Pervasive & Ubiquitous
Computing
Introduction
Hao Chu (朱浩華)
2/22/2005
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Outline
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Faculty Intro
Student Intro
What is Pervasive / Ubiquitous Computing?
Course Topics
Course Format
Course Projects
Grading
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Faculty Intro
• Ubicomp Lab, i-space Labs
• New associate professor (8/1/2003)
• Education:
– PhD (1999), Computer Science, University of Illinois
at Urbana Champaign
– BS (1994), Computer Science, Cornell University
• Previous Work Experience:
– Xerox
– Intel
– NTT DoCoMo USA Labs
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Students Intro
• Please tell us about:
– Grade level
– Current (future) research area, interests, and faculty advisor
– Background (rating: good, fair, none)
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English (reading, writing, and speaking)
Programming skills (C/C++, Java)
Hardware
Systems (OS or distributed)
Networking
User Interface
Vision
– Why are you interested in this course?
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Terminology
• What is pervasive & ubiquitous computing
(ubicomp)?
– Ubiquitous = 到處存在的;遍在的
– Other names: invisible computing, context-aware
computing, everyday computing, ambient intelligence,
embedded interactive computing, etc.
• How to realize ubicomp?
– Move beyond desktop computing.
– Embed computing into everyday objects.
– Integrate (seamlessly connecting) physical objects
with virtual environment.
– Networking everyday objects.
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Toward Smart Everyday Objects
• Door can greet you by name
upon entering.
• Wall can sense temperature,
humidity, lighting, and adjust air
conditioning, de-humidifier,
lighting accordingly.
• Calendar can tell you meeting
schedule.
• Pencils can record everything
you write.
• Book shelf can tell you the
location of the book/paper you
need.
• Shoes can tell you where you
have walked to.
• Refrigerator can offer recipes
and dietary recommendation.
• Clothes can show the latest
fashion or monitor your
physical/mental health.
• Medicine cabinet can remind you
when to take medicines.
• Dresser can give you fashion
advices.
• Washing machines and dryers
adjust to washing & drying
instructions on dirty clothes.
• Credit card will warn if you are
spending too much money.
• Smart chair, smart dining table,
etc.
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Ubicomp is the Future …
• “The (Computing) World is not a desktop!” ...
Mark Weiser
• Ubicomp is how computing will be used in the
future:
– in everyday activities
– invisibly through embedding in the physical objects
(requiring little user attention)
– to create smart, everyday objects through
interconnections and cooperation (with other smart
objects)
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Related Fields of Ubicomp
• How does Ubicomp come about? (the evolution
path)
– Distributed Computing (PC + networks)
• Challenges: performance, scalability, server or network
failures, open networks, performance,
– Mobile computing (Mobile devices + wireless
networks)
• Challenges: resource-limitation, unpredictable network,
power
– Ubicomp (Everyday objects + wireless networks)
• Challenges: understanding user intention, heterogeneous
ubicomp environments, invisible user experience, more ..
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Course Topics (Tentative)
• Vision & challenges
• Software
infrastructure
• Sensors
• Context-aware
computing
• Security and privacy
• Human experience
• Ubiquitous data
access
• Coping with
uncertainty
• Social computing
• Project Aura
• Project Oxygen
• (Wearable
Computing)
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Course Objective
• To prepare us (students and faculty) for research
in ubicomp.
• (Try to) duplicate experience from similar
courses taught at MIT, Stanford, CMU, and
Georgia Tech.
– Learning by reading papers
• Define problems & challenges
• Understand state-of-art techniques & solutions
• Identify limitations of state-of-art solutions
– Learning by doing projects
• The project must have a research component.
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Collaborative Learning
• This is a research seminar course, so everyone
(faculty and students) will contribute to the
learning process.
– Paper discussion
– Paper presentation
– Project presentation
• Ubicomp is a new, fast changing field, so faculty
may not know all materials!
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(Unusual) Course Format
• Each lecture will discuss 4~5 papers on a specific topic.
• For each paper,
– All will write a paper review before the class
– Presenter will give an overview of the paper for 20 minutes.
– Everyone will join the discussion for 10 minutes.
• Students will sign up for papers for presentation.
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How to read a paper?
• For each paper, try to answer the following
questions:
– What is the problem?
– What is the current state-of-the-art?
– What is the key make-a-difference (new) method and
technique?
– What is good/bad/ugly about this make-a-difference
method?
– What has actually been done?
– What is the future work?
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Reading in Depth
• “Efficient Reading of Papers in Science and Technology”,
Michael Hanson & Dylan McNamee
• Must challenge what you read!
• Attack the paper (use your common sense)
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Are assumptions reasonable?
Is the method similar to other methods in related work?
Is the improvement marginal or significant?
Are arguments logically sound?
Are evaluation metrics reasonable?
Is conclusion drawn logically from measurements?
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Develop Critical Thinking
• Critical thinking is "the examination and
testing of suggested solutions to see
whether they will work." Lindzey, Hall, and
Thompson, 1978.
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SWIFI
• We will setup a swifi website (collaborative
website).
– The assigned presenter must post presentation slides
and paper summary on swifi course page before the
lecture starts.
– The assigned presenter will post a discussion
summary on the swifi course page after the lecture
ends.
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Next Week Reading
• Mark Weiser. "Some Computer Science Problems in
Ubiquitous Computing." Communications of the ACM,
July 1993.
• Mark Weiser. “Some computer science issues in
ubiquitous computing.” Communications of the ACM,
36(7):75-85, July 1993.
