Building the ubiquitous computing user experience

Abstract

Many aspects of Mark Weiser's original vision of ubiquitous computing [3] are rapidly becoming reality. Unlike just a few years ago, where we had at most one computer per person, many of us now routinely carry several "intelligent" devices. These may include PDAs, cell phones, laptop computers, portable digital music players, and so on. Additionally, our daily environments are often inhabited by digital devices such as computer display projectors and computer-augmented whiteboards.Increasingly, these devices have the ability to interconnect with one another, whether through short-range, proximity-based transports such as infrared or Bluetooth, via longer-range wireless technology, or through "traditional" wired networks. As we carry with us and are surrounded by increasing numbers of interconnectable devices--as well as rapidly proliferating interconnected software services--we are confronted with the question: how will we understand, make sense of, and ultimately use, the functionality around us?