June 23, 2011 Can a smartphone app enable meaningful, face-to-
face conversation? Engineers are trying to find out, with
software that helps people locate their friends in a crowd --
and make new friends who share similar interests. The software,
called eShadow, makes its debut at the IEEE International
Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS) on June 23
in Minneapolis. It uses nearby wireless networks and
smartphones' wireless communication technologies to alert users
that a friend who also uses the software is in the area -- and
gives directions to that friend's location. Dong Xuan, associate
professor of computer science and engineering at Ohio State
University, hopes that his research group's software will also
build bridges between strangers who share personal or
professional interests. At a business meeting such as ICDCS, for
example, the software could remind a user of a forgotten
acquaintance's name, or help him or her make new professional
contacts in the same area of research. Since it ena