UbiCom Book Slides

Chapter 1
Ubiquitous Computing: Basics
and Vision
Name:
Email/Web:
Ubiquitous computing: smart devices,
environments and interaction

Overview
Living in a Digital World
Modelling the Key Ubiquitous Computing
Properties
Ubiquitous System Environment Interaction
Architectural Design for UbiCom Systems:
Smart DEI Model
Course Outline

Ubiquitous computing: smart devices, environments and interaction

Ubiquitous Computing (UbiCom)

A vision for computing to:
Enable computer-based services to be made available
everywhere (Ubiquitous)
Support intuitive human usage
But yet, appear to be invisible to the user.
Also referred to as pervasive computing etc

Ubiquitous computing: smart devices, environments and interaction

Living in an Increasingly Digital,

Interconnected World

What are the current technology trends in UbiCom?

Ubiquitous computing: smart devices, environments and interaction

Trend: smaller, higher resource

devices
Ear/microphone
Communicator
Display

AVrecorder

Ubiquitous computing: smart devices, environments and interaction

Trend: Weisers 3 waves of computing

Ubiquitous computing: smart devices, environments and interaction

Living in an Increasingly Digital,

Interconnected World
What will the future be like?

Ubiquitous computing: smart devices, environments and interaction

Scenarios

4 scenarios illustrate a range of benefits and

challenges of ubiquitous computing:
Personal memories
21st Century Scheduled Transport Service
Foodstuff management
Utility regulation

N.B. many other scenarios & applications given later

e.g., Chapter 2 describes some key projects and
gives an overview of applications.
Ubiquitous computing: smart devices, environments and interaction

Personal Memories Scenario

Ubiquitous computing: smart devices, environments and interaction

Personal Memories Scenario

How can we enhance the personal memories service using UbiCom?

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21st Century Scheduled Transport

Service Scenario

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21st Century Scheduled Transport

Service
How can we enhance the transport service using
UbiCom?

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Foodstuff Management Scenario

Select & Buy
food at physical
or virtual market

Transport
food to
home store

Put in home
store

Select food from

store, get &
transform food
into a meal

Ubiquitous computing: smart devices, environments and interaction

Consume
food

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Foodstuff Management Scenario

How can UbiCom enhance the foodstuff management scenario?

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Utility
Regulation
Scenario

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Utility Regulation Scenario

Utility regulation concerns energy, water, waste regulation by endusers.

How can UbiCom enhance the Utility Regulation scenario?

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UbiCom System Design

For these scenarios
Which system designs should be used for:
comms., data storage, processing, sensing, control etc

How to model system - physical world interaction?

How to model human computer system
interaction?
These are covered later in this course.

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Overview
Living in a Digital World
Modelling the Key Ubiquitous Computing
Properties
Ubiquitous System Environment Interaction
Architectural Design for UbiCom Systems:
Smart DEI Model
Course Outline

Ubiquitous computing: smart devices, environments and interaction

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UbiCom: Different Combinations of Core

Properties versus a Single Definition
No single, absolute definition for ubiquitous computing.
Instead propose many different kinds of UbiCom based
upon combining different sets of core properties
What core system properties would you propose to define
ubiquitous computing?
.

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UbiCom: Weisers 3 Internal System

Properties
3 main properties for UbiCom Systems were proposed by
Weiser (1991)
1. Computers need to be networked, distributed and
transparently accessible

In1991, little wireless computing, Internet far less pervasive

2. Computer Interaction with Humans needs to be more

hidden

Because much HCI is overly intrusive

3. Computers need to be aware of environment context

In order to optimise their operation in their physical & human environment.

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Devices: Extended set of Internal

System Properties
To which two additional properties are added:
4. Computers can operate autonomously, without human intervention, be
self-governed
5. Computers can handle a multiplicity of dynamic actions and
interactions, governed by intelligent decision-making and intelligent
organisational interaction. This entails some form of artificial
intelligence.

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UbiCom: Different Combinations of Core

Properties versus a Single Definition

No single, absolute definition for ubiquitous computing.

Instead propose many different kinds of UbiCom based upon combining different
sets of core properties
Here are some examples proposed by others
Weiser (1991): distributed, iHCI, physical environment context aware
Ambient Intelligence (AmI), similar to UbiCom - intelligence everywhere?

Arts and Marzano (2003) define 5 key features for AmI to be embedded, context-aware,
personalised, adaptive and anticipatory.

Buxton (1995): ubiquity and transparency

Endres et al. (2005): distributed mobile, intelligence, augmented reality
Millner (2006): autonomy, IHCI
Etc.
Exercise: Do your own survey of UbiCom definitions and highlight the properties they
define.
.

