Windtalker [electronic travel guide]

This article discusses the development of a concept for utilizing abundant human intelligence resources in a shared network over the Internet. Windtalker is a concept that will help people solving the problem of understanding the local culture and language in order to make the trip of a traveler comfortable. By utilizing current Internet, PDA, and wireless networks, the windtalker system virtually brings the bilingual volunteer to the traveler in need. Windtalker servers will find for the traveler a person online who can help with the interpretation. The concept is not limited to language service and is also viable for more extensive human interactions. Future development of windtalker will be focused on making the system architecture more open and user friendly.