New map tool for real estate listings

While the Microsoft database Utility rebuilds, AGAIN!, my entourage database (and yes, I know I’ll have to delete the file and have it recreated from the Exchange server, but I’m always optimistics with computers) I decided to finally find some time to write something on this now seldom updated blog (and my feeds stats are here to prove this).

After a couple of weeks of implementation and tuning (where we learned that messy Javascript code performs better then the state-of-the-art) we finally released to the public the beta version of the Gabetti map search (a demo video lays on my Flickr page) for real estate listings (those of Gabetti obviously - at the moment).

Nothing so new (apart from the fact that - as far as I know - the ONLY other similar tool in Italy is MAIOM - which we tried back in 2006 to explore the potential of geomapping tools potential for the real estate market): satellite view, small geocoded houses, balloons with overview of the house, AJAX, panning, etc.

But I really find useful, and haven’t find in any other site apart Coldwell Banker’s (which works only in Firefox, on my Mac), is the usage of Point Of Interests (POI): we started from the hypothesis that price, square meters, number of rooms are important DETAILS not something you use when deciding to buy or not to buy (I find VERY interesting the usage of POI tha has been done in Walkscore)

When I bought my home I had two main objectives: i. find it in a pleasant neighborhood and ii. near to all the services that make life more comfortable (supermarkets, cinemas, restaurants, kinder-gardens, etc.) and a satellite view enhanced with POIs makes this task extremely straightforward.

We’re still in BETA and are plenty with enhancements to code and deliver (better user experience, better feedback, capability to search for streets and not only for cities, price/sqm filtering capabilities just to cite a few) but are really curious in evaluate how will the tool perform on our web users and how will our RE agents perceive it.

Things too cool to be silenced

It’s been really a lot this blog is now under silence due to my new home moving operations (more on this soon, promise) but I’ve recently been parte of a couple of things that are just too smart not to be written here.

Gabetti Real Estate map mash-up

We just released the brand new map search for Real Estate listings on the Gabetti site; it’s a .NET application mounted on top of ViaMichelin API that you could use to look for an house in a specific area in Italy. The geodata are collected from the huge Gabetti listings database and placed straight on the cartography.

We’re actually in semi-private (you should be a registered Gabetti site user; registration at the site is public and free) BETA and are collecting users feedback to improve the application.

Uh, as a side note Gabetti is the first real estate company in Italy to have such an application.

Frontiers of Interaction 4

This year the conference will talk about the more and more computerLESS World we’re living in. You can join us on Tuesday, July 1st from 9am to 5pm for a FREE DAY (lunch & breaks included) in Turin (Italy) (complete info on venue here).

My pal Leeander has really done a marvellous job for this year edition collecting a supa-dupa speakers frontline: Nicolas Nova, Bruno Giussani, Bruce Sterling, Elizabeth Churchill (Yahoo Inc.), and many more.

As said the conference is completely free but reistration is required; use your Yahoo id to subscribe on the Upcoming page.

UPDATE: the conference has been a huge success; you can see all the talks video and the photos; we’ve been featured on a major Italian innovation newspaper and on Wired too!

Conclusions

I really feel bad not to have updated the blog in the latest weeks, but I had the chance to store a nice amount of things to say and still need to have the calm time to fix some aspects of my private life; that’s why don’t expect to find me here too soon.

Call to action: take part at Frontiers of Interaction and give a try to the brand new Gabetti Map Search.

A tailor-made world

If you read this blog you might know I use the yellow line underground to travel to work; without driving I’m plenty with time to read and, most of all, to let my mind run free. Early this week I was thinking on the strange way that took me from loving baggy pants to the way I dress today.
As I grow-up I’m loving tailor made stuff more and more. I have nice shirts, but I prefere my tailor made ones: they’re more confortable and they simply fit me. Same thing for my suites: most of my preferred are tailor made.

This is probably because of the years on your shoulders teach you how to fall in love for details and how to appreciate the uniqueness. Probably. For me at least.

Tailor-made has always been a synonym of richness. Just think about Ferrari cars: each one is made by hand following its owner’s desires. They even have a dedicated web site.

But we were talking about my thoughts, weren’t we. Yes sorry. Let’s get back to them. While thinking about the way life changed my taste I suddenly realized how the tailor-made=rich equation is becoming less and less common (by the way: my pal Marco helped me discovering a great tailor that prepares shirts for us for just 40 euros, drop me a line if you live in Milan and need her contacts).

