Ubiquitous computing

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Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") 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.

Contents

This paradigm is also described as pervasive computing, [1] ambient intelligence, [2] or "everyware". [3] Each term emphasizes slightly different aspects. When primarily concerning the objects involved, it is also known as physical computing, the Internet of Things, haptic computing, [4] and "things that think". Rather than propose a single definition for ubiquitous computing and for these related terms, a taxonomy of properties for ubiquitous computing has been proposed, from which different kinds or flavors of ubiquitous systems and applications can be described. [5]

Ubiquitous computing themes include: distributed computing, mobile computing, location computing, mobile networking, sensor networks, human–computer interaction, context-aware smart home technologies, and artificial intelligence.

Core concepts

Ubiquitous computing is the concept of using small internet connected and inexpensive computers to help with everyday functions in an automated fashion. [6]

Mark Weiser proposed three basic forms for ubiquitous computing devices: [7]

Ubiquitous computing devices proposed by Mark Weiser are all based around flat devices of different sizes with a visual display. [8] Expanding beyond those concepts there is a large array of other ubiquitous computing devices that could exist. [5]

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. [7] [9] [10]

Recognizing the effects of extending processing power

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'", [10] referencing as well the ironically dystopian Philip K. Dick novel Ubik .

Andy Hopper from Cambridge University UK proposed and demonstrated the concept of "Teleporting" – where applications follow the user wherever he/she moves.

Roy Want, while a researcher and student working under Andy Hopper at Cambridge University, worked on the "Active Badge System", which is an advanced location computing system where personal mobility that is merged with computing.

Bill Schilit (now at Google) also did some earlier work in this topic, and participated in the early Mobile Computing workshop held in Santa Cruz in 1996.

Ken Sakamura of the University of Tokyo, Japan leads the Ubiquitous Networking Laboratory (UNL), Tokyo as well as the T-Engine Forum. The joint goal of Sakamura's Ubiquitous Networking specification and the T-Engine forum, is to enable any everyday device to broadcast and receive information. [11] [12]

MIT has also contributed significant research in this field, notably Things That Think consortium (directed by Hiroshi Ishii, Joseph A. Paradiso and Rosalind Picard) at the Media Lab [13] and the CSAIL effort known as Project Oxygen. [14] Other major contributors include University of Washington's Ubicomp Lab (directed by Shwetak Patel), Dartmouth College's DartNets Lab, Georgia Tech's College of Computing, Cornell University's People Aware Computing Lab, NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, UC Irvine's Department of Informatics, Microsoft Research, Intel Research and Equator, [15] Ajou University UCRi & CUS. [16]

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. [17] 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 . [18]

A present manifestation of this trend is the widespread diffusion of mobile phones. Many mobile phones support high speed data transmission, video services, and other services with powerful computational ability. Although these mobile devices are not necessarily manifestations of ubiquitous computing, there are examples, such as Japan's Yaoyorozu ("Eight Million Gods") Project in which mobile devices, coupled with radio frequency identification tags demonstrate that ubiquitous computing is already present in some form. [19]

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, like the Nabaztag, which was invented by Rafi Haladjian and Olivier Mével, and manufactured by the company Violet.

The Australian futurist Mark Pesce has produced a highly configurable 52-LED LAMP enabled lamp which uses Wi-Fi named MooresCloud after Gordon Moore. [20]

The Unified Computer Intelligence Corporation launched a device called Ubi – The Ubiquitous Computer designed to allow voice interaction with the home and provide constant access to information. [21]

Ubiquitous computing research has focused on building an environment in which computers allow humans to focus attention on select aspects of the environment and operate in supervisory and policy-making roles. Ubiquitous computing emphasizes the creation of a human computer interface that can interpret and support a user's intentions. For example, MIT's Project Oxygen seeks to create a system in which computation is as pervasive as air:

In the future, computation will be human centered. It will be freely available everywhere, like batteries and power sockets, or oxygen in the air we breathe...We will not need to carry our own devices around with us. Instead, configurable generic devices, either handheld or embedded in the environment, will bring computation to us, whenever we need it and wherever we might be. As we interact with these "anonymous" devices, they will adopt our information personalities. They will respect our desires for privacy and security. We won't have to type, click, or learn new computer jargon. Instead, we'll communicate naturally, using speech and gestures that describe our intent... [22]

This is a fundamental transition that does not seek to escape the physical world and "enter some metallic, gigabyte-infested cyberspace" but rather brings computers and communications to us, making them "synonymous with the useful tasks they perform". [19]

Network robots link ubiquitous networks with robots, contributing to the creation of new lifestyles and solutions to address a variety of social problems including the aging of population and nursing care. [23]

The "Continuity" set of features, introduced by Apple in OS X Yosemite, can be seen as an example of ubiquitous computing. [24]

Issues

Privacy is easily the most often-cited criticism of ubiquitous computing (ubicomp), and may be the greatest barrier to its long-term success. [25]

Research centres

This is a list of notable institutions who claim to have a focus on Ubiquitous computing sorted by country:

