of user input. the program is independent of other messaging programs, but has open code to encourage other messaging platforms to usefully absorb their technology.

idea via we make money not art