The Mundane Computer: Non-Technical Design Challenges Facing Ubiquitous Computing and Ambient Intelligence

Interdisciplinary collaboration, to include those who are not natural scientists, engineers and computer scientists, is inherent in the idea of ubiquitous computing, as formulated by Mark Weiser in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, ubiquitous computing has remained largely a computer science and engineering concept, and its non-technical side remains relatively underdeveloped. The aim of the article is, first, to clarify the kind of interdisciplinary collaboration envisaged by Weiser. Second, the difficulties of understanding the everyday and weaving ubiquitous technologies into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it, as conceived by Weiser, are explored. The contributions of Anne Galloway, Paul Dourish and Philip Agre to creating an understanding of everyday life relevant to the development of ubiquitous computing are discussed, focusing on the notions of performative practice, embodied interaction and contextualisation. Third, it is argued that with the shift to the notion of ambient intelligence, the larger scale socio-economic and socio-political dimensions of context become more explicit, in contrast to the focus on the smaller scale anthropological study of social (mainly workplace) practices inherent in the concept of ubiquitous computing. This can be seen in the adoption of the concept of ambient intelligence within the European Union and in the focus on rebalancing (personal) privacy protection and (state) security in the wake of 11 September 2001. Fourth, the importance of adopting a futures-oriented approach to discussing the issues arising from the notions of ubiquitous computing and ambient intelligence is stressed, while the difficulty of trying to achieve societal foresight is acknowledged

Ambient intelligence and intelligent environments for managers’ work support

One of the most developed and evolving areas promising for the future, which is already recently a subject of intensive research, seems to be the area of ambient intelligence. We present some recent results and contemplations about how this area could be exploited also for creating intelligent environments capable of managerial work support. Besides some general discussion we present also some of our views on the privacy concept which seems to be especially delicate in relation to the intelligent environments concept. Some notes about possible positive social acceptance of this phenomenon are concluding this work.

Freedom and privacy in ambient intelligence

This paper analyzes ethical aspects of the new paradigm of Ambient Intelligence, which is a combination of Ubiquitous Computing and Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI’s). After an introduction to the approach, two key ethical dimensions will be analyzed: freedom and privacy. It is argued that Ambient Intelligence, though often designed to enhance freedom and control, has the potential to limit freedom and autonomy as well. Ambient Intelligence also harbors great privacy risks, and these are explored as well

Towards European Anticipatory Governance for Artificial Intelligence

This report presents the findings of the Interdisciplinary Research Group “Responsibility: Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence” of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Technology and Global Affairs research area of DGAP. In September 2019, they brought leading experts from research and academia together with policy makers and representatives of standardization authorities and technology organizations to set framework conditions for a European anticipatory governance regime for artificial intelligence (AI)

Designing for the Ubiquitous Computing era: towards the reinvention of everyday objects and the creation of new user experiences

Researchers of the Ubiquitous Computing community (Ubicomp) have been pursuing the vision of a world where technologies and services permeates every object of our lives for years. With components getting smaller, cheaper and more powerful, it has become possible to manufacture connected objects capable of interacting with resources of the World Wide Web. This opens up the possibility for researchers and practitioners to consider information as a design material and objects as platforms for services. By allowing users to personalize, complement or repurpose the functions of their objects, such services have a great impact on the way artifacts are designed. Designing for the Ubiquitous Era requires modifying our practice and reinforcing collaboration between disciplines at every steps of the creation process. In this article, we discuss the need to reinvent objects and to investigate the tools supporting the creation of rich services’ experiences

Questioning Racial and Gender Bias in AI-based Recommendations: Do Espoused National Cultural Values Matter?

