100 things you could do with Wi-Fi Direct

Barrett Cunningham — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:00:53 +0000

1. Use your iPhone as a remote control for all media devices in your home (TV’s, stereos, DVD players)
2. Address a crowd without using a PA system by speaking into your cell phone and letting the audience listen to you through their cell phones
3. Broadcast up-close and personal video of a speaker from a video camera to audience members through their cell phones
4. Have your car open your garage door automatically when you get home
5. Play games with other people in another car while on a road trip
6. Receive road conditions from electronic street signs that transmit data straight to your car
7. Be notified of nearby emergency vehicles that transmit a signal letting cars know that they are approaching
8. Receive a message on your cell phone when your table is ready at a restaurant
9. Your car could automatically transmit sensor data to your cell phone so you’ll always know when there is a problem
10. Make a bid at a live auction just by hitting a button on your cell phone instead of raising your sign
11. Pay at stores and gas stations with your cell phone without having to remove it from your pocket
12. Data centers could incorporate Wi-Fi Direct to query all database servers at once
13. Signal an oncoming bus that you need a ride by hitting a button on your cell phone
14. Hail a taxi by sending a signal from your phone to all nearby taxis
15. Keep a running tally of all the machines you used at the gym and how long you used them on your cell phone
16. Manage every electronic device in your home and out (HVAC, lights, sprinklers) from your computer or cell phone
17. Broadcast your shopping list to Wal-Mart when you walk in the door and receive back a map showing you the best route through the store and specials you might be interested in
18. Play quiz games, vote on the best teams, and chat live with other patrons at a sports bar on the big screen
19. Send out a distress beacon to other motorists as they approach letting them know you are having trouble
20. Interact with cool new exhibits at museums and theme parks that let you control signs, lights, and fountains from your cell phone
21. Poll a large audience while you are giving a presentation to gauge their reactions
22. Create an automated Q&A system for audience members to ask their questions into their cell phones and have them broadcast over the PA system in turn
23. Use automated security gates at private residences or public parking lots without having to even roll down your window
24. Have your lights turn on automatically when your cell phone is in range of your house
25. Have your dog’s collar automatically transmit his location to you when he is outside
26. Place an order at McDonalds without having to roll down your window by talking into your wireless ear piece instead of the intercom system
27. Request service from your table at a restaurant by hitting a button on your cell phone
28. Order drinks from a bar without having to fight the crowd to get to the front
29. Request songs from a DJ or band without having to scream them out in front of everybody
30. See full menus and current wait times from restaurants just by driving by the front door
31. See when movies are playing and what they cost by driving by the front door of a theater
32. Be notified of sales you might be interested on your cell phone as you walk by stores in the mall
33. Play in a band with friends just by letting your musical instruments transmit to a nearby stereo or PA system
34. Receive safety messages from buoys, dams, and other boats while you’re out on the lake
35. Mark your place in line for the pool table by sending a message to it from your cell phone and being notified when it’s your turn to play
36. Walk around a theme park and make reservations for rides without having to stand in line
37. Get information about each float in a parade as it passes by
38. Order food and drinks from the hotel bar while swaying in your hammock on the beach
39. Let management know when a theater is too cold or the projector isn’t working by sending them a message from your cell phone
40. Have your car automatically transmit crash information to emergency personnel when they arrive on the scene
41. Have your mailbox transmit a message to your TV when their is new mail
42. Give UPS a secure passcode to use to open your garage door if you are not at home when they deliver a package
43. Order a burger from Sonic without even rolling down your window
44. Upload your pictures to Walgreens from the parking lot and use the drive-thru later to pick up your prints
45. Allow passers-by to control your Christmas lights display when they stop to take a look
46. Trains and buses could wirelessly tell you their destinations and arrival times when they pull up
47. Play in a big multiplayer game at a club or stadium on the big screen
48. See more information about products at the grocery store on the LCD screen on your shopping cart as you stroll by
49. Tip a street artist just by hitting a button on your cell phone
50. Learn more about art pieces at a gallery by interacting with guides broadcast to your cell phone
