[E-Lang] Possession as Metaphor (was: Pet Extensions and such (was: what is good about E?))

[Ken Kahn]

MarkM wrote:
>
> So, I speculate that if we make our homes smart in the way you envision,
and
> get rid of physical keys, that we'll instead have "physical" keys in the
> user interface to the software we use to tell homes who should be allowed
> in.  So now we've reduced our problem to a virtualized form of our
> original metaphor.  This could be promising.
>

Your note made me realize that I already have the answer. I've been planning
to put locks on doors in ToonTalk. And the plan is that doors would just
open if someone approached who owned a key to the lock. I didn't want to
bother the user with taking out the key and using it. Given your note I now
think this would be a great solution for the physical world as well. Locks
on doors needn't recognize you, just verify that you are carrying an
appropriate key. Proximity can be the UI so things can be as convenient as
unlocked doors.

You might wonder why ToonTalk needs locks given the kind of users it
currently has. The main motivation is to make it easy to author puzzles
within ToonTalk. Like many adventure games, you need to solve some puzzle to
find a key to enter a house to progress to the next puzzle. Maybe some day
they'll also have a security role.

Best,

-ken