Pervasive informatics

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Pervasive informatics is the study of how information affects interactions with the built environments they occupy. The term and concept were initially introduced by Professor Kecheng Liu during a keynote speech at the SOLI 2008 international conference. [1] [ failed verification ]

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The built environment is rich with information which can be utilised by its occupants to enhance the quality of their work and life. By introducing ICT systems, this information can be created, managed, distributed and consumed more effectively, leading to more advanced interactions between users and the environment. The social interactions in these spaces are of additional value, and Informatics can effectively capture the complexities of such information rich activities. [2] Information literally pervades, or spreads throughout, these socio-technical systems, and pervasive informatics aims to study, and assist in the design of, pervasive information environments, or pervasive spaces, for the benefit of their stakeholders and users.

Pervasive computing

Pervasive informatics may be initially viewed as simply another branch of pervasive, or ubiquitous computing. However, pervasive informatics places a greater emphasis on the ICT-enhanced socio-technical pervasive spaces, as opposed to the technology driven direction of pervasive computing. This distinction between fields is analogous to that of informatics and computing, where Informatics focuses on the study of information, while the primary concern of computing is the processing of information. Pervasive informatics aims to analyse the pervasive nature of information, examining its various representations and transformations in pervasive spaces, which are enabled by pervasive computing technologies e.g. smart devices and intelligent control systems.

Pervasive spaces

A pervasive space is characterised by the physical and informational interaction between the occupants and the built environment e.g. the act of controlling the building is a physical interaction, while the space responding to this action/user instruction is an informational interaction.

Intelligent pervasive spaces are those that display intelligent behaviour in the form of adaptation to user requirements or the environment itself. Such intelligent behaviour can be implemented using artificial intelligence algorithms and agent-based technologies. These intelligent spaces aim to provide communication and computing services to their occupants in such a way that the experience is almost transparent e.g. automated control of heating and ventilation based on occupant preference profiles. [2]

The term first appeared in an IBM Research Report [3] but was not properly defined or discussed until later. An intelligent pervasive space is a “social and physical space with enhanced capability through ICT for human to interact with the built environments” [1] An alternative definition is “an adaptable and dynamic area that optimises user services and management processes using information systems and networked ubiquitous technologies”. [4] A common point between these definitions is that pervasive computing technologies are the means by which intelligence and interactions are achieved in pervasive spaces, with the purpose of enhancing a users experience.

Theories and techniques

Historically, there have been few attempts to consolidate approaches to studying the complex interplay between occupants and the built environment, and to assist in the design of pervasive information environments. Many theoretical interdisciplinary approaches are relevant to the design of effective pervasive spaces. A core concept in pervasive informatics is the range of interactions that may occur in pervasive spaces: people to people, people to the physical and the physical space to technological artefacts such as sensors. In order to study these interactions it is necessary to have an understanding of what information is being created and exchanged. In light of this, a series of theories which enable us to consider both social and technological interactions together form the foundations of pervasive informatics [2]

STS

Socio-technical systems provide an approach which assists in understanding and supporting the use of pervasive technologies. The space could be considered as a network of artefacts, information, technology and occupants. By adopting STS approaches, a means for dynamically investigating and mapping such networks becomes possible.

Distributed cognition

Distributed cognition can be used to explain how information is passed and processed, with a focus on both interactions between people, in addition to their interactions with the environment. [5] These interactions are analysed in terms of the trajectories of information.

CSCW

Human interactions with a space, and its effect on coordination mechanisms have been examined in the field of computer supported cooperative work (CSCW). The concepts of media spaces [6] and awareness have also emerged from CSCW which are of relevance to pervasive informatics.

Semiotics

Semiotics, the study of signs, can be used to assess the effectiveness of a built environment from six different levels: physical, empirical, syntactical, semantic, pragmatic and social. Semiotics enables us to understand the nature and characteristics of sign-based interactions in pervasive spaces.

