Ubiquitous computing can be defined as a method of enhancing computer use by making many computers available throughout the physical environment, the resources of which can be switched on and off - or their intensity increased or decreased - as required to meet specific tasks.
The key to ubiquitous computing is to make these resources invisible to the user.
Early examples of ubiquitous computing were intelligent fridges that informed the homeowner when stocks were low, interactive microwave ovens and smart pans (that beep when the food is cooked).
As the concept took root, a new interaction philosophy - or way of thinking about the interaction between disparate systems and applications - has gained acceptance.
For many years the prevailing paradigm in interaction design was to develop applications for the desktop. These applications were intended for use by a single user sitting in front of a conventional CPU and monitor, and using a traditional keyboard and mouse.
Central to this approach were software applications that would run using a GUI (graphical user interface) or WIMP (windows, icons, mouse and pull-down menus, alternatively known as windows, icons, mouse and pointers) interface.
Now, designers are working on new interaction scenarios that raise levels of resource transparency to new heights.
In these scenarios, users continually interact with hundreds of nearby wirelessly interconnected computers and use a range of new-era applications that move far beyond the traditional desktop into the realm of science fiction.
The advent of wireless, mobile and handheld devices have fuelled the development of more systems and applications that can be used in new and exciting ways.
For example, users will soon be able to wear their computers. Clothes company Levis is working with the Dutch electronics company Philips to develop commercial "e-jackets" which incorporate "body-area networks" (BANs) which can hook up a variety of computing devices.
These include a mobile phone, MP3 player, microphone and headphone set.
When the phone rings, the MP3 player mutes the music automatically to allow the wearer to listen to the call and respond actively, or passively or via SMS, multimedia messaging, e-mail and voice messaging.
Even to bring computers to this point, while retaining their power, has required radically new thinking as well as breakthroughs in micro-computing technologies.
As they grow in acceptance and popularity they will place huge burdens on conventional networks and network protocols, which will need to handle vast amount of digital data necessary to establish and maintain communications with hundreds, if not thousands, of BANs on a continuous basis.
Ubiquitous computing is also being addressed by designers of software for handheld devices, such as the well-known PalmPilot.
One application sees the PalmPilot role as a multipurpose identity key in a hotel environment. Holding a PalmPilot, guests would be able to check in to certain hotels and enter their rooms without having to first interact with the receptionist at the front desk.
Other examples of wearable/portable computers include those fashioned as jewellery, and those installed in caps, glasses, shoes and jackets. They all provide users with a means of interacting with digital information while on the move.
With heads-up displays, unobtrusive input devices, personal wireless local area networks, and a host of other context sensing and communication tools, the wearable computer can also act as an intelligent assistant, anticipating the user`s moods, actions and requests.
In this sense, the mode of interaction is much more implicit; computer interfaces respond to the user`s expressions and gestures while sensor-rich environments are used to detect the user`s current state and needs.
There are research projects in progress developing a range of computational devices that use non-obtrusive sensing technology, including videos and microphones, to track and identify user`s actions.
This information is then analysed in terms of the user`s movements, gestures and facial expressions. It is then coded, based on the user`s physical, emotional or informational state at the time - and then used to determine what information they should or must receive.
Integration is one of the most important considerations for today`s technologists, if they are to achieve the results required by future users of ubiquitous computing.
Technologists know that ubiquitous computing requires levels of integration which are not restricted to the communication layer between disparate systems and applications, but will reach into areas such as networking protocols and protocol stacks to optimise available bandwidth on existing networks as never before.
Ubiquitous computing requires skills that can be harnessed to design and create systems that are unlike any in use today - except, perhaps, those in science fiction movies.
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