Introduction to Mobile and Pervasive Computing

Introduction to Mobile and Pervasive Computing

            Pervasive computing has become the most crucial part of our daily routine life. But we are not aware of it. This is the vision behind Pervasive technology that has become so invincible that we forgot everything behind it.

            For example if we take an example of printing a paper then we don’t bother about the working of printer and the technology used in it. Like how the mechanical part of the printer works, how sensors are integrated to sense the paper is loaded or the paper try is empty. Is there any paper jam or the printer door is open.

        

            Same is the vision of pervasive computing that the technology becomes so easily accessible and readily integrated into our every days life that we forget the use of technology or we are using a computer. We even forget that the technology exit.

     

           What is pervasive technology, how we can develop pervasive environment, how we can integrate pervasive technology and its components into our daily routine life to get the benefits. So we need to know that what are the technologies that go behind the scene to bring us to that stage to use those technologies. What are the tools currently used in markets, how they tools are developed and how we can contribute keeping in view the research.

        

           Pervasive computing was introduced by Mark Weiser at Zerox laboratories. The purpose of the technology to mix the technology in such a way that it becomes invisible.

Definition of pervasive computing

          Pervasive computing is the defined as omnipresent, presence everywhere. The user will not aware of fact that he is using something as technology and if he goes out of the range of the technology he would not be able to use that. Keeping in mind that example that technology should be omnipresent and must be rendered in such a way that user will be facilitated and he should not be aware of it as a user.

           

        If he goes out and the move of that certain technology is not done with the move of the user, the user will notice that he missed something. So what is the benefit of the technology? Just within that smart space, or everywhere, what is the need of the user to use that technology just within the smart space or it will be more beneficial while on the go.

         

        The concept is whatever the technology we have developed, it must be available everywhere or it can be carried by the user if he is going outside. The foremost objective is to make that technology available everywhere.

         

        A cellphone has a chip inside it like a computer but layman in unaware of it, but he is using that technology. Same user may be asked to use the computer but he will refuse as it is hard to learn. The cellphone is developed in such a way that is being used by everyone everywhere but computer is not such a device.

      

     This is the age of calm technology, when technology reduces into the background of our live. Everything should be working in the background. Cellphone is being used by almost everyone but how its technical aspect is? nobody knows.

     

     Calm technology basically lays out a foundation in which the technology is working in the background. There are 3 basic concepts

1.      

       It is to be omnipresent, accessible to end user everywhere.

2.      The technology that goes inside it must be very small that we can integrate into our daily life like cellphone, microwave, air conditioner, wristwatch, spectacles glasses, Jawellery     

3.      The technology should be working in the background, it should have least intervention by the end user.

           The idea of high speed network that covers any kind of geography and is easily installed and automatically maintained.

            The idea is to made computer so common that everyone start using it, without knowing how it works.

            The minimum intervention of the user is required to use that technology. Like if we have smartwatch, we need not to use that manual to learn about the usage of that device. We just start using it by pushing few buttons.

            The mindset behind that technology is to go beyond post desktop computer which resides on our table and we have to use that computer, while sitting in front of the desk only.  Mark Weiser named that technology Ubiquitous Computing or Ubicomp. This idea was originated in 1988.

       Ubiquitous takes that traditional commuting few steps away from it. Ubiquitous computing suggests that why don’t we develop a technology that is so small, we can carry it everywhere, that must be powerful and they let the user to do anything for which they are developed for and they are present everywhere, the services they use must be present everywhere.

            For example the use of word, excel documents, ppt are available in variety of forms and variety of places and environment. Office, cloud, internet, web, home, desktop, laptop, cellphone.

           Another example is cellphone signals, wherever we go we need to get our phone connected, same is the idea of ubiquitous computing. The devices used should be connected, not matter where they are.

            The origin of that computing take place in 1988 by Mark Weiser. The idea was to develop small devices, integrated with our daily life in such a way that they take less user intervention and they are provided with the services they require, even they can communicate with each other everywhere in performing our daily tasks.  

            If we talk about the word ubiquitous computing and ubicomp, that actually tells us about the idea of the future and that idea was laid down in 1988. How the technology is enhanced so far and still upto some exception we are unable to say that technology is prevalent everywhere. But that idea actually distinguishes someone from rest of the people.

