Microsyntax.org

Open Mobile Health Exchange(OMHE) Now an Official Microsyntax.org Project

Microsyntax.org is a non-profit focused on identifying, researching and finding consensus on information syntax in real-time streams. A microsyntax is human and machine readable combination of letters and number used to communicate information in a highly compact and meaningful way. For example, in Twitter, the ‘@’ symbol followed by a user’s name indicates a ‘reply’ or ‘mention’. Many SMS mobile text message services also qualify as examples of microsyntax.  Microsyntax is everywhere in the modern digital age, hence organizing and steering microsyntax development increases communication and interoperability between systems and services.   Microsyntax.org was created to identify where microsyntax is used “in the wild” and work toward consensus when alternative and incompatible conventions are introduced or proposed.

OMHE (Open Mobile Health Exchange), pronounced “ooommm” is an open-source microsyntax for medical devices, and other “short text capable” systems. OMHE is used for sending blood pressure, blood glucose, weight, step-per-day, pain levels, and other common information often sent between people and their health care provider. It’s designed to be easily typed on a mobile phone, while at the same time, easy for machines (i.e. computer, applications) to understand. Although OMHE is simple enough for manual human entry, its not always necessarily typed directly by humans. For example, many applications may present the user (human) with a graphical user interface (GUI), but still use OMHE as the underlying data format. OMHE can also be used for “machine-to-machine” communication. For example, OMHE is an output message format suited for medical devices such as pedometers, blood glucose meters, blood pressure meters, weight scales, and other hardware.

Stowe Boyd, president of Microsyntax.org, said, “I am happy to see the sort of innovation that is motivating OHME and look forward to advancing the adoption of the initiative in the industry”.

OMHE was created for the greater good and in the interest of improving public health. Specifically, OMHE can increase electronic communication between people and physicians, OMHE promotes behavior change & disease prevention. OMHE has no royalties, no fees, and no groups to join to access the format, hence OMHE can lower health care costs and promote interoperability. The initial creator of OMHE, Alan Viars, will continue to manage the manage the project for Microsyntax.org. Alan Viars said, “OMHE can promote health, reduce costs, and promote interoperability, especially as a project under microsyntax.org.  We seek other’s involvement from the health IT community to help improve and expand this exciting new way to communicate”.

For more information please visit http://microsyntax.org or the OMHE project page http://code.google.com/p/omhe.

Cartoon based on microsyntax!

[via @kathysierra]



I have had an amazingly broad and deep series of conversations with people about microsyntax over the past weeks. I would like to offer an analogy or two that have been helpful in clarifying the charter for the .org and what we hope to accomplish.

The metric system is a comprehensive set of standards, normalizing measurement based on scientific principles. For example, standardization on the liter has great benefits in many domains. In one area, the wine industry, the convention of the 750ml wine bottle, with a relatively consistent cylindrical shape, has led to great benefits for everyone involved in the production and delivery of wine: wine makers, consumers, wine stores, and shippers.

For example, the overwhelming majority of wine is sold in this regular size and shape, which means standard cartons can serve nearly all wine, wine stores’ shelves and consumers wine racks can accomodate the great majority of all bottles, and comparison of prices is made simple. Something as basic as the size of wine labels is made simpler and cheaper based on this convention.

But it is not a standard. Wine makers are free to experiment with different shapes of bottles, and to sell wine in 1.5ml bottles and in boxes, or even in cans like beer. Still, the benefits of this convention are so great — driving down prices, basically — the the 750ml wine bottle has become iconic.

The emerging conventions that help shape the way semantics are embedded in the real-time stream will have a similar sort of importance. And, in all honesty, the average Twitterer mentioning a stock price, adding a hashtag, or telling friends where that are going on vacation will use intuitive conventions to make such sharing simple, without thinking about it much. Just like a couple searching for a good cheap red for a dinner party don’t think much about the many facets of the 750ml bottle in their shopping cart.

But the economies offered by that convention make the wine affordable, and lead to all kinds of businesses — the vineyard, the corkscrew maker, the carton manufacturer, the bottle company, the wine store — making a living from the wine supply chain.

Microsyntax is about conventions, not standards. We aren’t offering up the metric system equivalent, which is perhaps the role of Twitter’s or other APIs. We are hoping to help the ecosystem converge around useful conventions — like the 750ml bottle — so that everyone — from the vine to your lips — benefits.



It’s been a blur, and mostly because of the torrent of support and activities at the new Microsyntax wiki, my head is spinning.

A few dozen folks have signed up to participate in the wiki, and a growing list of proposals and ‘sightings’ of microsyntax in use have found their way onto the site.

I an pleased to announce that Ross Mayfield has joined Chris Messina as the newest member of the Microsyntax.org advisory board.

The Microsyntax meme continues to attract a great deal of attention, with hundreds of tweets marked with the #microsyntax hashtag, and lots of people writing about the concept. Largely the response remains positive, although there are some who question the utility of a project dedicated to microsyntax. I will continue to work with all comers, and work hard to see where this will lead.

The ripples of the microsyntax meme have started to spread out beyond the Twitter hot zone. For example, the proposal for ‘geoslash’ as a location syntax — initially suggested as a convention for Twitter — has cropped up in a Identi.ca new feature request (see #50).

Again, thanks for the support, and please welcome Ross.