One realm of AI, recommender systems have attracted significant research attention due to concerns about its devastating effects to society’s most vulnerable and marginalised communities. Both media press and academic literature provide compelling evidence that AI-based recommendations help to perpetuate and exacerbate racial and gender biases. Yet, there is limited knowledge about the extent to which individuals might question AI-based recommendations when perceived as biased. To address this gap in knowledge, we investigate the effects of espoused national cultural values on AI questionability, by examining how individuals might question AI-based recommendations due to perceived racial or gender bias. Data collected from 387 survey respondents in the United States indicate that individuals with espoused national cultural values associated to collectivism, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance are more likely to question biased AI-based recommendations. This study advances understanding of how cultural values affect AI questionability due to perceived bias and it contributes to current academic discourse about the need to hold AI accountable

Éter: de la Res Extensa a la Inteligencia Ambiental

A reading of the architectural environment in atmospheric terms is proposed in this essay. It will approach space as a matter that inadvertently penetrates the objects and assemblages present in our daily lives, as important for the qualification of our environment as traditional, solid and visible architecture. We live immersed in an aerial environment saturated by substances and forces that form a vast ocean of chemicals, energy and information. Such medium is certainly not just ‘air’, at least not in a traditional sense. It is animated air. Therefore the concept of ether will be used in order to analyze this complex, active and largely artificial medium. It will be examined from different points of view, as a historic scientific model and a cultural construction whose meaning has been transferred to numerous areas of material production, also enhancing our perceptive imagination. Ether can shed some light in describing those technical and cultural processes that will probably play a key role in the forthcoming architectural practice.Juan Elvira es profesor Asociado de Proyectos Arquitectónicos en la ET­SAM (2001-). Becado por La Caixa para realizar el Máster por la Universi­dad de Columbia de Nueva York (Ad­vanced Architectural Design, 2000). Profesor en el IE University desde 2013. Profesor invitado en diversas universidades nacionales e internacio­nales, como la NTNU de Trondheim, la Universidad Internacional de Cataluña, el Istituto Europeo di Design o la EA de Alicante, donde condujo la investi­gación “Espacios Tácticos” presentada en Archilab’02. Los proyectos de Murado&Elvira han sido premiados en concursos nacionales e internaciona­les, y expuestos, entre otros, en Fresh­madrid y en la undécima Mostra Inter­nazionale de Architettura di Venezia. Recientemente ha finalizado, fruto del concurso EuropanIX, la construcción de una residencia de estudiantes y un eje verde urbano en Trondheim, nominados para el Premio Nacional de Arquitectura de Noruega (2012) y seleccionados en la Bienal de Arqui­tectura Española (2013). Lleva a cabo una labor crítica y editorial que comen­zó como director de la revista Oeste de Arquitectura, seguida por la publica­ción de numerosos ensayos en libros y revistas especializadas. Leerá en breve su tesis doctoral, Arquitectura Fantas­ma, una investigación sobre la práctica cultural y tecnológica de la producción de efectos ambientales arquitectónicos

Perspectives on ubiquitous computing

Este artículo presenta tres perspectivas analíticas sobre la relación entre computación ubicua (ubicomp) y diversas dimensiones sociales y culturales. Para ello, se reconstruyen las últimas tres décadas de producción teórica sobre el tema. En el primer apartado se analizan posiciones instrumentalistas que examinan el impacto, la aplicación y la adopción de estos desarrollos en distintas áreas, así como las tendencias que descubren su complejidad. Posteriormente, en una segunda sección se indagan los dilemas éticos y las críticas culturales que surgen ante la omnipresencia de la informática (pervasive computing). En tercer lugar se estudian las tendencias políticas que emergen ante la ubicomp. Por último, se recuperan las potencialidades abiertas al pensar estas perspectivas en conjunto.This paper presents three analytical perspectives on the relationship between ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) and various social and cultural dimensions. To achieve such aim, the study reconstructs the last three decades of theoretical production on the subject. Firstly, the paper analyzes instrumentalist positions about the impact, application and adoption of these developments in different areas as well as the trends that reveal their complexity. Then, in a second section, attention is turned to the ethical dilemmas and cultural criticisms that arise before pervasive computing. Thirdly, the study focuses on the political tendencies that emerge over ubicomp. Finally, conclusions about the potential of thinking these perspectives as a whole are drawn.Fil: Rossi, Luis Sebastián Ramón. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos; Argentin