The Aura Story

With social media we engage each other, express ourselves and share what’s important to us. It’s an aspect of the digital revolution that deeply touches our lives as human beings. A few hundred years ago, the idea constantly exchanging thoughts with billions of people across the planet would’ve been considered magic. With today’s social media it’s reality.

All of us have several identities, both on- and offline. Yet, they’re oddly disconnected. It takes only seconds to follow a researcher from Malaysia on Facebook but few approach strangers on the bus to learn about their thoughts. Every day we miss out on interesting conversations and thoughts from outside our bubble because few people have the courage to start conversations with random people on the bus.

Our behavior, fashion and style constitute communication and self-expression though compared to the online sphere their information density is fairly limited.

Naturally there have been attempts at using digital technology to bridge this gap. Using always-on GPS is one way to do this. While most people care rather little about privacy, the thought of constantly revealing your location to the rest of the world remains unsettling. And, maybe more importantly, it drains any phone battery in a matter of hours.

Aura solves both problems. It allows users to create a social profile that’s always visible to people around. It uses Bluetooth low energy and can stay on 24/7 with no perceivable impact on battery life. If there’s no servers, there can be no data leaks, government surveillance or selling off of data to shady advertising companies.

Aura allows users to wear data, to constantly change their Aura as they feel fit, to share social information, causes and ideas they care about. Aura users always control what they reveal.

Aura takes self-expression to an entirely new level. It’s a window to a new, invisible world right around us, wherever we go.

It’s the first digital technology usable for social interaction right where it takes place since billions of years ago a cell decided to become two: In the real world.

How can I help finish Aura?