51. Your stove or microwave could notify your cell phone when your food is ready
52. Your washer and dryer could notify your cell phone when your clothes are done
53. Use your cell phone as a walkie talkie with friends when you are on the ski slopes, hiking, or at a game
54. Notify a restaurant that you’ve arrived to pick up your to-go order when you enter the parking lot
55. Ask for help in a department store by sending a message from hour cell phone
56. Do a self guided tour of an historic area by walking from one placemarker to the next and watching video being broadcast from each spot
57. Quickly splice together a video of a friend singing karaoke from multiple angles by downloading the video from your other friends cell phones
58. Find out when your coffee is ready at Starbucks by receiving an alert on your cell phone
59. Make a presentation in a conference room without having to find the cable that connects your laptop to the projector
60. Instead of making a print-out of a screen to show to your co-worker, just transmit your display directly to his computer
61. Conduct in-office screencasts by simply broadcasting gour screen to all of your co-workers
62. Scan your own items as you take them off the shelf with your cell phone camera and then skip checkout when you leave
63. Keep a running tally of your tickets at the arcade and then redeem them wirelessly for prizes
64. Watch previews of the movies playing at a theater when you’re standing in line trying to decide what to see
65. Keep a running tally of strokes on a communal electronic scorecard when you’re playing golf with your buddies
66. Use your cell phone to run the scoreboard when you’re reffing a local game
67. Buy tickets to an event at the last minute by seeing a list of prices from everyone who is selling their tickets outside the gates
68. Use your cell phone as a sound mixer and recorder for friends playing their Wi-Fi Direct enabled instruments
69. Play songs on the jukebox while sitting at your table using your cell phone
70. Let the valet outside your restaurant know when you are about to leave so your car will be waiting when you walk out
71. See more detailed information about each animal at the zoo on your cell phone when you’re standing in front of it’s cage
72. See whether or not the bathrooms on your airplane are vacant at any given time
73. See pictures and video on your cell phone of the inside of a house that’s for sale when you drive up to the front
74. Search for hidden treasure that sends you a message when you’re nearby giving you clues to it’s location
75. Pay the check from your table wirelessly without having to wait on the server
76. See backstage footage of a concert on your cell phone when you are out in the audience
77. Allow landscapers, pest control, and other visitors to our home to leave messages for you by sending them wirelessly to a device in your house
78. Broadcast your power usage to meter readers on the street so they don’t have to drive up to each house individually
79. Connect with other tailgaters and find where the best food and places to hang out are
80. Receive “last mile” transmissions from the cable lines on the street without having to run wires into your home
81. Let your kids be notified when the ice cream truck drives by with a message on the TV
82. Play games with other passengers wirelessly on your cell phone or laptop while riding on an airplane, train, or bus
83. Create a neighborhood watch program by wirelessly connecting your home computers together through a mesh network to exchange messages
84. Stay connected with the other residents in your building directly without having to go through a particular website
85. Have your doorbell send a message directly to your phone in case you don’t hear the bell
86. Start watching a movie on your laptop in the kitchen and then broadcast it to the TV in your living room when you walk in
87. Talk to rescuers from inside a collapsed building in case the power is out and cell service is down
88. Allow your car to listen for broadcasts from nearby motorcycles when you’re driving so you’ll know when they’re near
89. Let umpires and referees on the field talk to side judges and timekeepers wirelessly so the game can move more quickly
90. View more detailed information on your cell phone about each item available on the menu at your local deli while you’re standing in line
91. Broadcast a message to your childs school when you arrive to pick him up
92. Remove all the data cables in your house that connect your media players, TVs, and computers together
93. Download cached webpages from your fellow conference goers computers if the Internet goes down
94. Create a new kind of IM system for audience members and conference goers to chat with one another directly without having to use the Internet
95. Drive remote control cars with your cell phone
96. Participate in game shows and talk shows from the audience with your cell phone
97. See the view from a nearby hot air ballon from your cell phone
98. Receive coupons from billboards as you drive by
99. Backup all your photos and videos to your computer when you get home automatically
100. Give a presentation directly from your laptop to the participants cell phones if a projector is not available