Introduction to Ubiquitous Computing

Ilya Shmorgun David Lamas

Institute of Informatics Tallinn University

November 12, 2013

Waves of Computing

The rst wave of computing was dened by mainframes, which were usually owned by large organizations and used by many people at the same time. The second wave was dened by the personal computer, which was primarily owned and used by a single person. The third wave is ubiquitous computing, which in turn is characterized by a plethora of portable connected devices being available to a single person to be owned and used (Krumm, 2009).

1901 - 1950
1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971

1951 - 2000
1981 1991 2001 2011 2021

2001 - 2050
2031 2041

1960 - 1979: Mainframes 1980 - 1989: Wired PC-s and data servers 1990 - 1999: Wireless laptops and PDA's

Technology

1991: Mark Weiser - The Computer for the 21st Century 2000 - 2009: Phones, TV-s, game consoles, digital cameras, AV players 2010 - 2020: Many devices in the environment, which can be dynamically connected to each other

Mainframe Computing Personal Computing Ubiquitous Computing

Figure : Development of computing by decades

Introduction to Ubiquitous Computing

Initially, ubiquitous computing was seen as a post-desktop model of human-computer interaction in which information processing has been integrated into everyday objects (Zhao & Wang, 2011). Ubiquitous computing referred to systems, which enable information and tasks to be available everywhere, support intuitive usage and appear to be invisible to the user. This represented a shift towards a scenario where people live, work, and play in computer-enhanced environments. In this context people were meant to be surrounded by computing devices and infrastructure that supported all of their activities (Poslad, 2011).

Historical Development
The ubiquitous computings vision was proposed by Mark Weiser during his work at Xerox PARC. Weiser believed that computation should be integrated into common objects that are already being used in everyday practices, eliminating the need for computing to be seen as a separate activity. If the integration was done well, a person would not notice that any computers were involved in what he was doing (Krumm, 2009). Much of the work done at Xerox PARC was driven by the idea that in order to understand the future it was necessary to create a close approximation of it and attempt to use it day to day (Dourish & Bell, 2011).

Ubiquitous and Pervasive Computing

The vision of ubiquitous computing was to make familiar tools and environments perform better by integrating computational and networking capabilities (Kuniavsky, 2010), foreseeing the delivery of information anywhere, anytime, and in a way that is appropriate to the current location and context. Alternative research directions, such as pervasive computing, eventually began addressing the issues of creating the necessary infrastructure and saturating everyday environments with computational capabilities (Krumm, 2009). On the other hand ubiquitous computing nowadays focuses on a persons perception of ubiquitous access to information, even though in reality this does not require an environment to be saturated with technology, but instead can be achieved through a high degree of mobility and pervasively embedded infrastructure.

High Mobile Computing Mobility Cross-platform computing Ubiquitous Computing

Traditional Computing

Pervasive Computing

Low

Embeddedness Cloud computing

High

Figure : Dimensions of computing (Lyytinen & Yoo, 2002)

Cross-Platform Computing

Ubiquitous Computing

Cloud Computing

Traditional Computing

Figure : Positioning ubiquitous computing

Denition of Ubiquitous Computing

Ubiquitous computing is about how technology should be experienced (Dourish & Bell, 2011); a point where technology touches people (Krumm, 2009); a particular situation, a set of assumptions about the role of technology, instead of the details of specic hardware or software (Greeneld, 2010). While the modus operandi of ubiquitous computing has been anytime, anywhere information access, another approach is to focus on the exploration of the spaces into which computation is introduced, which leads to a new perspective on technology: the right now and right there (Dourish & Bell, 2011).

Dimensions of Ubiquitous Computing

Characteristics of ubiquitous computing Enabling technologies Design challenges Design goals Quality attributes

Characteristics
Invisible computing Calm computing Embedded computing Context-aware computing Augmented reality computing Mobile computing Wearable computing Client-server computing Cloud computing Tangible computing

Enabling Technologies
Displays Multimedia Alternative forms of input Low-power high-performance processors Wired communications Wireless communications Web technologies Machine-readable data formats Sensors RFID Barcodes Haptics

Design Challenges
Understanding users needs Designing for multiple interfaces Designing for smartness Selecting appropriate technologies Lack of design conventions

Design Goals
Augmenting existing practices Creating technological infrastructure Creating engaging experiences

Quality Attributes
Usability Accessibility Privacy Security

Figure : Dimensions of ubiquitous computing

References
Dourish, P., & Bell, G. (2011). Divining a Digital Future: Mess and Mythology in Ubiquitous Computing. The MIT Press. Greeneld, A. (2010). Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing (1st ed.). New Riders Publishing. Krumm, J. (Ed.). (2009). Ubiquitous Computing Fundamentals. Chapman and Hall/CRC. Kuniavsky, M. (2010). Smart Things: Ubiquitous Computing User Experience Design (1st ed.). Morgan Kaufmann. Lyytinen, K., & Yoo, Y. (2002). Introduction. Commun. ACM, 45(12), 6265. Poslad, S. (2011). Ubiquitous Computing: Smart Devices, Environments and Interactions (1st ed.). Wiley. Zhao, R., & Wang, J. (2011). Visualizing the research on pervasive and ubiquitous computing. Scientometrics, 86(3), 593612.