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Five main properties for UbiCom

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UbiCom System Properties:

Distributed
Networked ICT Devices
Transparency
Openness

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Distributed System: sub-properties

Often designed middleware, set of generic services

Universal, Seamless, Heterogeneous
Networked
Synchronised, Coordinated
Open
Transparent, Virtual
Mobile, Nomadic
(See Chapters 3 and 4)

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Internal System Properties: iHCI

Concept of calm / disappearing computer has several
dimensions
Implicit (iHCI) versus Explicit HCI
Embodied Virtuality as opposite of VR (people in virtual
world)

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Devices: Extended set of Internal System

Properties

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iHCI: Sub-Properties

Implicit Human Device Interaction (iHCI)

Non-intrusive, Hidden, Invisible, Calm, computing
Tangible, Natural
Anticipatory, Speculative, Proactive
Affective, Emotive
User-aware
PostHuman
Sense of Presence
Immersed, Virtual , Mediated reality
(See chapter 5)
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Internal System Properties: contextaware

Often Context-based ubiquity rather than global ubiquity
Why?

3 Main Types of Context

Physical Environment Context
Human Context (or User context or person context)
ICT Context or Virtual Environment Context:

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Context-aware: sub-properties
Also referred to as Sentient, Unique, Localised, Situated
Presupposes sensing of environment to be aware of its
context
Adaptive: active versus passive context-aware
Types of environment aware
Person-aware, User-aware, Personalised, Tailored,
Environment-aware, Context-aware, Physical contextaware
ICT infrastructure aware
(See Chapter 7)

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Internal System Properties: Autonomy

Challenge 1: increasing computer systems can overload
humans humans become a bottleneck
What can be done?

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Internal System Properties: Autonomy

Challenge 2: automated system can be become to complex
to maintain
- must reduce maintenance of complex systems

What can be done?

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Autonomy: Sub-Properties

Automatic
Embedded, Encapsulated
Embodied
Resource-constrained
Untethered, Amorphous
Autonomic, Self-managing, self-star properties
Emergent, self-organising
(See Chapter 10)

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Internal System Properties:

Intelligence
Intelligent UbiCom systems (IS) can:
Act more proactively, dynamically & humanely through:
Model how their environment changes when deciding how it acts.
Goal-based / planning
Reasoning for re-planning
Handle uncertainty.
semantic based interaction
etc

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Individual Intelligence: Sub-Properties

Referred to as Intelligent Systems, AI, agent-based system
etc.
Sub-Properties (sub-types of individual intelligence)
Reactive, Reflex
Model-based,
Rule/Policy-based
Logic/Reasoning
Goal-oriented, Planned, Proactive
Utility-based, Game theoretic
Learning, Adaptive
(See Chapter 8)
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Multiple Intelligence: Sub-Properties

Referred to as Distributed AI, Multi-Agent Systems,
Collective or Social Intelligence
Sub-Properties
Cooperative , Collaborative, Benevolent
Competitive, self-interested, antagonistic, adversarial
Orchestrated, Choreographed, Mediated
Task-sharing
Communal, shared meaning
Shared knowledge
Speech-act based , Intentional, Mentalistic
(See Chapter 9)
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Overview
Living in a Digital World
Modelling the Key Ubiquitous Computing
Properties
Ubiquitous System Environment
Interaction
Architectural Design for UbiCom Systems:
Smart DEI Model
Course Outline
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UbiCom System versus ICT System

focus

Conventional focus on ICT systems

Systems situated in a virtual world, in an environment of other ICT
systems -> a system of ICT systems
Conventional use a restrict view of physical environment interaction:
Conventional ICT systems often require humans in the loop
UbiCom represents a powerful shift in computation:

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Different Degrees of HCI

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Different Degrees of HCI

From less to more C Interaction with H
H2H: human interaction
H2C or explicit (e)HCI:
C2H or implicit (i)HCI:
C2C:

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Different Degrees of CPI

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Different Degrees of CPI

From less to more C Interaction with P
P2P
Physical interaction (No ICT mediation)

C2P / CA (Physical Env. Context-aware)

C Senses P. C Aware of Ps Context

P2C/AR/MR
C augments or mediates Ps reality.
C actively adapts to Ps context

C2C /VR
Virtualisation of reality facilitated by C
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Overview
Living in a Digital World
Modelling the Key Ubiquitous Computing
Properties
Ubiquitous System Environment Interaction
Architectural Design for UbiCom
Systems:
Course Outline

Ubiquitous computing: smart devices, environments and interaction

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UbiCom System Model: Smart DEI

No single type of UbiCom system
Different UbiCom systems support:
3 basic architectural design patterns for UbiCom:
smart Devices, smart Environments, smart Interaction

Smart means systems are:

active, digital, networked, autonomous, reconfigurable, local control
of its own resources, e.g., energy, data storage etc.

