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There are a variety of terms in use to describe this paradigm, many of which are associated with a particular institution or perspective. Some of these are general ("pervasive computing," "ambient intelligence," and more recently, "everyware," 12), while others primarily concern the objects involved ("physical computing," the "Internet of things,", " haptic computing ," "things that think," and " Spime "). At their core, all of these models share a vision of small, inexpensive, robust networked processing devices, distributed at all scales throughout everyday life and generally turned to distinctly quotidian ends. For example, a domestic ubiquitous computing environment might interconnect lighting and environmental controls with personal biometric monitors woven into clothing so that illumination and heating conditions in a room might be modulated, continuously and imperceptibly. Another common scenario posits refrigerators "aware" of their suitably-tagged contents, able to both plan a variety of menus from the food actually on hand, and warn users of stale or spoiled food. In both of these scenarios, it is already obvious that contemporary human-computer interaction models, whether Command-line , menu-driven, or GUI -based, will be inappropriate and inadequate to the ubiquitous case. This suggests that the "natural" interaction paradigm appropriate to a fully robust ubiquitous computing has yet to emerge - although there is also recognition in the field that in many ways we are already living in a ubicomp world. Contemporary devices that lend some support to this latter idea include Mobile Phone s, Digital Audio Player s, Radio-frequency Identification tags and Interactive Whiteboard s. HISTORY Mark Weiser coined the phrase "ubiquitous computing," during his tenure as Chief Technologist of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) . Both alone and with John Seely Brown , Weiser wrote some of the earliest papers on the subject, largely defining it and sketching out its major concerns. 3 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'", referencing as well the ironically Dystopia n Philip K. Dick novel Ubik . MIT has also contributed significant research in this field, notably Hiroshi Ishii's ''Things That Think'' consortium at the Media Lab 4 and the CSAIL effort known as Project Oxygen 5. Other major contributors include Georgia Tech 's College Of Computing , NYU 's Interactive Telecommunications Program , Microsoft Research , Intel Research and Equator, Ajou-University UCRi cus research center funded by UCN Project of MIC in Korea. 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. 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''. 6 More recently, . CURRENT RESEARCH Ubiquitous computing encompasses a wide range of research topics, including Distributed Computing , Mobile Computing , Sensor Network s, Human-computer Interaction , and Artificial Intelligence . For a list of research labs taking interest in developing this field, see '' List Of Ubiquitous Computing Research Centers .'' REFERENCES SEE ALSO
EXTERNAL LINKS An introduction to the field appropriate for general audiences is Adam Greenfield 's book ''Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing'' (ISBN 0-321-38401-6). Greenfield describes the interaction paradigm of ubiquitous computing as "information processing dissolving in behavior." Ubiquitous Projects Some news sites are recording commercial and academic developments: Notable conferences in the field include:
Journals and Magazines committed to pervasive computing:
Ubiquitous computing initiatives in education: Other links:
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