Canada

Topological Media Lab, Concordia University, Canada

Finland

Community Imaging Group, University of Oulu, Finland

Germany

Telecooperation Office (TECO), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany

India

Ubiquitous Computing Research Resource Centre (UCRC), Centre for Development of Advanced Computing [26]

Pakistan

Centre for Research in Ubiquitous Computing (CRUC), Karachi, Pakistan

Sweden

Mobile Life Centre, Stockholm University

United Kingdom

Mixed Reality Lab, University of Nottingham

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PARC (company)</span> American company

PARC is a research and development company in Palo Alto, California. It was founded in 1969 by Jacob E. "Jack" Goldman, chief scientist of Xerox Corporation, as a division of Xerox, tasked with creating computer technology-related products and hardware systems.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smart device</span> Type of electronic device

A smart device is an electronic device, generally connected to other devices or networks via different wireless protocols that can operate to some extent interactively and autonomously. Several notable types of smart devices are smartphones, smart speakers, smart cars, smart thermostats, smart doorbells, smart locks, smart refrigerators, phablets and tablets, smartwatches, smart bands, smart keychains, smart glasses, and many others. The term can also refer to a device that exhibits some properties of ubiquitous computing, including—although not necessarily—machine learning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile device</span> Small, hand-held computing device

A mobile device, also referred to as a digital assistant, is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical keyboard. Many mobile devices can connect to the Internet and connect with other devices, such as car entertainment systems or headsets, via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular networks, or near-field communication. Integrated cameras, the ability to place and receive voice and video telephone calls, video games, and Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities are common. Power is typically provided by a lithium-ion battery. Mobile devices may run mobile operating systems that allow third-party applications to be installed and run.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Weiser</span> American computer scientist

Mark D. Weiser was an American computer scientist and chief technology officer (CTO) at Xerox PARC. Weiser is widely considered to be the father of ubiquitous computing, a term he coined in 1988. Within Silicon Valley, Weiser was broadly viewed as a visionary and computer pioneer, and his ideas have influenced many of the world's leading computer scientists.

Calm technology or calm design is a type of information technology where the interaction between the technology and its user is designed to occur in the user's periphery rather than constantly at the center of attention. Information from the technology smoothly shifts to the user's attention when needed but otherwise stays calmly in the user's periphery. Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown describe calm technology as "that which informs but doesn't demand our focus or attention."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambient intelligence</span>

Ambient intelligence (AmI) is a term used in computing to refer to electronic environments that are sensitive to the presence of people. The term is generally applied to consumer electronics, telecommunications, and computing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smart environment</span> Computing environment involving multiple devices

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

Context-aware computing refers to a general class of mobile systems that can sense their physical environment, and adapt their behavior accordingly.

A pervasive game is one where the gaming experience is extended out into the real world, or where the fictional 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory Abowd</span> American computer scientist

Gregory Dominic Abowd is a computer scientist best known for his work in ubiquitous computing, software engineering, and technologies for autism. He currently serves as the Dean of the College of Engineering and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Northeastern University. Previously he was the J.Z. Liang Professor in the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he joined the faculty in 1994.

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.

The Telecooperation Office (TECO) is a research group at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Karlsruhe, Germany. The research group is in the Institute of Telematics, and is attached to the chair for Pervasive Computing Systems, currently held by Michael Beigl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shwetak Patel</span> American computer scientist and entrepreneur

Shwetak Naran Patel is an American computer scientist and entrepreneur best known for his work on developing novel sensing solutions and ubiquitous computing. He is the Washington Research Foundation Entrepreneurship Endowed Professor at the University of Washington in Computer Science & Engineering and Electrical Engineering, where he joined in 2008. His technology start-up company on energy sensing, Zensi, was acquired by Belkin International, Inc. in 2010. He was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow. In 2016, He was elected as an ACM Fellow for contributions to sustainability sensing, low-power wireless sensing and mobile health and received Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). He was named the recipient of the 2018 ACM Prize in Computing for contributions to creative and practical sensing systems for sustainability and health.

Albrecht Schmidt is a computer scientist best known for his work in ubiquitous computing, pervasive computing, and the tangible user interface. He is a professor at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich where he joined the faculty in 2017.

Hossein Rahnama is a Canadian computer scientist, specialising in ubiquitous and pervasive computing. His research explores artificial intelligence, mobile human-computer interaction, and the effective design of contextual services. In 2017, Rahnama was included in Caldwell Partners' list of "Canada’s Top 40 Under 40". In 2012, he was recognized by the MIT Technology Review as one of the world’s top innovators under the age of 35 for his research in context-aware computing. The Smithsonian named Rahnama as one of the top six innovators to watch in 2013. Rahnama has 30 publications and 10 patents in ubiquitous computing, serves on the board of Canadian Science Publishing, and was a Council Member of the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). Rahnama is also a visiting scholar at the Human Dynamics group at MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, MA. He has a PhD in Computer Science from Ryerson University. Rahmnama is an associate professor in Toronto Metropolitan University's RTA School of Media and Director of Research & Innovation at the university's Digital Media Zone.