Examples? Here they come: each morning I have personalized news and informations via my Bloglines feeds; I sleep on a latex
mattress that modifies according to my body shape and weight; I choose the films/shows I want to see at the time I want them on my IP TV (more to come with things such as Joost); etc. etc.

You might say this is not truly tailor-made; they’re just (very good) approximations of what tailor-made really is. And you might be right.

So what about future trends? I actually see two main trends in this area for the next years.

1. Atoms from bits

The first 3D printers are reaching our desktops with a price that’s more or less the price os a laser printers 15 years ago (or, if you like, you can build one by yourself); today they could be useful for rapid prototyping, but tomorrow? If you imagine a future rich in nanotechs you can then imagine to create your shirt in a 3D modeling environment and then making it real using your printer. Want more? Buy the specs of your favourite digital player and let your “printer” build it for you. Fully functioning.

Kinda too futuristic huh? I agree, even if I think that my generations will see this future. But take a look at the next trend.

2. Personalization through data-mining

Google, the greatest data miner on earth, has started the creation of synthetic models of real buildings, linking them to the original through Google Earth geodata and images.
Given a number of items big enough, you might “invent” an object and find a very similar one between these items. You just need a proper way to search for it; and Google is indexing the world: I can imagine to model an object I’d like to have, give the model to google, and shop for the (already existing) approximation of it. Nice huh?

I really think we already have the knowledge and the algorithms to perform such a project. Any Venture listening? (if the answer is es you might want to contact me via Linkedin)

Mash-up camp - live blogging

I’m at the Polaris Centre in Pula, near Cagliari in the marvellous island of Sardinia, to speak at a research-driven event named Mash-up camp organized by the guys at CRS4. The event is based on the Mash-up and spacial web applications subject and its aim is to animate and shake the local companies on the subject of innovation and research.

I’m going to live blog each event (surprisingly I’m the only guy I see just two guys - yours truly included - with a laptop connected to the open wi-fi lan here).

Stefano Pezzi - Core Soluzioni Informatiche

Stefano comes from Bologna, his company , CORE, is partnering with CRS4 (who’s hosting the seminar) some other companies in Sardinia to work at the SIT project for the Regione Sardegna.

The SIT project aims at the creation a database to host and communicate geographical data of the Sardinia Region giving the chance to use these data in touristic and city planning applications.

Stefano’s presentation is very VERY technical (probably too much, IMHO) he describe the whole layer structure of the SIT app and the usage possibilities. The whole application is based on standards both W3C and ISO while Stefano admints that some of the services aren’t standards yet such as the tools for path retrieval and the tiled map service.

The intersting thing is that they developed a Javascript API set to interface outside applications with the SIT framework: when the project started Google Maps (and its API) weren’t on the market and they wanted to build something that would have been reusable and extendable. Nice move! (but what about porting the APIs to something more compliant with the current de facto standard?).

Stefano Sanna - Beeweeb

Slide

Stefano immediately starts with a humorous intro on himself (his a friend, and I can assure his ALWAYS a laughable guy) and then introduce the difference between Mobile Web 2.0 and Mobile 2.0.

He says tha if we speak about Web 2.0 is because Web 1.0 existed, so since we speak about Mobile 2.0 it is because mobile 1.0… existed? sure? Who really used WAP? NOBODY! With wap we were entusiasts with the devices not with the applications; we were just trying mobile!

Web 2.0 is about building a platform: develop applications that can be mashed-up together; Mobile web 2.0 is uding Web 2.0 on mobile devices (eg. widsets); Mobile 2.0 means having native apps on the mobile devices that uses web 2.0 services and dedicated sensors.

What is now a barrier for a lot of applications (eg streaming on Mobile) is the cost of traffic; the mobile companies are now fully aware of this and are about to mass release flat mobile connections. So once the costs of connection won’t be a problem any more Mobile web 2.0 can really arise only if user experience and developing costs will be (at least) comparable.

The next step in mobile applications is to transform monodirectional phisical tags (such as Shotcodes) to bi-directional phisical tags users could write and modify (imagine a bi-dir tag at the supermarket were the choice of the product becomes social).

Marco Guiso - Interoperabile
Marco starts talking about openGIS, a system to create HTTP requests for geodata. This is another highly technical speech: I start doubting I’ll be able to properly blog the talk.

Marco’s aim wa to build a software that could “cannibalize” geodata available on the web from different sources. To do this he used AJAX, some OGG web services (SITR, Landsat5, 3D Marine, etc.) and Google maps.

Now it’s my turn to give a talk. See you later!

Matteo Penzo - Mobup