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Quotes from Mark Weiser• Ubiquitous computing"Machines that fit the human environment instead of
forcing humans & enter theirs will make using a computer as refreshing as a walk in the woods." 1991
"We wanted to put computing back in its place, to reposition it into the environmental background, to concentrate on human-to-human interfaces and less on human-to-computer ones." 1999
"It is invisible, everywhere computing that does not live on a personal device of any sort, but is
in the woodwork everywhere." 1994
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Ubiquitous Goals1. Everyday practices of people need to be
understood and supported.
2. Augment world with heterogeneous devices offering different interactive experience.
3. Network devices for holistic experience.
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Chapter Overview
1. Definition of interaction
2. Discovery of application features
3. Evolution of theories & practice– Design & evaluation of smart environments
4. Examples
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Define: Appropriate Physical Interaction Experience
• What is that?• No traditional location - computer on desk
– Where we are, normally!
• Changes our idea of "input- process-output"
• Input– Was (is) an explicit communication– Will be (is) a recognition of what we do or say
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Physical Interaction?
• Output– Was (is) display, paper, sound– Will be (is) widely distributed, many forms and
modalities– Will have to coordinate all this
• I/O Relationship– Should be seamless
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Explicit to Implicit Input• Natural interactions with environment
– e.g. walk into a room - what happens?
• Natural forms of communication– Speech, writing, gestures
– Pen based
– Touch surfaces
• Sensors– Requires interpretation
• Invisibility of computing - determine identity, location, affect, or activity thru presence and natural interactions (context)
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Multiscale & Distributed Output• Ubicomp requires new technologies &
techniques
• Multiple displays, sizes
• Ambient forms
• Output scales (Weiser)– Inch (small) - handheld– Foot (middle) - PC– Yard (large) - wall displays
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Other Output Features• Coordination among displays
• Less demanding of our attention– There but can ignore– Ambient displays require minimal attention &
effort; integrate easily– e.g. Dangling String - monitored network
traffic– e.g. "beep" as signal for arriving email
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Applications
Is there one "killer application" for smart environments?
• Combination of many smaller applications providing a broad range of services
Emergent Features
• Context awareness
• Automated capture, store, access
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Context Aware Computing• Location aware appliances
– e.g. Active Badge, PARCTab • could forward phone calls
• Location identification– Usually people– GPS based– e.g. tours in museum
• Context not just location (where)– Also who, when why, what
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Context Aware Computing
• Challenges– Truly ubiquitous
• GPS is not ubiquitous– Not indoors– Problems in some regions– Differences - cost, range, granularity, etc.
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Capture & Access• Accurate recording of events
• Do we remember?
• Task preserving a live experience that can be reviewed at some point in time
• Good? Accurate
• Bad? Privacy
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Continuous Interaction
• "Constant presence"
• Change from tasks to activities– Most interfaces are well-defined task oriented– e.g. Word Processing made up of tasks
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Features of Daily Activities• Seldom has clear beginning & end
• Interruptions are expected
• Multiple activities are concurrent
• Time is important in characterizing activity
• Associative models of information are needed
• Because information is reused & from different perspectives
• Activities are related to each other
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Theories of Design & Evaluation• Guidelines for HCI exist
– Dr. Stringfellow's 2005 summer course
– Tend to focus on desktop interfaces
• HCI in embedded environment - research– Development of new models of interaction
related to ubiquity• Not mouse, keyboard
– Emergence of methods focus on gaining understanding
– Development of assessment of the ability of ubicomp
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New Models• Shift is similar to "AI project" of years past
– Not highly successful
• Related to psychology, sociology, education, etc.– How do people learn? Remember?– Robot walking across a cluttered room
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Georgia Tech - Living Labs• Labs for research, not really "smart"
Classroom - 1995-2000• Capture classroom experience for review• Note taking, modified behavior
Office - 1999• Flatland - use of whiteboard
– Observe, interview, questionnaires• Stored whiteboard content for later use
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Georgia Tech - Home Lab• Focus on aging adults
• Compensate for physical decline– Gestures as commands (lock doors, open
blinds)
• Aiding recall– Kitchen: not "do this next"; but "here's what
you've been doing"
• Awareness for family members - Digital family portrait
• Records person's daily activity for family review