Out there...somewhere [pervasive computing

Abstract

A future for pervasive computing was predicted in a famous 1991 paper by late Mark Weiser of Xerox PARC, entitled 'The Computer for 21st Century'. Weiser insisted that the most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it... Most of computers that participate in embodied virtuality will be invisible in fact as well as in metaphor. By that definition era of pervasive or ubiquitous computing is now just two years away, according to Dan Russell, director of User Sciences and Experience Group at IBM's Almaden Research Centre. By 2010, Russell suggested, people will have ceased to realise when they are using computers in many cases. This is a rather unidimensional view, for there are many emerging forms of pervasiveness, some of which require full participation and knowledge of user. Pervasiveness, in fact, can be seen as representing an extension of conventional computing rather than a wholesale revolution. This sheer ubiquity of pervasive computing can be seen as a potential problem, since field is tending to coalesce in islands, with each setting its own standards; yet these islands are likely to overlap increasingly as technologies mature. This sets stage for some conflicts that will need to be resolved; but it also means there is healthy diversity in field, with ideas and technologies germinating on a fertile bed, driven by a host of differing requirements.