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Distributed Systems Group |
Fachseminar Ubiquitous Computing SS2000:
Geschichte und wegweisende Projekte des Ubiquitous Computing
Paul Miotti
Abstract
The creation of tools (such as knives, jars or hammers) to facilitate everyday tasks represents the pinnacle of human intelligence. Computer science and its most recent development of "Ubiquitous Computing" signifies the latest advancement of mankind in making such tools that aim to simplify ordinary life. In contrast to the last 50 years of computing, not only specialized, highly trained experts will be the future users of most of the worlds computing power, but computer-illiterate laymen that often unconsioucsly will operate the most powerful appliances and programs. With the latest advancements in technology, the early visions of computer pioneers and visionaries will finally be able to come true at last: computers that will not try to replace humans, but act as their ultimate "intelligence amplifier" [Engelbart].In my talk I want to span an arc from computer sience's early pioneers and visionaries to todays buzzwords of ubiquitiy, pervasiveness and invisibility. After introducing visionaries like Vannevar Bush and Doug Engelbart, I will try to outline how their ideas were transformed by Mark Weiser of Xeroc PARC into the vision of ubiquitous computing today. The early days of this field will be summarized by presenting a number of early projects, such as ActiveBadge and ParcTab. I will conclude my talk with a (selective) overview of current research groups in the field and give a brief sample of some of their projects.
Written Notes: [.html][.pdf]
Resources
The following is a list of pointers that provide background reading materials for the first talk in the Ubiquitous Computing Seminar at the Department of Computer Science at the ETH Zurich.
Visionaries
The following people have played an important role in the history of Personal Computing and ultimately Ubiquitous Computing. This list is based on a course reading list for Gregory Abowd's Georgia Tech Ubicomp class. See also its Reading Summary page for a quick overview of the cited papers.Howard Reinhold's book "Tools for Thought" is also a great resource for historic facts of the early years of personal computing. Of particular interest are chapters 7, 9, 11 and 12, though all chapters are worthwhile reading!
- Vannevar Bush
- Bush was the first (back in 1945!) to propose that technology could be used to support information collection as well as information retrieval. His article "As We May Think" influenced the pioneers of personal and ubiquitous computing.
- "As We May Think" The Atlantic Monthly 176(1):101-108, July 1945.
- J.C.R. Licklider
- Inspired by Bush's article, Licklider made his own predictions about the future role of computers in our society some 15 years later.
- "Man-Computer Symbiosis" IRE Transactions of Human Factors in Electronics Volume HFE-1, pp. 4-11, March 1960 (pages 1-20 only)
- See also: Martin Greenberger "The Computers of Tomorrow" The Atlantic Monthly May 1964.
- Douglas Engelbart
- Doug Engelbart is the pioneer of interactive computing. He invented the first computer mouse, time sharing, windowing, or even hypermedia.
- "Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework. Stanford Research Institute, October 1962.
- Engelbart's unfinished revolution Stanford University Symposium, December 9th, 1998. The symposium is also available on video.
- Mark Weiser
- As chief technologist of Xerox PARC, Mark Weiser pioneered the field of ubiquitous computing. He passed away in April 1999. See also the comprehensive In Memoriam: Mark Weiser page at Stanford
- "The Computer for the 21st Century" Scientific American, September 1991, pp. 94-104.
Early Projects
- The First Wearable Computer (1955, 1960-1961), Edward Thorp & Claude Shannon, MIT (Invited Speaker at ISWC98)
- Active Badge (1989-1992), at AT&T Research Europe (formerly Olivetti Research).
