A universal information appliance

Abstract

The consumer's view of a universal information appliance (UIA) is a personal device, such as a PDA (personal digital assistant) or a wearable computer that can interact with any application, access any information store, or remotely operate any electronic device. The technologist's view of the UIA is a portable computer, communicating over a bi-directional wireless link to an elaborate software system through which all programs, information stores, and electronic devices can export their interfaces to the UIA. Using an exported interface, the UIA can interoperate with the exporting entity, whether a home security system, a video cassette recorder, corporate application, or an automobile navigation system. Furthermore, interfaces presented by the UIA can be tailored to the user's context, such as the user's preferences, behavior, and current surroundings. The UIA programming model supports dynamic interface style and content triggered on activity detected from the user's real-world and software context. In this paper we describe the design and first implementation of a UIA, a PDA that, through a wireless link, can interact with any program, access any database, or direct most electronic devices through a remote interface. The UIA model uses IBM's TSpaces software package as the interface delivery mechanism and resource database, and as the network communication glue. TSpaces supports communication between the UIA and any peer over a dual-mode wireless link. Using a popular application example, we present a generalized architecture in which the UIA is the mobile user's software portal for interoperating with any peer: another UIA, a common network service, a legacy application, or an electronic device.