Presentation made to high-school students on April 2011. A quick and dirty introduction to the Ubiquitous Computing research area mainly based on Weiser's vision. Italian and English mixed, sorry.

1. Ubiquitous Computing
Una Introduzione
Alessandra Agostini

2. The most profound technologies
are those that disappear. They
weave themselves into the fabric of
everyday life until they are
indistinguishable from it.
Mark Weiser (1952-1999)
Xerox Parc, 1988

3. Computing Eras
• Phase I – Mainframe Era
Computer User
• Phase II – Personal Computer Era
Computer User
Transition: Internet, digital gadgets
• Phase III – Ubiquitous Computing Era
Computer User

4. The Ubiquitous Computing Era
Lots of computers sharing each of us
• Computers* :
– Molto diversi tra loro: inch/tab, foot/pad,
yard/board
– Per compiti diversi
– In numerosità diverse: 100ia, 10ine, 1-2
*Il termine computer verrà usato in senso lato: dispositivi, tecnologie, ecc.

5. The UC Era: Tecnologie Context-Aware
• Sistemi che sanno dove sono e sono
consapevoli del contesto (context-aware) in
cui avviene l’interazione
– L’ampia varietà di device di interazione (fisse e
mobili) e di contesti d’uso delle applicazioni
rende necessaria questa consapevolezza
• Sistemi:
– Che si adattano al contesto d’uso e all’utente
– Utili alle persone nella loro vita quotidiana
– Focalizzati sull’interazione degli utenti (tra loro)
e i loro obbiettivi, non sulle funzioni fornite
• UC integra scienze sociali e computer
science

6. The Ubiquitous Computing Era
Ubiquitous computing pushes the user
interface away from the desktop and into
our everyday environments
• Computers:
– Invisibili e discreti: “If computers are
everywhere they better stay out of the way”
– Usati inconsapevolemente: scompaiono dal
focus centrale del nostro pensiero
– Integrati seamlessly nell’ambiente per migliorare
la nostra vita quotidiana
Alcuni esempi, similitudini:
– Scrittura (e lettura); alfabetizzazione versus
scribani; elettricità; Olivetti ActiveBadge

7. Cosa non è Ubiquitous Computing
• Non è Virtual Reality
– VR puts people inside a computer-
generated world, UC forces the computer
to live out here in the world with people
• Non è Mobile Computing
– UC is nor a superset nor a subset of
Mobile Computing
– UC does not just mean computers that
can be carried to the beach, jungle or
airport

8. Ubiquitous Computing
The Coming Age of Calm Technology

9. Calm Technology
• Encalms and informs
• The users remain serene and in
control
• Engages our peripheral attention
– Allows us to attune to more things
– A large portion of our brain is devoted to
peripheral processing
• Moves easily from center to periphery
and back
– Recenter to take control
– Eg: Car engine; when not OK we notice it

10. Calm Technology & Affordance
• Calm technology is related to the
notion of affordances
• An affordance is a relationship
between an object in the world and
the intentions, perceptions, and
capabilities of a person

11. Calm Technology & Affordance
• Calm technology is related to the
notion of affordances
• An affordance is a relationship
between an object in the world and
the intentions, perceptions, and
capabilities of a person
• A flat push plate in the side of a door
that only pushes out is an example of
good affordance

12. Calm Technology: Some Examples
• Maggiore informazione che tranquillizza:
– videoconferenze versus conferenze
telefoniche
• Non è solo un problema di Interfaccia
Utente:
– Inner office windows versus open space
• Peripheral two way information channel
• You can catch the other person’s attention

13. Calm Technology: Some Examples
• Maggiore informazione che tranquillizza:
– videoconferenze versus conferenze
telefoniche
• Non è solo un problema di Interfaccia
Utente:
– Inner office windows versus open space
• Peripheral two way information channel
• You can catch the other person’s attention
• I computer non sono davvero multimediali,
il focus è sempre sul computer:
– Dangling string
• Rotation speed connected to network traffic
• Motion(vision), sound and touch

14. Ubiquitous Computing
Dwelling with computers

15. Open House
Many persons Many computers
per computer per person
Interacting Dwelling
with computer with computers
Smart houses/
assistants

16. Dwelling with Computers
• Dwelling with computers versus
interacting with computers
– Computers will inhabit the most trivial
things
– Interacting with something keeps it
distant and foreign
– We don’t want to interact with our
everyday environment in the same way
as we interact with computers

17. Dwelling with computers
• Dwelling with computers:
– Co-exist comfortably
– Provide clues about environment
– We can ignore them most of the time
– Like weather, street sounds
– Suggestive but not intermediating
• Some examples:
– Augmented window
– Wake up music-chooser

