@mdma, a related topic to that of WiFi Direct is whether Photons could be configured to implement distributed functionality with the IoTivity.org Arduino library. IoTivity is a middleware that runs atop an OS/RTOS/loop to bring a common API for device discovery and interaction. I think it would be an interesting advance if IoTivity protocols could run on Photons, using CoAP likely. This interaction would not involve the cloud, and appears to be possible via either peer-to-peer or a local router.
The Arduino code in IoTivity requires the Arduino IDE, supports Arduino ATMega and Due currently, and requires the Ethernet Shield. It would be truly awesome if this middleware could be made to run on the Photons directly, or if the Photons could serve to connect the supported Arduino boards to WiFi networks (as sort of an immediately practical, though low-performance, WiFi shield).
Are you aware of any reason the Photon hardware or Particle Dev could not support either running IoTivity code on the Photon, or setting up the Photon to be a WiFi shield of sorts? If it could be supported, some sketch of the path forward would be helpful to ensure that any known concerns with the approach are considered up-front as much as possible.
Thank you.