Topics we shall Cover today Introduction to Ubiquitous Computing
HistoryDefinition NeedPhases
Challenges and Researches in Ubiquitous Computing.
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The Major Trends in Computing
Mainframe (Past) 1:N one computer shared by many people
Personal Computer (Present) 1:1 one computer, one person
N:1 *Internet - Widespread Distributed Computing*
Ubiquitous Nk:1
Computing
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Phase II - The PC Era
In 1984 the number of people using PCs surpassed that of people using mainframe computers.
PC Era: You have your computer, it contains your stuff, and you interact directly and deeply with it.
The PC is most analogous to the automobile.
Transition Phase - The Internet
The Internet brings together elements of the mainframe
era and the PC era.
Client = PC
Server = Mainframe
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Phase III - The UC Era The UC era will have lots of computers
shared by each one of us. UC is fundamentally characterized by the
connection of things in the world with computation.
Frequently used related terms: Pervasive computing, Wearable computers, Intelligent environment, Things That Think (T³),Wearware, Personal Area Networking (PAN).
Ubiquitous Computing Mark Weiser, Xerox PARC 1988 “Ubiquitous computing enhances
computer use by making many computers available throughout the physical environment, but making them effectively invisible to the user.”
Source: Weiser, 1993a11
Pervasive (Ubiquitous) Computing Vision
“In the 21st century the technology revolution will move into the everyday, the small and the invisible…”
“The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabrics of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.”
Mark Weiser (1952 –1999), XEROX PARC
Small, cheap, mobile processors and sensorsin almost all everyday objectson your body (“wearable computing”)embedded in environment (“ambient intelligence”) 12
Related Topics Several terms that share a common vision
Pervasive Computing Sentient computing Ubiquitous Computing Ambient Intelligence Wearable Computing Context Awareness ...
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What is Ubiquitous Computing? Ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) integrates
computation into the environment, rather than having computers which are distinct objects.
The idea of ubicomp enable people to interact with information-processing devices more naturally and casually, and in ways that suit whatever location or context they find themselves in.
~from Wiki
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Goals of Pervasive (Ubiquitous) Computing Ultimate goal:
Invisible technology Integration of virtual and physical worldsThroughout desks, rooms, buildings, and lifeTake the data out of environment, leaving
behind just an enhanced ability to act
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What UC is NOT
It is not science fiction (SF),though it relies a great deal on it.
It is not impossible. It is not Virtual Reality (VR). It is not a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). It is not a personal agent (PA).
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Pervasive Computing Phase I Phase I
Smart, ubiquitous I/O devices: tabs, pads, and boards Hundreds of computers per person, but casual, low-
intensity use Many, many “displays”: audio, visual, environmental Wireless networks Location-based, context-aware services
Using a computer should be as refreshing as a walk in the woods
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Smart Objects
Real world objects are enriched with information processing capabilities
Embedded processors in everyday objects small, cheap, lightweight
Communication capability wired or wireless spontaneous networking
and interaction
Sensors and actuators
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Smart Objects (cont.) Can remember pertinent events
They have a memory
Show context-sensitive behavior They may have sensors Location/situation/context
awareness
Are responsive/proactive Communicate with environment Networked with other smart objects
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Pervasive Computing Enablers Moore’s Law of IC Technologies
Communication Technologies
Material Technologies
Sensors/Actuators
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Moore’s Law
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Years
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Computing power (or number of transistors in an integrated circuit) doubles every 18 months
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Moore’s Law
Computing power (or number of transistors in an integrated circuit) doubles every 18 months
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1965
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Generalized Moore’s Law Most important
technology parameters double every 1–3 years:computation cyclesmemory, magnetic disksbandwidth
Consequence:scaling down
Problems:
• increasing cost
• energy
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2nd Enabler: Communication Bandwidth of single fibers ~10 Gb/s
2002: ~20 Tb/s with wavelength multiplex Powerline coffee maker “automatically” connected to the Internet
Wireless mobile phone: GSM, GPRS, 3G wireless LAN (> 10 Mb/s) PAN (Bluetooth), BAN
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Body Area Networks Very low current (some nA), some kb/s
through the human body Possible applications:
Car recognize driverPay when touching
the door of a busPhone configures itself
when it is touched
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Spontaneous Networking Objects in an open, distributed, dynamic
world find each other and form a transitory communityDevices recognize that
they “belong together”
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3rd Enabler: New Materials Important: whole eras named after materials
e.g., “Stone Age”, “Iron Age”, “Pottery Age”, etc.
