It seems that there’s no end to the purposes to which a smartphone can be put. I just read about a really ingenious one, tested out with great success by researchers at Dartmouth college at the University of Texas.

The study uses data collected from smartphone sensors to monitor students’ habits and behaviours, such as length and focus of study time, frequency of partying, sleep habits, class attendance and exercise. It’s all done without any direct input from the student. The resulting data has then been used to predict student exam results, and has been found to be accurate to within  0.17 of a point.

It’s easy to see how a fully developed app could be used by a student to monitor his or her own activity, and see at a glance whether it’s likely to be conducive to getting the results they want.

This looks like the tip of a very large iceberg to me. What other fields of human performance could be monitored in a similar way, simply by carrying a smartphone primed with the appropriate app?

In Sao Paulo, Brazil, any citizen can issue a ‘parking ticket’ to someone parked illegally in a disabled bay. The local council has introduced tickets designed to look like fines. The tickets can be printed and issued by anyone and placed on any car wrongly parked in a disabled space.

Traffic wardens already have the authority to fine anyone found parked illegally in a disabled space, but this campaign enables all residents to lend a helping hand. There is no fine associated with the ticket. Instead they simply spread awareness of the issue.

This isn’t a business or money making enterprise in its current form, but it raises a couple of interesting questions:

1. Are there other areas of public policing that could be shared by community minded citizens, to the benefit of everyone?

2. Could there be a business in co-ordinating this sort of public spirited activity?