Pollen: Virtual networks that use people as carriers

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a novel kind of network that uses people instead of wires (or other communication media) to carry message packets between devices and between physical places. In the course of their day, people move from device to device and from location to location. We will describe how this movement of people can be harnessed to allow the communication of electronic messages, albeit in a way that is relatively unreliable and unpredictable compared with traditional networks. This new kind of network infrastructure has a number of advantages, such as low cost and scalability.