18. Smart People versus Smart Computers
• Previous (r)evolutions in computing were
about bigger, better, faster, smarter
• Smart is a bad metaphor
• Does all things get better if they get
smarter?
– Smart Cappuccino?
• Next computing revolution must focus on
smarter people:
– Machines take care of unnecessary details
– People can think about (care) less
• It is not enough to put computers
everywhere. You must specify what they
should do

19. Ubiquitous Computing
Aree Collegate e Esempi

20. Aree di Ricerca Collegate
Software Agents
Invisible/Silent/Calm Mobile-Nomadic
Interfaces Computing
Mechatronics
Embedded computers
Context sensitivity Wearable Computing
Adaptive services
Ad hoc Networks

21. Augmented Reality
Augmenting the physical real-world
with digital world content
• La Realtà Aumentata aumenta la
realtà con l’aggiunta, in tempo reale,
di contenuti ed animazioni virtuali
• È l’approccio opposto alla Realtà
Virtuale
• È adottata in molti domini diversi:
– Entertainment, archeologia, turismo, …

22. Augmented Reality: Settore Automobilistico
Vengono mostrate direttamente sul
parabrezza informazioni utili al
guidatore

23. Augmented Reality: Alcuni Esempi
Cosmetic Mirror
Ray-Ban Virtual Mirror

24. Augmented Reality: Turismo
“The World Park”, New York Tuscany+
QR Code iPhone app
tagMyLagoon, Venezia Torino, Microsoft Tag
QR Code

25. Augmented Reality: Turismo e Passato
Actual pictures are overlaid
with old pictures/paintings
Amsterdam of the same scene
Milano d’autore
Un percorso temporale sulle
tracce di Ermanno Olmi

26. Augmented Reality: Alcuni Progetti di Studenti
Vergilius
Cimitero Monumentale di Milano
Visual Message System

27. AR: Alcune Tecnologie Coinvolte
• Quick Response Code (QRCode)
– Codice a barre bidimensionale a matrice,
contiene informazioni destinate a essere
lette tramite uno smartphone
• Microsoft Tag
– Sistema di barcoding multicolore
proprietario
• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
– Assegnamento di un identificatore
univoco e universale ad ogni singolo
oggetto, acquisito autonomamente da
sistemi radiofrequenza

28. Tangible interfaces – Tangible Bits
Tangible Media group (MIT)
• Facing the challenge of reconciling
our dual citizenship in the physical
and digital worlds
• Seeking a seamless coupling of bits
and atoms by giving physical form to
digital information and computation

29. Tangible Bits: a couple of examples
• Trackmate is an inexpensive, do-it-
yourself tangible tracking system that
allows your computer to recognize
tagged objects and their
corresponding position, rotation, and
color information when placed on a
surface
• I/O Brush is a new drawing tool to
explore colors and textures found in
everyday materials by “picking up”
and drawing with them. It has a small
video camera with lights and touch
sensors embedded inside

30. (Semi-)public Interaction
Social affordances of
tables/wall
InteracTable and Dynawall,
From www.ipsi.fraunhofer.de i-LAND project

31. Public Interactions
When computing devices become
ubiquitous, the amount of public
devices will increase; e.g. CityWall in
Helsinki

32. Il Futuro?
Per finire…
qualcosa di non ancora realizzato ma
che potrebbe essere già prodotto
SeaBird (MozillaLabs)

33. Sitografia in Ordine di Esposizione
• La pagina di M. Weiser su Ubiquitous Computing:
http://www.ubiq.com/hypertext/weiser/UbiHome.ht
ml
• The Computer for the 21° Century, M. Weiser:
http://www.ubiq.com/hypertext/weiser/SciAmDraft3.
html
• The Coming Age of Calm Technology, M. Weiser &
J. Seely Brown:
http://www.ubiq.com/hypertext/weiser/acmfuture2e
ndnote.htm

34. Sitografia in Ordine di Esposizione
• Ray-Ban Virtual Mirror:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGryj-2OZ8I
• Cosmetic Mirror:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5zZ5qZP5Ok
• The World Park, New York:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OCyfV_k2_g
• Tuscany+:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghk_qTAb43M
• Torino TV, Microsoft Tag:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J3XKScDdws
• Augmented Reality for Historical Sites, Amsterdam:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB3BwvHdJiI
• Milano d’autore:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LZfZZeIvtA

35. Sitografia in Ordine di Esposizione
• Vergilius – Cimitero Monumentale di Milano:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yUuwifStZs
• Tangible Interfaces, Tangible Media group (MIT):
http://tangible.media.mit.edu/index.php
• SeaBird, Mozilla Labs:
http://mozillalabs.com/conceptseries/2010/09/23/se
abird/