Trend and future research

The current technology-centred view of pervasive computing is no longer sufficient for studying the information in the built environment. Socio-technical approaches are required to direct attention to the interaction between the built environment and its occupants. The concept of pervasive informatics then captures this shift, and enables current research efforts in different fields to converge their focus and consolidate their methods under one label, leading to a better direction and understanding of this complex domain. Research issues identified for further study in pervasive informatics:

The list, of course, is not exhaustive, but they all address the issues that lie on the boundaries between the physical, informational and social-capturing the essence of pervasive spaces. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

Ubiquitous computing is a concept in software engineering, hardware engineering and computer science where computing is made to appear anytime and everywhere. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing can occur using any device, in any location, and in any format. A user interacts with the computer, which can exist in many different forms, including laptop computers, tablets, smart phones and terminals in everyday objects such as a refrigerator or a pair of glasses. The underlying technologies to support ubiquitous computing include Internet, advanced middleware, operating system, mobile code, sensors, microprocessors, new I/O and user interfaces, computer networks, mobile protocols, location and positioning, and new materials.

Computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) is the study of how people utilize technology collaboratively, often towards a shared goal. CSCW addresses how computer systems can support collaborative activity and coordination. More specifically, the field of CSCW seeks to analyze and draw connections between currently understood human psychological and social behaviors and available collaborative tools, or groupware. Often the goal of CSCW is to help promote and utilize technology in a collaborative way, and help create new tools to succeed in that goal. These parallels allow CSCW research to inform future design patterns or assist in the development of entirely new tools.

Context awareness refers, in information and communication technologies, to a capability to take into account the situation of entities, which may be users or devices, but are not limited to those. Location is only the most obvious element of this situation. Narrowly defined for mobile devices, context awareness does thus generalize location awareness. Whereas location may determine how certain processes around a contributing device operate, context may be applied more flexibly with mobile users, especially with users of smart phones. Context awareness originated as a term from ubiquitous computing or as so-called pervasive computing which sought to deal with linking changes in the environment with computer systems, which are otherwise static. The term has also been applied to business theory in relation to contextual application design and business process management issues.

Human-centered computing (HCC) studies the design, development, and deployment of mixed-initiative human-computer systems. It is emerged from the convergence of multiple disciplines that are concerned both with understanding human beings and with the design of computational artifacts. Human-centered computing is closely related to human-computer interaction and information science. Human-centered computing is usually concerned with systems and practices of technology use while human-computer interaction is more focused on ergonomics and the usability of computing artifacts and information science is focused on practices surrounding the collection, manipulation, and use of information.

Smart environments link computers and other smart devices to everyday settings and tasks. Smart environments include smart homes, smart cities and smart manufacturing.

Intelligent Environments (IE) are spaces with embedded systems and information and communication technologies creating interactive spaces that bring computation into the physical world and enhance occupants experiences. "Intelligent environments are spaces in which computation is seamlessly used to enhance ordinary activity. One of the driving forces behind the emerging interest in highly interactive environments is to make computers not only genuine user-friendly but also essentially invisible to the user".

Jannis Kallinikos

Jannis Kallinikos is an organization and communication scholar and intellectual. He was born in the town of Preveza, western Greece. He is also a citizen of Sweden. Kallinikos is currently a professor in the Information Systems and Innovation Group, Department of Management at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). His scholarly projects have over the years covered several themes ranging from the significance writing and notation has assumed in the making of modern organizations through the understanding of markets as semiotic systems to the study of bureaucracy and institutions. His concerns have recently shifted to the investigation of the conditions associated with the penetration of the social and economic fabric by technological information. Kallinikos calls this emerging socio-economic environment, marked by the ubiquitous presence of the Internet, information-based services and software-mediated culture, the habitat of information. The term indicates that the growing involvement of information in society, economy and culture is associated with important changes in the ways institutions operate as well as shifts in behavioural, cognitive and communicative habits.

Paul Dourish British-American computer scientist

Paul Dourish is a computer scientist best known for his work and research at the intersection of computer science and social science. Born in Scotland, he holds the Steckler Endowed Chair of Information and Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine, where he joined the faculty in 2000, and where he directs the Steckler Center for Responsible, Ethical, and Accessible Technology. He is a Fellow of the AAAS, the ACM, and the British Computer Society, and is a two-time winner of the ACM CSCW "Lasting Impact" award, in 2016 and 2021.

A pervasive game is one where the gaming experience is extended out in the real world, or where the fictive world in which the game takes place blends with the physical world. The "It's Alive" mobile games company described pervasive games as "games that surround you", while Montola, Stenros and Waern's book, Pervasive Games defines them as having "one or more salient features that expand the contractual magic circle of play spatially, temporally, or socially." The concept of a "magic circle" draws from the work of Johan Huizinga, who describes the boundaries of play.

