Graspable and Resource-Flexible Applications for Pervasive Computing at Home

We envision the home populated with regular objects that allow programmatic access to their sensors and actuators. The objects jointly form a pervasive computing platform, open for third-party independently developed applications. A challenge is how to support people in deploying and managing such applications. Today, the user perceives an application as an immaterial artifact, accessed through a screen-based interface of a general-purpose computing device. Contrary to that established paradigm, we propose to reify the pervasive computing application as a simple physical thing, called the "application pill." The pill can easily be grasped and operated: the user brings the pill home, switches it on, and checks if it works just by glancing at its on/off diode. As the application is destined for many homes, each featuring a different collection of objects, the user should be provided with high-level feedback on how well the application can work in her home. Accordingly, the application pill is also equipped with a simple "functionality level" indicator. The degree to which the application can deliver its functionality on top of an available object collection is captured as a single number and displayed by the pill. We present a concrete proof-of-concept elaboration and implementation of these ideas in a pervasive computing middleware platform targeted at cooperating objects

Tangible applications for regular objects: An end-user model for pervasive computing at home

This paper describes an end-user model for a domestic pervasive computing platform formed by regular home objects. The platform does not rely on pre-planned infrastructure; instead, it exploits objects that are already available in the home and exposes their joint sensing, actuating and computing capabilities to home automation applications. We advocate an incremental process of the platform formation and introduce tangible, object-like artifacts for representing important platform functions. One of those artifacts, the application pill, is a tiny object with a minimal user interface, used to carry the application, as well as to start and stop its execution and provide hints about its operational status. We also emphasize streamlining the user's interaction with the platform. The user engages any UI-capable object of his choice to configure applications, while applications issue notifications and alerts exploiting whichever available objects can be used for that purpose. Finally, the paper briefly describes an actual implementation of the presented end-user model. © (2010) by International Academy, Research, and Industry Association (IARIA)