Recent: semiconductors, fibers information and communication technologies
Organic semiconductors change the external appearance of computers
“Plastic” laser Flexible displays,…
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Smart Clothing Conductive textiles and inks
print electrically active patterns directly onto fabrics
Sensors based on fabric e.g., monitor pulse, blood
pressure, body temperature Invisible collar microphones Kidswear
game console on the sleeve? integrated GPS-driven locators? integrated small cameras (to
keep the parents calm)?
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Smart Glasses By 2009, computers will disappear. Visual
information will be written directly onto ourretinas by devices inour eyeglasses andcontact lenses-- Raymond Kurzweil
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4th Enabler: Sensors/Actuators Miniaturized cameras, microphones,... Fingerprint sensor Radio sensors RFID Infrared Location sensors
e.g., GPS ...
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Example: Radio Sensors No external power supply
energy from theactuation process
piezoelectric andpyroelectric materialstransform changes inpressure or temperatureinto energy
RF signal is transmitted via an antenna (20 m distance)
Applications: temperature surveillance, remote control (e.g., wireless light switch),...
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RFIDs (“Smart Labels”) Identify objects from distance
small IC with RF-transponder Wireless energy supply
~1m magnetic field (induction)
ROM or EEPROM (writeable) ~100 Byte
Cost ~$0.1 ... $1 consumable and disposable
Flexible tags laminated with paper
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Computing with natural interfaces
Ubicomp inspires “off-the-desktop” applications Needs “off-the-desktop” means of interaction Speech, gestures, writing
More accessible Easier to use???
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Computing with natural interfaces
Error prone interaction Permit new and numerous mistakes People do not have perfect recognition
As low as 54%; cursive handwriting 88%; printed handwriting 96.8%
Recognition accuracy == user satisfaction?? Not really: complexity of error recovery dialogues and value-
added benefit of any given efforts Entering a command vs. writing journal entries
Several research areas Error reduction (about 5-10%) Error detection Reusable toolkit for error handling
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Context aware computing Current Systems
Generally using position and identification of objects Still do not provide a complete context Definition of context is limited
Research areas Context toolkits
Toolkit for sensing environment Explicit use of sensed information is up to program
What is context? How is context represented?
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What is context? Who
Currently generally tailored to one user How important are others in determining our behavior
How could this be captured? What
Attempt to figure out what is currently happening Sense environment, use calendar software etc.
Where Location based information, e.g., GPS Most explored context information
When Easily obtained information -- Computer is good at remembering time
Although determining when one event stops and another begins is not easy Why
Even harder than the “what” question, biometric sensors might help (e.g., body temperature, heart rate, etc)
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Toward context aware computing Context representation
Requires universal context schemes or toolkits with standard context representations
Context sensing and fusion How to make context-aware computing “ubiquitous”? In practice, there are few truly ubiquitous, single-source
context services E.g., GPS does not work indoors; different indoor localization
schemes have different characteristics (e.g., cost, range) Like sensor fusion, context fusion handles seamless
handling of sensing responsibility between boundaries of different context services
Combining multiple context sources can increase the accuracy of context information
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Automated capture and access Recording information and data as it occurs
Computers are inherently good at recording, people are not People freed up to summarize and understand Most work in academic/ classroom settings
Time stamping lectures, digital whiteboards Challenges in “capture and access”
Sometime we don’t know we want to capture something until after its already happened
How could the computer know that? If it captures everything then we need a system of sorting and filtering
(access) Access is a problem because capturing of raw data can be
burdensome for sifting through; systems need to recognize important events facilitate access
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Everyday computing Continuous interactions (i.e., no clear beginning or end)
Both fundamental activities like communication and long-term endeavors do not have predefined starts and ends; information from past can be recycled
Very different traditional HCI design which assumes “closure” with clear goals like spell checking, dialogue, etc.
