Ubiquitous computing

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Ubiquitous computing is a model of computing in which computer functions are integrated into everyday life, often in an invisible way. The model requires both small, inexpensive computers and wired and wireless ("dumb") devices connected to larger computers. A household controlled by ubiquitous computing might have remote-controlled lighting, automated sprinklers, a home entertainment center, devices to monitor the health of occupants, and a refrigerator that warns occupants about stale or spoiled food products.

The proponents of ubiquitous computing envision a progression in computing functionality from the primacy of desktop computing, with its focus on programming and publishing, to an age of "natural" computing, wherein computers are accepted and utilized in all aspects of work and leisure. Rapid changes in technology, combined with an increasingly mobile society, ensure that the average person is continually challenged to use unfamiliar electrical and mechanical devices. This requires that devices operate in accordance with the intuition of the user, and serving that intuition requires computing power. Ubiquitous computing is, therefore, (arguably) not a dream in need of pursuit, but a predictable outgrowth of technical solutions to societal trends.

Modern devices that may serve the ubiquitous computing model include mobile phones, digital audio players, radio-frequency identification tags and interactive whiteboards. Other terms for ubiquitous computing include pervasive computing, calm technology, things that think, everyware, and more recently, pervasive Internet.[1][2]

Contents

[edit] History

Mark Weiser wrote some of the earliest papers on ubiquitous computing in 1988 at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC).[3] (Work continued at Xerox EuroPARC, later called Xerox Research Centre Europe or XRCE.)

In addition to computer science, Weiser was influenced by many fields, including "philosophy, phenomenology, anthropology, psychology, post-Modernism, sociology of science and feminist criticism", and he was explicit about “the humanistic origins of the ‘invisible ideal in post-modernist thought'”.[3] He also referenced the dystopian Philip K. Dick novel Ubik, which envisioned a future in which everything, from doorknobs to toilet-paper holders, was intelligent and connected.

MIT has also carried on significant research in this field, notably Hiroshi Ishii's Things That Think consortium at the Media Lab [4] and the CSAIL effort known as Project Oxygen[5]. Other major contributors include Georgia Tech, Microsoft Research, Intel Research and Equator.

[edit] Examples

Ambient Devices has produced an "orb", a "dashboard", and a "weather beacon": these decorative devices receive data from a wireless network and report current events, such as stock prices and the weather. Another example is the Datafountain [1], an internet enabled water fountain used to display money currency rates, created by Koert van Mensvoort.

Natalie Jeremijenko's, from Xerox, produced "Live Wire," a piece of string attached to a stepper motor and controlled by a LAN connection. LAN activity caused the string to twitch, yielding a peripherally noticeable indication of network traffic. Weiser called this an example of calm technology. [6]

[edit] Current research

Ubiquitous computing encompasses a wide range of research topics, including distributed computing, mobile computing, sensor networks, human-computer interaction, and artificial intelligence. For a list of research labs taking interest in developing this field, see List of ubiquitous computing research centers.

[edit] References and notes

  1. ^ Greenfield, Adam (2006). Everyware: the dawning age of ubiquitous computing. New Riders, p.11-12. ISBN 0321384016. 
  2. ^ Hansmann, Uwe (2003). Pervasive Computing: The Mobile Word. Springer. ISBN 3540002189. 
  3. ^ a b Weiser, Mark (17-03-1996). Ubiquitous computing. Retrieved on 11-03-2007.
  4. ^ MIT Media Lab - Things That Think Consortium. MIT. Retrieved on 11-03-2007.
  5. ^ MIT Project Oxygen: Overview. MIT. Retrieved on 11-03-2007.
  6. ^ Weiser, Mark; Rich Gold and John Seely Brown (1999). ""The origins of ubiquitous computing research at PARC in the late 1980s"". IBM systems journal 38 (4). Retrieved on 11-03-2007. 

[edit] Resources

Ubiquitous Projects

Some news sites are recording commercial and academic developments:

Notable conferences in the field include:

Journals and Magazines committed to pervasive computing:

Ubiquitous computing initiatives in education:

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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