A smart object is an object that enhances the interaction with not only people but also with other smart objects. Also known as smart connected products or smart connected things (SCoT), they are products, assets and other things embedded with processors, sensors, software and connectivity that allow data to be exchanged between the product and its environment, manufacturer, operator/user, and other products and systems. Connectivity also enables some capabilities of the product to exist outside the physical device, in what is known as the product cloud. The data collected from these products can be then analyzed to inform decision-making, enable operational efficiencies and continuously improve the performance of the product.

Communicative ecology is a conceptual model used in the field of media and communications research.

Elizabeth D. "Beth" Mynatt is the Dean of the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University. She is former executive director of the Institute for People and Technology, director of the GVU Center at Georgia Tech, and Regents' and Distinguished Professor in the School of Interactive Computing, all at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Mobile interaction

Mobile interaction is the study of interaction between mobile users and computers. Mobile interaction is an aspect of human–computer interaction that emerged when computers became small enough to enable mobile usage, around the 1990s.

Urban computing is an interdisciplinary field which pertains to the study and application of computing technology in urban areas. This involves the application of wireless networks, sensors, computational power, and data to improve the quality of densely populated areas:

A living lab, or living laboratory, is a research concept, which may be defined as a user-centered, iterative, open-innovation ecosystem, often operating in a territorial context, integrating concurrent research and innovation processes within a public-private-people partnership.

Intelligent street is the name given to a type of intelligent environment which can be found on a public transit street. It has arisen from the convergence of communications and Ubiquitous Computing, intelligent and adaptable user interfaces, and the common infrastructure of the intelligent or mixed pavement.

Kecheng Liu is a Chinese/British expert in organisational semiotics a professor of applied informatics at the University of Reading, and a professor of management science and engineering.

A transreality game, sometimes written as trans-reality game, describes a type of video game or a mode of gameplay that combines playing a game in a virtual environment with game-related, physical experiences in the real world and vice versa. In this approach a player evolves and moves seamlessly through various physical and virtual stages, brought together in one unified game space. Alongside the rising trend of gamification, the application of game mechanics to tasks that are not traditionally associated with play, a transreality approach to gaming incorporates mechanics that extend over time and space, effectively playing through a players day-to-day interactions.

Alice Jane Bernheim Brush is an American computer scientist known for her research in human-computer interaction, ubiquitous computing and computer supported collaborative work (CSCW). She is particularly known for her research studying and building technology for homes as well as expertise conducting field studies of technology. She is the Co-Chair of CRA-W from 2014–2017.

Urban informatics refers to the study of people creating, applying and using information and communication technology and data in the context of cities and urban environments. It sits at the conjunction of urban science, geomatics, and informatics, with an ultimate goal of creating more smart and sustainable cities. Various definitions are available, some provided in the Definitions section.

References

  1. 1 2 Liu, K. ", Pervasive informatics in intelligent spaces for living and working, Keynote, IEEE international Conference on Service Operations and Logistics, and Informatics 2009, xviii –xix”
  2. 1 2 3 4 Liu, K., Nakata, K. and Harty, C. ", Pervasive informatics: theory, practice and future directions. Intelligent Buildings International, Volume 2, Number 1, 2010, pp. 5-19(15)
  3. ↑ Mcfaddin, S., D. Coffman et al.", Celadon: Delivering Business Services to Mobile Users in Public Spaces, IBM Research Report, RC24381.
  4. ↑ Moran, S. and Nakata, K. ", Ubiquitous Monitoring and Behavioural Change: A Semiotic Perspective. 11th International Conference on Informatics and Semiotics in Organisations (ICISO). Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China: 449-456”
  5. ↑ Hollan, J., HUtchins, E. and Krish, D. " Archived 2010-06-13 at the Wayback Machine , Distributed Cognition: Toward a New Foundation for Human-Computer Interaction Research. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, Vol. 7, No. 2, June 2000, Pages 174–196.
  6. ↑ Gaver, W., " Archived 2012-03-25 at the Wayback Machine , The Affordances of Media Spaces for Collaboration. In Proceedings of CSCW'92 (Toronto)
  7. ↑ Moran, S. and Nakata, K. ", Analysing the factors affecting users in intelligent pervasive spaces, Intelligent Buildings International, Volume 2, Number 1, 2010, pp. 57-71”
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