• Mark Weiser, John S. Brown. "The Coming Age of Calm
Technology." 1996.
• M. Satyanarayanan. "Fundamental Challenges in Mobile
Computing", Fifteenth ACM Symposium on Principles of
Distributed Computing, May 1996.
• M. Satyanarayanan. “Pervasive Computing: Vision and
Challenges”, In: IEEE Personal Communications.
Carnegie Mellon University. (2001).
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Reading Sources
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IEEE Pervasive Computing Magazine
ACM Ubicomp (2002, 2003, 2004)
Pervasive (2002, 2003)
IEEE Percom
ACM Mobisys, ACM Mobicom, ACM Mobihoc, ACM
Sensys, SOSP, etc.
• Can also be in any system & networking conferences, UI
conferences, etc.
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Project Component
• Rapid research prototype of an ubicomp
application in one semester.
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Lifecycle of a Research Project
• Define motivation scenario • Design solution(s) (new
(Tell an interesting story)
method, concept, and SW
abstraction)
– Emphasize the parts of
scenario where it is currently
not possible, but with your
idea, it will become possible.
– Show me a proof-of-concept
demo prototype
– Differentiate your work from
related work
– Must answer two questions:
What’s new? Why is it
significant?
• Derive problem(s)
• Rapid prototype
– Assumptions, requirements,
implementation
implementation vs. research
• Evaluation of Prototype
problems
Implementation
• Survey related work
(Experiments, user studies)
• Write a paper
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Project Phases
• Phase 1: project idea presentation
– Fun, realizable within one semester time framework
and computing equipments, has a research
component.
• Phase 2: project proposal document
– Form teams, define goals, plan, and needed
equipments.
• Phase 3: project working prototype and final
report
– Working prototype demonstration
– Project report detailing motivation, objective, related
work, design, implementation, and evaluation.
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Project Ideas
• References:
– Georgia Tech “Mobile & Ubiquitous Computing” (Gregory Abowd)
• http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/AY2003/cs7470_spring/
– MIT Pervasive Computing (Larry Rudolph)
• http://www.cag.lcs.mit.edu/classes/6.898/projects.htm
– CMU “Mobile Computing Systems & Applications” (Satya)
• http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~15-821/
– Stanford “Mobile and Wireless Networks & Applications” (Mary
Baker)
• http://www.stanford.edu/class/cs444n/projects.html
• IEEE Pervasive Magazines
– Education & Training articles by Scott F. Midkiff
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Project Idea (1)
Weighting and RFID surfaces
• Ergo-chair: it can detect if a person is sitting in
the correct posture
• Emotion-chair: it can detect a person’s mental
state by the way how he/she sits on the chair
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Project Idea (2)
Pollution monitor
• Monitor your exposure to pollutants
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Toxic Air
Acid rain
Toxic drinking water
Food chemical or bacteria
Environmental radiation (SUN)
Radiation cell phones & WLAN
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Project Idea (3)
Games
• Players’ physical context drives the games.
– Players interact with the games and other players in both
physical and virtual spaces.
– Physical world interactions are the “cool/innovative aspects”
(differs from PC-based games).
• “Hide and Seek” (Nottingham):
– Runaways and policemen carry GPS-enabled cell phones in a
city. Both can see their “approximate locations” on a city map.
Policemen run around in a city to catch the runaways (caught if
come within some small distance).
• “Ubicomp Doom” (MIT):
– Game is projected on the wall.
– No mouse and keyboard -> player’s physical movement moves
the virtual player.
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Project Idea (4)
Healthcare
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Smart refrigerator
Smart chopsticks
Smart robes
Smart pads
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Project Idea (5)
Everywhere Display
• Projector + mirror
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Project Idea (6)
Personal Experience Computing
• Lots of photos from your digital camera +
• Digital photograph frame +
• Context information
– Reminder
– Mood pleaser
– Reliving memory
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Other project Ideas
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Interactive arts
Intelligent things
Indoor location systems
Location-based services
Security & Privacy protection
Using RFID
Anything …
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Ubicomp Toys I
• Nokia and Windows CE Smart
phones
• HP IPAQ 5500 (Bluetooth +
802.11)
• IPAQ Accessories: expansion
pack, camera, memory card,
GPS, GPRS, ..
• Sensors: light, tilt, temperature,
accelerometer, pressure, weight,
orientation, ultrasound, etc.
• Philgets RFID kits
• Berkeley Motes
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Ubicomp Toys II
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Passive RFID tags & readers (Skyetek and Alien)
Biometric sensors (heart rate, BVP, GSR, etc.)
Projector
WiFi based location systems (ekahau.com)
Ultrasound-based positioning systems (Navinotesd)
Use your imagination
– Anything you can find on the network or from your own lab …
– However, budget may be limited 
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Grading (Tentative)
• Class Participation (30%)
– Paper presentation
– Paper review
– Paper discussion
• Project (70%)
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Course Requirements
• Class attendance (MUST!)
– Please don’t register if you cannot wake up in the morning.
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Good programming skill
Some systems & networking background
Some creativity
Some research experience (if you are not my students)
Willing to spend extra time & efforts than what a regular
course would need
• M1 and undergrads, please come & talk with me after
the class.
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Course Homepage
(is not up yet.)
I will setup a link from my homepage
http://www.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~hchu
(Click on course link)
Check on Wednesday
Watch for Course Announcements
Download papers
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Thank you
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