IEEE Spectrum June, 2013 - 19
150 years old: opening in 1863,
the london UndergroUnd is the
oldest sUbway in the world and
the first to Use electric trains.
The Bicycle
BaromeTer
Making it
easier to
choose
whether to
coMMute
by bike
or train
RESOURCES_hanDS On
t takes me 25 minutes to get to work via London's Tube, and about the same time
to cycle to work. I prefer to cycle-the Tube is crowded and prone to delays-but there are times
when it's too cold or wet to avoid the train. Last year, I realized that making the decision before my daily commute to cycle or take the Tube had
become a surprisingly complex affair. Transport for London, which runs the city's transit network, opened up its application programming interfaces
(APIs) in 2010 to developers as part of the London Datastore, which aggregates data from a number of public sector organizations serving the city
(http://data.london.gov.uk). This led to the creation of dozens of status and travel planning apps for commuters. Consequently, I'd check the weather
forecast the evening before and the status of the Tube on my phone in the morning. I'd hooked up an instant messenger alert (via the IFTTT.com service)
for rain. None of this was particularly draining, but it was an extra bunch of things that made Monday mornings a bit more Monday morning-ey. I wanted
something that would handle all that data and help me spend less time choosing and more time drinking my tea. So I created the Bicycle Barometer,
with a needle that swings between a bicycle and a Tube icon depending on the conditions. In my day job in the United Kingdom's Government
Digital Service, I had got used to ambient information from screens that dot the office. These provide real-time updates about the progress of various
projects. I wanted a bit of that for home-something I didn't need to tap or click to check, something that was just there. How I could achieve that
I
*
*
photograph by
Jonathan Ford
SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG
|
nORTh aMERICan
|
JUn 2013
|
19
http://data.london.gov.uk
http://www.IFTTT.com
http://SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum June, 2013
IEEE Spectrum June, 2013 - Cover1
IEEE Spectrum June, 2013 - Cover2
IEEE Spectrum June, 2013 - 1
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IEEE Spectrum June, 2013 - 88
IEEE Spectrum June, 2013 - Cover3
IEEE Spectrum June, 2013 - Cover4
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