SPF: A Middleware for Social Interaction in Mobile Proximity Environments

Smart interconnected devices are changing our lives and are turning conventional spaces into smart ones. Physical proximity, a key enabler of social interactions in the old days is not exploited by smart solutions, where the social dimension is always managed through the Internet. This paper aims to blend the two forces and proposes the idea of social smart space, where modern technologies can help regain and renew social interactions, and where proximity is seen as enabler for dedicated and customized functionality provided by users to users. A Social Proximity Framework (SPF) provides the basis for the creation of this new flavor of smart spaces. Two different versions of the SPF, based on different communication infrastructures, help explain the characteristics of the different components, and show how the SPF can benefit from emerging connection-less communication protocols. A first assessment of the two implementations concludes the paper.