Ubiquitous computing

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Ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) is a post-desktop model of human-computer interaction[citation needed] in which information processing has been thoroughly integrated into everyday objects and activities. In the course of ordinary activities, someone "using" ubiquitous computing engages many computational devices and systems simultaneously, and may not necessarily even be aware that they are doing so. This model is in an advancement from the desktop paradigm.

This paradigm is also described as pervasive computing, ambient intelligence, or more recently, everyware.[1][2] When primarily concerning the objects involved, it is also physical computing, the Internet of Things, haptic computing,[3] and things that think.

Contents

[edit] Core concept

At their core, all models of ubiquitous computing (also called pervasive computing) share a vision of small, inexpensive, robust networked processing devices, distributed at all scales throughout everyday life and generally turned to distinctly common-place ends. For example, a domestic ubiquitous computing environment might interconnect lighting and environmental controls with personal biometric monitors woven into clothing so that illumination and heating conditions in a room might be modulated, continuously and imperceptibly. Another common scenario posits refrigerators "aware" of their suitably-tagged contents, able to both plan a variety of menus from the food actually on hand, and warn users of stale or spoiled food.

Ubiquitous computing presents challenges across computer science: in systems design and engineering, in systems modelling, and in user interface design. Contemporary human-computer interaction models, whether command-line, menu-driven, or GUI-based, are inappropriate and inadequate to the ubiquitous case. This suggests that the "natural" interaction paradigm appropriate to a fully robust ubiquitous computing has yet to emerge - although there is also recognition in the field that in many ways we are already living in an ubicomp world. Contemporary devices that lend some support to this latter idea include mobile phones, digital audio players, radio-frequency identification tags, GPS, and interactive whiteboards.

In his book The Rise of the Network Society, Manuel Castells suggests that there is an ongoing shift from already-decentralised, stand-alone microcomputers and mainframes towards entirely pervasive computing. In his model of a pervasive computing system, Castells uses the example of the Internet as the start of a pervasive computing system. The logical progression from that paradigm is a system where that networking logic becomes applicable in every realm of daily activity, in every location and every context. Castells envisages a system where billions of miniature, ubiquitous inter-communication devices will be spread worldwide, "like pigment in the wall paint".

[edit] History

Mark Weiser coined the phrase "ubiquitous computing" around 1988, during his tenure as Chief Technologist of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Both alone and with PARC Director and Chief Scientist John Seely Brown, Weiser wrote some of the earliest papers on the subject, largely defining it and sketching out its major concerns.[4][5][6]

Recognizing that the extension of processing power into everyday scenarios would necessitate understandings of social, cultural and psychological phenomena beyond its proper ambit, Weiser was influenced by many fields outside computer science, including "philosophy, phenomenology, anthropology, psychology, post-Modernism, sociology of science and feminist criticism." He was explicit about "the humanistic origins of the ‘invisible ideal in post-modernist thought'",[6] referencing as well the ironically dystopian Philip K. Dick novel Ubik.

MIT has also contributed significant research in this field, notably Hiroshi Ishii's Things That Think consortium at the Media Lab[7] and the CSAIL effort known as Project Oxygen.[8] Other major contributors include Georgia Tech's College of Computing, NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, UC Irvine's Department of Informatics, Microsoft Research, Intel Research and Equator, Ajou University UCRi & CUS.[9]

[edit] Examples

One of the earliest ubiquitous systems was artist Natalie Jeremijenko's "Live Wire", also known as "Dangling String," installed at Xerox PARC during Mark Weiser's time there. This was a piece of string attached to a stepper motor and controlled by a LAN connection; network activity caused the string to twitch, yielding a peripherally noticeable indication of traffic. Weiser called this an example of calm technology.[10]

More recently, 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.

[edit] Current research

Main article: List of ubiquitous computing research centers

Ubiquitous computing touches on a wide range of research topics, including distributed computing, mobile computing, sensor networks, human-computer interaction, and artificial intelligence.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Greenfield, Adam (2006). Everyware: the dawning age of ubiquitous computing. New Riders. pp. p.11–12. ISBN 0321384016. 
  2. ^ Hansmann, Uwe (2003). Pervasive Computing: The Mobile World. Springer. ISBN 3540002189. 
  3. ^ "World Haptics Conferences". Haptics Technical Committee. http://www.worldhaptics.org/hapticConferences.htm. Retrieved on 2007-10-13. 
  4. ^ Weiser, Mark (1991). "The Computer for the 21st Century". http://www.ubiq.com/hypertext/weiser/SciAmDraft3.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-07. 
  5. ^ Weiser; Gold; Brown (1999-05-11). "Ubiquitous computing". http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/384/weiser.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-07. 
  6. ^ a b Weiser, Mark (1996-03-17). "Ubiquitous computing". http://www.ubiq.com/hypertext/weiser/UbiHome.html. Retrieved on 2007-11-03. 
  7. ^ "MIT Media Lab - Things That Think Consortium". MIT. http://ttt.media.mit.edu. Retrieved on 2007-11-03. 
  8. ^ "MIT Project Oxygen: Overview". MIT. http://oxygen.csail.mit.edu/Overview.html. Retrieved on 2007-11-03. 
  9. ^ "Center_of_excellence_for_Ubiquitous_System". CUS. http://www.cuslab.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-04. 
  10. ^ 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). doi:10.1147/sj.384.0693. 

[edit] Resources and other external links

An introduction to the field appropriate for general audiences is Adam Greenfield's book Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing (ISBN 0-321-38401-6). Greenfield describes the interaction paradigm of ubiquitous computing as "information processing dissolving in behavior."

Notable conferences in the field include:

Academic journals and magazines devoted primarily to pervasive computing:

Mark Weiser's original material dating from his tenure at Xerox PARC:

Other links:

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