Interruption is expected: People are constantly interrupted Computer systems must recognize interruption and change state
Also computers must appropriately inform users
Multiple activities operate concurrently: People multitask and rapidly switch task based on external
unpredictable environment Systems need to adapt to this opportunistic behavior and change
accordingly
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Toward everyday computing Develop continuously present interface
No current model of continuously present interfaces, even people are not continuously present
Create an interface that doesn’t get annoying (e.g., wearable devices)
Determine what information should require my attention and what should be display peripherally
Connect events in the physical and virtual worlds (e.g., face to face vs. email, document, webs)
Modify/fuse existing HCI schemes to efficiently support everyday computing (but evaluation is challenging and laborious)
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System evaluation challenges Hard to evaluate Ubicomp Systems
Little publish on ubicomp evaluation Systems often required to be fully connected leading to systems
that are hard to build Lack of development toolkits make system creation difficult Systems often need to be integrated into peoples lives which
using big clunky prototypes does not lead itself well too Task/Goal centric approaches don’t work in ubicomp
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Example Projects Pervasive computing projects have emerged at major
universities and in industry: Project Aura (Carnegie Mellon University) Oxygen (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Portalano (University of Washington) Endeavour (University of California at Berkeley) Place Lab (Intel Research Laboratory at Seattle)
For illustration let us look at Project Aura
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Example Projects : Project Aura (1)
Aura (Carnegie Mellon University) Distraction-free (Invisible) Ubiquitous Computing.
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Example Projects : Project Aura (2)
Moore’s Law Reigns Supreme Processor density Processor speed Memory capacity Disk capacity Memory cost ...
Glaring Exception Human Attention
Adam & Eve 2000 AD
Human Attention
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Example Projects : Project Aura (3)
Aura Thesis: The most precious resource in computing is human attention.
Aura Goals: Reduce user distraction. Trade-off plentiful resources of Moore’s law for human attention. Achieve this scalably for mobile users in a failure-prone,
variable-resource environment.
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Example Projects : Project Aura (4)
The Airport Scenario
Jane wants to send e-mail from the airport before her flight leaves.
She has several large enclosures She is using a wireless interface
She has many options. Simply send the e-mail
Is there enough bandwidth? Compress the data first
Will that help enough? Pay extra to get reserved bandwidth
Are reservations available? Send the “diff” relative to older file
Are the old versions around? Walk to a gate with more bandwidth
Where is there enough bandwidth?
How do we choose automatically?53
Example Projects : Project Aura (5)
The Mobile Task Scenario
Aura saves Scott’s task. Scott enters office and gets strong
authentication and secure access. Aura restores Scott’s task on desktop
machine and uses a large display. Scott controls application by voice. Bradley enters room. Bradley gets weak authentication,
Scott’s access changes to insecure. Aura denies voice access to sensitive
email application. Scott has multi-modal control of
PowerPoint application. Aura logs Scott out when he leaves the
room.
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Other Scenarios of Ubiquitous Computing Buy drinks by Friday (1)
Take out the last can of soda
Swipe the can’s UPC label, which adds soda to your shopping list
Make a note that you need soda for the guests you are having over this weekend
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Other Scenarios
Buy drinks by Friday (2) Approach a local supermarket
AutoPC informs you that you are near a supermarket
Opportunistic reminder: “If it is convenient, stop by to buy drinks.”
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Other Scenarios
Buy drinks by Friday (3)
- Friday rolls around and you have not bought drinks
- Deadline-based reminder sent to your pager
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Other Scenarios
Screen Fridge Provides:
Email Video messages Web surfing Food management TV Radio Virtual keyboard Digital cook book Surveillance camera
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Other Scenarios
The Active Badge This harbinger of inch-scale computers contains a small
microprocessor and an infrared transmitter.
The badge broadcasts the identity of its wearer and so can trigger automatic doors, automatic telephone forwarding and computer displays customized to each person reading them.
The active badge and other networked tiny computers are called tabs.
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Other Scenarios
Edible computers: The pill-cam Miniature camera Diagnostic device It is swallowed
Try this with an ENIAC computer!
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Other Scenarios
Artificial Retina Direct interface with
nervous system
Whole new computational paradigm (who’s the computer?)
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Other Scenarios
Smart Dust Nano computers that couple:
Sensors Computing Communication
Grids of motes (“nano computers”)
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Summary Moving our focus of interaction away from the
traditional two-dimensional graphical user interface on the desktop presents many exciting and new challenges to the field of HCI.
Weiser’s vision of ubiquitous computing was human-centered, and many years later, it still presents a grand challenge for those who wish to address this new interaction paradigm.
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