Lovegety

 ( Sexuality And Computing ) 

Lovegety was a proximity matchmaking device introduced in Feb. 1998 in Japan by Erfolg Co., Ltd., which allowed users to find potential dates that matched their personal preferences in the vicinity. Over 1,300,000 of these units were sold in Japan for the price of 2,980 yen per unit. Lovegety was planned and manufactured by Japanese venture company. Makoto Miyanouchi, Takeya Takafuji, Harumi Hibiki was core member of Lovegety project. Takeya Takafuji planning director said that" Lovegety opened mobile communication world using mobile devices." Lookin' For Love in New Cyber Spaces

It was the first proximity dating device, and "the first commercial attempt to move introduction systems away from the desktop and into reality"."Social Serendipity: Mobilizing Social Software" Authors: Nathan Eagle MIT Media Laboratory, Alex Pentland MIT Media Laboratory Published in: IEEE Pervasive Computing Journal Volume 4 Issue 2, April 2005 [2] As such, it was an important precursor for other location-based social networking applications such as Nokia's Bluetooth-based Nokia Sensor, and more recent geolocation-based social applications such as StreetSpark. Mashable.com - StreetSpark: Foursquare for Dating, retrieved 4/17/2012

There were three modes users could pre-select on the Lovegety device which reflected the mood they were currently in and hence what kind of partner they were looking for. These included “let’s just chat”, “let’s go sing some karaoke” and “get2” or "looking for love" modes. The devices could be set to interact with each other when a potential mate was within close proximity (15 feet) or to simply notify a user of others who are currently set to the same mood.

Howard Rheingold reflects on technologies such as the Lovegety in his work and urges consumers to think carefully about the social implications of these technologies. Rheingold states that "loss of privacy is perhaps the most obvious shadow side of technological cooperation systems".Rheingold, Howard (2002) Smart Mobs: the Next Social Revolution, Perseus, Cambridge, Massachusetts

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See also

• Online dating
• StreetPass
• Toothing

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External links

• Article on Wired "Love: Japanese Style"
• CNN: "Japans lonely hearts find each other with Lovegety" published June 07, 1998, retrieved 4/18/2012
• The Mirror (London, England): "Is that a Lovegety in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?" published Jul 10, 1998, retrieved 4/18/2012

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