- ParcTab (1992-1994), Xerox PARC (see also its PARC History Pages)
- Walkstation II (1993-1996), Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
- InfoPad (1994-1996), EECS Department, UC Berkeley
- Smart Rooms etc, (1994-1996), Vision and Modeling Group, MIT
Research Centers & their Projects
Taken, edited & expanded from Microsoft Research's Intelligent Environments Overview page. Projects are grouped into Information Appliances (A), Smart Environments (E), and Infrastructure (I). Note that most infrastructure stuff (such as Mobile Computing) is, together with Wearable Computing, in a separate section (although sometimes a mobile computing project might also appear in the main list below). Projects that set out to integrate smart environments, wearables, information appliances, and other related technologies into a single, comprehensive solution are indicated as Visions (V).Research Projects & Systems
- Andersen Consulting CSTaR: in the Situated Computing Group: [Magic Home A] [Online Medicine Cabinet A] [Pocket BargainFinder A] [Shoppers Eye A] [Awareness Machine A] [Avalanche IE]; in the Active Environments Group: [MusicFX E] [PocketWatch Tools E] [HomeLab IE] [MagicWall E]
- AT&T Laboratories Cambridge: [Overview] [ActiveBats IE] [piconets I] [ActiveBadge (closed) E]
- U California, Berkeley: [NotePals A] [InfoPad A] [Ninja I] [Endeavour Expedition VI] [PostPC Era A]
- U California, San Diego: [CVRR Lab E]
- Carnegie Mellon: [Aura: Invisible Computing V] [Spectrum Sharing IA]
- Carnegie Mellon / Universität Karslruhe: [Multimodal User Interfaces IE]
- U Colorado, Boulder: [Adaptive House E]
- FXPal: [SmartSpaces E]
- Georgia Tech: [eClass E] [The Context Toolkit I] [The Aware Home E] [Smart Floor E] ( all within the Future Computing Environments group)
- GMD-IPSI: [Ambiente E]
- Hewlett-Packard: [chai IA] [CoolTown (formerly HEHAW) IA]
- IBM: Watson: [Natural Interaction E]; Almaden: [Personal Area Networks (PAN) I]; Zurich: Pervasive Computing Group [DEAP Space IE]
- INRIA, Rhone-Alpes: [MONICA E]
- Interactive Institute, Sweden: [Smart Things Group A] [PLAY A] [Virtuality and Space E]
- Lancaster University: [FLUMP A] [GUIDE A] [Mobile Multimedia]
- Universität Karslruhe : [TEA I] [MediaCup I?] (at TecO: Ubicomp)
- Universität Karslruhe / Carnegie Mellon : [Multimodal User Interfaces IE]
- Universität Stuttgart: [Nexus I]
- Microsoft Research: [EasyLiving E]
- MIT: [Oxygen V] [House of the Future E]
- MIT AI Lab: [Forest of Sensors B] [Intelligent Room / HAL E]
- MIT Media Lab: [KidsRoom E] [SmartRooms E] [SmartDesk E] (in the VisMod group) [Hive IE] [Personal Information Architecture Group A] [Counter Intelligence E] (in the TTT, Things That Think Consortium) [Thinking Tags A] [Meme Tags A] (old)
- Nara Institute of Science & Technology: [Knowledgeable Environment E] (focuses on robot-robot and robot-human interaction)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): [AirJava I]
- Rutgers: [DATAMAN I]
- Stanford Research Institute (SRI): [OfficeMATE E?] [EM-CE E] [TravelMATE A] [CARS A] [CHeF A] [SURF A] (all part of CHIC's new '99 projects)
- Stanford: [Interactive Workspaces E]
- Trinity College Dublin: [Intelligent Interfaces & Buildings E]
- UCLA: [Managing Context for Smart Spaces IE]
- USC/ISI: [SCADDS I]
- U Washington: [Portolano VA]
- U Wollongong, Australia: [Smart Badges & Location Aware Computer Systems E]
- Xerox PARC: [PARCTAB IE] [Ubiquitous Computing]
Research Hardware
- Stereo Vision: [SRI SVM]
- Wireless LANS: [HomeRF] [Bluetooth] [IEEE 802.11] [Piconet]
- Location Tracking: [Pinpoint (Indoors)] [GPS]
Related Links
- Computer Vision: [Resource Page]
- Mobile Computing: [Mobile and Wireless Computing Index]
- Wearable Computing: [Wearable Computing Links]
- Ubiquitous Computing: [Brief Resource Page]
- Location and Environment Aware Computing: [H.W. Peter Beadle's Bookmarks]