Ambient
Computational
Environments
Sprint Research
Symposium
March 8-9, 2000
Professor Gary J. Minden
The University of Kansas
Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science
This is a Road-Donkey
• Carries all computer and
communications devices with
him
• Deals with multiple network
connections (is it a Hotel-9 or
Hotel-8?)
• Mentally reconciles multiple
versions of tomorrow’s
presentation
• Spends more time making
the computer/communication
complex work, than working
This is an ACE
• Computational
resources built-in
• Authenticated and
authorized access
• Individual
portals to
computational
workspaces
• Use and command
local resources
Ambient Computational Environments
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Long-lived, widely accessible workspaces
Computational resources are available
throughout the environment via access ports
Users co-opt local resources
Secure and private
Multi-modal interaction
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Speech, gesture, tactile
ACE Technology
• Robust, available,
persistent state
• Location independent
processing, dynamic
network services,
agent services
• Individual and
environmental access
ACE — Research Challenges
 Programming Environments
 Programming Languages
 Cooperative Task Negotiation
 Contextual Information Retrival
 Disambiguation
 Networking Architecture
ACE — Programming Environments
 What is the division of functionality between a
Personal Interaction Device (PID) and the ACE?
 How is context named/identified within the ACE?
 How does one use the PID to manipulate a
potentially significantly larger surrounding
environment?
 In a shared context with other owners/PIDs, how
does one negotiate for screen space and objects?
 How do we build a user interface for PIDs that is
comfortable with minimal training?
 How do we manage the potentially large number
of active computations, resources, and
environments with a modestly sized interface?
ACE — Programming Languages
 What programming language abstractions are useful
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and necessary in an ACE?
How do you determine your location within the
ACE?
How do you find and connect to other programming
contexts?
How do you name, index, and search for resources
within an ACE?
If we allow persistent Contexts, how do we update
such Contexts over time?
If we wish to upgrade part of the physical
infrastructure, how do we "tell customers to leave
the facility" and "close the door"?
How do we account for system usages?
ACE — Cooperative Task Negotiation
 How does one define collaboration workspaces?
 What functions are necessary for combining
individual workspaces into collaborative
workspaces?
 How do individuals establish independent views
of shareable workspaces and environments?
 How do PIDs represent and communicate
workspaces and negotiate?
 What are negotiable resources?
 How do Workspaces and Contexts describe
themselves to be recognizable?
 How can I interrupt the execution of any
program, pick up the intermediate state, and
move it somewhere else to run?
ACE — Contextual Information Retrival
 Support a wide range of search criteria, including
timeliness, information quality, media,
computational resources available. and location
and time
 Infer the appropriate search criteria from the
user's workspace
 Integrate multiple documentation formats for
search and retrieval
ACE — Disambiguation
 Resolution in Spoken Natural Language
Understanding
 Resolution in Context of Robot Vision
 Resolution with Machine Learning
 Resolution in Deductive Reasoning and Planning
 Resolution with Memory Systems
 Resolution in Tactile Sensing and in Robotic
Actuation
ACE — Network Architecture
Network
Display
Application
Application
API
API
API
OS
Today’s approach
Keyboard
OS
ACE — Applications linked through
Network connedtions
ACE — Vision
 Pervasive Embedded Resources
 In buildings, people, vehicles
 Interconnected with dynamic network services
 Multiple, rich resource types - displays, computations,
communications, information management, ...
 Long-lived, widely accessible workspaces
 Maintain distributed, available, consistent state
 Multiple location and information services
 Secure and private
 Active connections based on current context
 Disassociate process/task execution from physical
location and network address
 Enables mobile and replicated tasks
 Implement tasks as services with multiple access
mechanisms, e.g. network, video, sensor, actuator
ACE — Key Technologies
 Human/Computer Interaction
 New techniques, new devices, new mobile communications
 Programming Languages and Systems
 High level abstractions, mobile and persistent tasks, longlived workspaces
 Resource recognition, task negotiation, co-opt local
resources
 Contextual Information Management
 Disambiguation in multi-modal interaction
ACE Personnel
 G. Minden (PI)
 A. Ambler (HCI,
Programming languages
and systems)
 F. Brown (AI systems)
 J. Evans (Networking and
Computing Systems)
 C. Tsatsoulis (Expert
Systems, agent systems, and
case based reasoning)
 A. Agah (Robotic Systems)
 S. Gauch (Information
Retrieval)
 D. Niehaus (Distributed
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Systems and Real-time)
J. Miller (Graphics)
J. Gauch (Video
Information Systems)
J. Grzymala-Busse
(Learning Systems)
T. Schreiber (Human
Information Retrieval)
S. Speer (Psycholinguistics)
W. P. Alexander (System
design)
J. James (Distributed
Systems)
Ambient Computational
Environments
Information and Telecommunications
Technology Center
Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science