Alice Jane 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 to 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Want</span> British-American computer scientist

Roy Want is a computer scientist born in London, United Kingdom in 1961. He received his PhD from Cambridge University (UK) in 1988 for his work on multimedia Distributed Systems; and is known for his work on indoor positioning, mobile and ubiquitous computing, automatic identification and the Internet of Things (IoT). He lives in Silicon Valley, California, and has authored or co-authored over 150 papers and articles on mobile systems, and holds 100+ patents. In 2011 he joined Google as a senior research scientist, and is in the Android group. Previous roles include senior principal engineer at Intel, and principal scientist at Xerox PARC...

Tanzeem Khalid Choudhury is the Roger and Joelle Burnell Professor in Integrated Health and Technology at Cornell Tech. Her research work is primarily in the area of mHealth.

References

  1. ↑ Nieuwdorp, E. (2007). "The pervasive discourse". Computers in Entertainment. 5 (2): 13. doi:10.1145/1279540.1279553. S2CID   17759896.
  2. ↑ Hansmann, Uwe (2003). Pervasive Computing: The Mobile World. Springer. ISBN   978-3-540-00218-5.
  3. ↑ Greenfield, Adam (2006). Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing. New Riders. pp. 11–12. ISBN   978-0-321-38401-0.
  4. ↑ "World Haptics Conferences". Haptics Technical Committee. Archived from the original on 16 November 2011.
  5. 1 2 Poslad, Stefan (2009). Ubiquitous Computing Smart Devices, Smart Environments and Smart Interaction (PDF). Wiley. ISBN   978-0-470-03560-3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-05-27. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  6. ↑ Kang, Byeong-Ho (January 2007). "Ubiquitous Computing Environment Threats and Defensive Measures". International Journal of Multimedia and Ubiquitous Engineering. 2 (1): 47–60. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  7. 1 2 Weiser, Mark (1991). "The Computer for the 21st Century". Archived from the original on 22 October 2014.
  8. ↑ Weiser, Mark (March 23, 1993). "Some Computer Science Issues in Ubiquitous Computing". CACM. Archived from the original on May 28, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  9. ↑ Weiser, M.; Gold, R.; Brown, J.S. (1999-05-11). "Ubiquitous computing". Archived from the original on 10 March 2009.
  10. 1 2 Weiser, Mark (17 March 1996). "Ubiquitous computing". Archived from the original on 2 June 2018.
  11. ↑ Krikke, J (2005). "T-Engine: Japan's ubiquitous computing architecture is ready for prime time". IEEE Pervasive Computing. 4 (2): 4–9. doi:10.1109/MPRV.2005.40. S2CID   11365911.
  12. ↑ "T-Engine Forum Summary". T-engine.org. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  13. ↑ "MIT Media Lab – Things That Think Consortium". MIT. Archived from the original on 2021-04-24. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  14. ↑ "MIT Project Oxygen: Overview". MIT. Archived from the original on 2007-07-06. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
  15. ↑ "Equator". UCL. Archived from the original on 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2009-11-19.
  16. ↑ "Center of excellence for Ubiquitous System" (in Korean). CUS. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011.
  17. ↑ Weiser, Mark (2017-05-03). "Designing Calm Technology". Archived from the original on 2023-03-06. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  18. ↑ Weiser, Mark; Gold, Rich; Brown, John Seely (1999). "The Origins of Ubiquitous Computing Research at PARC in the Late 1980s". IBM Systems Journal. 38 (4): 693. doi:10.1147/sj.384.0693. S2CID   38805890.
  19. 1 2 Winter, Jenifer (December 2008). "Emerging Policy Problems Related to Ubiquitous Computing: Negotiating Stakeholders' Visions of the Future". Knowledge, Technology & Policy. 21 (4): 191–203. doi:10.1007/s12130-008-9058-4. hdl: 10125/63534 . S2CID   109339320.
  20. ↑ Fingas, Jon (13 October 2012). "MooresCloud Light runs Linux, puts LAMP on your lamp (video)". Engadget.com. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  21. ↑ "Ubi Cloud". Theubi.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015.
  22. ↑ "MIT Project Oxygen: Overview". Archived from the original on July 5, 2004.
  23. ↑ "Network Robot Forum". Archived from the original on October 24, 2007.
  24. ↑ deAgonia, Michael (2014-06-06). "Apple's Continuity tack brings ubiquitous computing to Yosemite and iOS 8". Archived from the original on 2023-01-31. Retrieved 2023-01-31.{{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  25. ↑ Hong, Jason I.; Landay, James A. (June 2004). "An architecture for privacy-sensitive ubiquitous computing" (PDF). Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on Mobile systems, applications, and services - MobiSYS '04. pp. 177=189. doi:10.1145/990064.990087. ISBN   1581137931. S2CID   3776760.
  26. ↑ "Ubiquitous Computing Projects". Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY). Ministry of Communications & IT, Government of India. Archived from the original on 2015-07-07. Retrieved 2015-07-07.

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