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UbiCom System Model: Smart DEI

Device Trends
Increasing capability to
manufacture low power,
micro, more complex devices
Use more complex, multifunctional, mobile, personalised
(& private) smart devices to
ease access to & embody
services rather than just to
virtualise them
e.g., phone is also a
camera, music player, is
also a printer??

Increasing capability to
embed devices in the
physical environment
Use smarter environments
to sense and react to events
such as people, with mobile
devices , entering & leaving
controlled spaces
e.g., walls can sense camera
is recording and modify
lighting to improve
recording

Increasing capability for

more interoperable
distributed mobile devices

Use more service access

devices with simpler
functions and allow them to
interoperate smarter
interaction between devices
e.g., camera can interconnect
to phone to share recordings,
direct to printer to print

Ubiquitous Computing

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Smart DEI Model: types of smart

device
3 main types of UbiCom system may themselves contain
smart sub-systems at a lower level of granularity
e.g., a smart environment device may consist of smart sensors and
smart controllers

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UbiCom System: Smart Sub-Systems or

Components

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Smart Device Form Factors

Devices tend to become smaller and lighter in weight,
cheaper to produce.
Devices can become prevalent, made more portable and
can appear less obtrusive.
Weiser proposed a range of device sizes
1. Smart Tabs
2. Smart Pads:
3. Smart Boards:

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Smart Device Form Factors (2)

Form Factors can be extended to support
4. Smart Dust
5. Smart Skins
6. Smart Clay
(See Chapters 5,6)

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Design challenges in Using Varying

Form Factors
What are the design Challenges?

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Smart Device: Variations

Many variations or sub-types of smart devices,

e.g. smart mobile device, smart environment device

Use different combinations of sub-components
Support different combinations of UbiCom properties
Interact in different types of environment
Take different form factors

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Smart Device Variations: Smart Mobile

Device
Many flavours or variants of these basic designs
One of the most important variants of the smart device is
the smart mobile device
Combines several main types of UbiCom property:
Note mobile devices are sometimes taken to be
synonymous with wireless devices but these are different
(see Chapter 11

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Smart Mobile Devices

Multi-purpose ICT devices, operating as a single portal to multiple

services
eases access & interoperability versus decreased openness
Usually personalised devices, specified owner.
Locus of control and user interface resides in the smart device.
Main characteristics: mobility, open service discovery, intermittent
resource access.

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Smart Devices: Mobility

Many dimensions for mobility

Static:
Accompanied:
Wearable:
Embedded (into objects):
Implanted (into humans):
Untethered or unanchored:
Division between statics and mobiles can be more finely grained and
multi-dimensional (see Chapter 4)

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Volatile Service Access

Devices access software services and hardware
intermittently . Why?
Devices can dynamically discover services available.
Context-aware discovery can improve basic discovery.
Asymmetric remote service access, more downloads than
uploads, tends to occur.

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Smart Mobile Devices: Context-Aware

Can use contexts to filter information & service access.
Often designed to work with a reference location in physical
environment called a home location,
Mobile devices are ICT resource constrained.
Mobile devices tend to use a finite internal energy cache.
Devices configuration, operation tends to be personalised

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Smart Environment (Devices)

Definitions
Consists of a set of smart devices specialised to interact with their
(virtual, phys., human) environments.
Typically, embedded single task devices; not MTOS devices
Can automatically respond to or anticipate users, using iHCI
Smart environments support bounded, local user context
Smart environment devices may also be:
fixed versus anchored mobile versus unanchored mobile devices
macro to micro to nano

Smart environment device design issues what?

See Chapter 6, 7

Smart environment device management issues what?

See Chapter 12

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Types of Smart Environment Device

Interaction

Tagging and Annotating

Sensing & monitoring
Filtering
Adapting
Controlling
Assembling
Regulating

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Smart Interaction

Additional type of design is needed to knit together many individual

system components and interactions.
Smart interaction promotes unified & continuous interaction model
between UbiCom applications & their UbiCom infrastructure, physical
world & human environments.
Internal self-organising system vs. externally driven system
Components can interact cooperatively versus competitively
Several benefits to designs based upon set of interacting components:
A range of levels of interaction between UbiCom System components
Distinguish between (basic) interaction and (smart) interaction

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Basic Interaction
Typically involves two interlinked parties, a sender
and a receiver.
Sender knows things in advance:
Two main types of basic interaction synchronous
versus asynchronous
(Chapter 11)