            If we talk about ubiquitous computing then there must be abundance of technology, abundance of services, computing, network layer and network structure.

            The technology should be easy to use, should be invisible to the end user. That’s why it is also known as invisible computing.

            The task of computing is still there, but it will be done in the background. The complexity of the system, the algorithms being used, how data is encrypted and network is being used to transmit the data file will be hidden from the user.

            If we compare a simple digital watch with smart watch and digital microwave oven with smart microwave oven both of them are doing the same task from the user’s perspective, so no need of the user to know about the internal working of sensor integrated or processor integrated device.

Evolution of Pervasive Computing

            ParcTab was the first device that communicate wirelessly with a ceiling mounted base station that interact with the main server somewhere else and that device was able to do everyday task. That was simple cellphone size device which was simple and works on infrared channel with other computing devices or server. It may be called as thin client with user interface and the working is done of the server and the result will be displayed on the screen.

            The next device was ParcPad with the same idea with larger screen. The differences between these two were the size.

                Similarly live boards were created. Provided whiteboard functionality, larger pen based display and input pen.

             Later on the idea of Mark Weiser was adopted by IBM and created ubiquitous environments where user can perform their daily tasks will lesser efforts.

            Technically speaking the words ubiquitous computing and pervasive computing defines the same thing. The term ubiquitous computing was used by Mark Weiser and the term Pervasive Computing was use by IBM.

                The commercialization of that idea was done by IBM and the credit goes of IBM. Most of the projects in early days of pervasive computing came from IBM. IBM Zurich and Swissair in 1999 that enabled the passengers in the airport to check in using web enable WAP cell phones. All the flight credentials were available on the cell phone like gate and seat number, flight departure. The cellphone served as boarding pass.

            With the evolution of the idea of ubiquitous computing, the idea of wearable computing also evolved and got popularity with the passage of time. Now a day the embedded computing and devices embedded with processor and the end user is not interacting with the processor. The size of the device, processor and technology is so small that user is unaware of technology and processor. That was the idea of Mark Weiser at that time in 1988.

            The concept of wearable computing is same mapped with the idea of Mark Weiser that the things which we use in our daily routine life like spectacles, Jewellery, Caps or hat, wrist watches, clothes as well, why don’t we integrate processor just to get and use the information.

            The early prototypes were developed in MIT and the camera was integrated with spectacles or eyeglasses. The camera was used to take pictures and to show them to the user.

Another aspect of that ubiquitous idea was augmented reality

A technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user's view of the real world, thus providing a composite view.

Augmented reality is an interactive experience of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information, sometimes across multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory.

The main concept is to combine the thought process of many people working on the similar type of task and enhance the process of calibration to get the targeted task done. If someone is aiming at the target within the vicinity of the area where the target is easily accessible and the missile is to be launched from distant place and the target information like exact location, angle, arc, distance can be measured by the information provided by the person who is present in the same area. Several devices, sensors, antennas, radio base stations, transceivers will be required.

Another example is that we are searching for a book in library, while we pick a book from the rack and focus on its title and author, the eyeglasses will capture that title and author and put that data on the search engine and provide use information about the books from the same domain and also other titles of the same author. This will be done automatically. But in reality it will be done by computer integrated devices into eyeglasses.

How augmented reality is created

Augmented reality uses existing reality and physical objects to trigger computer-generated enhancements over the top of reality, in real time. Essentially, AR is a technology that lays computer-generated images over a user's view of the real world. These images typically take shape as 3D models, videos and information.

Example of Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality Apps are software applications which merge the digital visual (audio and other types also) content into the user's real-world environment. Some other popular examples of AR apps include AcrossAir, Google Sky Map, Layar, Lookator, SpotCrime, PokemonGo etc.

Here are seven of the best examples of augmented reality technology we've seen to date.

ü     IKEA Mobile App

ü     Nintendo's Pokémon Go App

ü     Google Pixel's Star Wars Stickers

ü     Disney Coloring Book

ü     L'Oréal Makeup App

ü     Weather Channel Studio Effects

ü     U.S. Army