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Smart Interaction

Smart Interaction extends basic interactions as

follows.
Coordinated interactions
Cooperative versus competitive interaction
Policy and Convention based Interaction
Dynamic Organisational Interaction
Semantic and Linguistic Interaction
(See Chapter 9)

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Smart DEI Model Summary

Basic Smart Device has many variations
6 different physical form factors
5 different groups of internal properties & over 70 subproperties

Multiple flavours of smart device,

e.g., Smart Mobile type of Smart device
e.g., Smart Environment type of Smart Device

UbiCom System interact across 3 main types of

environment: physical, virtual & human
System of systems models in terms of multiple device
combinations and interactions
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Common Myths of Ubiquitous

Computing
1. There is a single definition which will accurately
characterises Ubiquitous Computing
2. The ideal type of Ubiquitous computing is where all the
properties of ubiquitous must be fully supported
3. Ubiquitous computing means making computing services
accessible everywhere.
4. Ubiquitous computing is boundless computing
5. Ubiquitous computing is just about HCI
6. Calm Computing should be used as a model for all HCI.
7. Ubiquitous computing is just about augmenting reality

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Common Myths of Ubiquitous

Computing 2
8. Ubiquitous computing is just distributed or virtual
computing
9. Ubiquitous computing is just mobile wireless computing
10. Ubiquitous computing is just about smart environments
11. Ubiquitous computing need to be highly autonomous
systems
12. Ubiquitous computing is just about physical world contextawareness
13. Ubiquitous computing is just distributed intelligence
14. Ubiquitous computing systems can operate effectively in
all kinds of environments:

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Overview
Living in a Digital World
Modelling the Key Ubiquitous Computing
Properties
Ubiquitous System Environment Interaction
Architectural Design for UbiCom Systems:
Smart DEI Model
Course Outline

Ubiquitous computing: smart devices, environments and interaction

66

Organisation of UbiCom Course Book:

Chapter Comparison
No Section Title

DEI

UbiCom Property

1
2

DEI
DEI

All
Distributed,
Context-aware
Distributed
Distributed

Vision and Basics Concepts

Applications and Requirements

3
4

Smart Devices and Services

Devices
Smart Mobile Devices, Device Devices
Networks and Smart Cards
5 Human Computer Interaction
Devices
6 Tagging, Sensing and Controlling
Environment
7 Context-Awareness
Environment
8 Intelligent Systems
Interaction
9 Intelligent Interaction
Interaction
10 Autonomous Systems and Artificial Interaction
Life
11 Communication Networks
Devices
12 Smart Device Management
Devices
13 Ubiquitous System Challenges and DEI
Outlook

Environment
Interactions
All
iHCI, All
C2C
C2C

iHCI
Context-aware
Context-aware
Intelligent
Intelligent, iHCI
Autonomy, Intelligence,
Distributed
Distributed,
Context-aware
All

Ubiquitous computing: smart devices, environments and interaction

HCI
CPI
CPI
C2C, HCI
H2H, C2C
C2C

C2C
iHCI, C2C,
CPI,
All

HCI,

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Organisation of UbiCom in this

Course (Main Sections)

Basics: Vision and Basics Concepts (Chapter 1); Applications and

Requirements (Chapter 2);
Smart Devices: Smart Devices and Services (Chapter 3); Smart Mobile
Devices, Networks and Cards (Chapter 4); Human Computer
Interaction (Chapter 5);
Smart Environments: Tagging, Sensing, Control of the Physical World
(Chapter 6); Context-aware Systems (Chapter 7);
Smart Interaction: Intelligent Systems (Chapter 8); Intelligent
Interaction (Chapter 9); Autonomous Systems and Artificial Life
(Chapter 10).
Middleware and Outlook: Ubiquitous Communication (Chapter 11);
Smart Device Management (Chapter 12); Ubiquitous System
Challenges and Outlook (Chapter 13).

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Overview
Living in a Digital World
Modelling the Key Ubiquitous Computing
Properties
Ubiquitous System Environment
Interaction
Architectural Design for UbiCom
Systems: Smart DEI Model
Course Outline
Ubiquitous computing: smart devices, environments and interaction

69

Summary & Revision

For each chapter
See book web-site for chapter summaries,
references, resources etc.
Identify new terms & concepts
Apply new terms and concepts: define, use
in old and new situations & problems
Debate problems, challenges and solutions
See Chapter exercises on web-site
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Exercises: Define New Concepts

Ubiquitous Computing, etc

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Exercise: Applying New Concepts

What are the main properties of UbiCom?
etc

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