Ubiquitous Computing

  AUTHOR : Verlyn Lawrence Pinto     Aim: The Condition of Ubiquitous Computing Application in India

Abstract:

Ubiquitous computing names the third wave in computing, just now beginning. First were mainframes, each shared by lots of people. Now we are in the personal computing era, person and machine staring uneasily at each other across the desktop. Next comes ubiquitous computing, or the age of calm technology, when technology recedes into the background of our lives. Alan Kay of Apple calls this "Third Paradigm" computing.

Introduction:

Generally, people, especially in developing countries, does not realize that they are in third of computer revolution era. They are in the era of ubiquitous computing, which mean that they can interact with the computer everywhere and anytime, not just sitting in front of the Personal Computer. Furthermore, the social and political challenges of the ubiquitous computing will be characterized by an increasing dependence on technology, control over the information to which everyday objects are linked, and the protection of privacy. In this case study, we present the study about the condition of ubiquitous computing application in India. We divide the application of ubiquitous computing in India into three parts, i.e. ubiquitous mobile application, ubiquitous web application, and ubiquitous payment system application. In India privacy is a difficult design issue that is becoming increasingly important as we push into ubiquitous computing environments. While there is a fair amount of theoretical work on designing for privacy, there are few practical methods for helping designers create applications that provide end-users with a reasonable level of privacy protection that is commensurate with the domain, with the community of users, and with the risks and benefits to all stakeholders in the intended system. Towards this end, we propose privacy risk models as a general method for refining privacy from an abstract concept into concrete issues for specific applications and prioritizing those issues. Key features of ubiquitous computing include:

1. Consideration of the human factor and placing of the paradigm in a human, rather than computing, environment.
2. Use of inexpensive processors, thereby reducing memory and storage requirements.
3. Capturing of real-time attributes.
4. Totally connected and constantly available computing devices.
5. Focus on many-to-many relationships, instead of one-to-one, many-to-one or one-to-many in the environment, along with the idea of technology, which is constantly present.
6. Includes local/global, social/personal, public/private and invisible/visible features and considers knowledge creation, as well as information dissemination.
7. Relies on converging Internet, wireless technology and advanced electronics.
8. Increased surveillance and possible restriction and interference in user privacies, as the digital devices are wearable and constantly connected.
9. As technology progresses, the reliability factor of the different equipment used may be impacted.

Ubiquitous Computing Projects

Some of the ongoing projects under Ubiquitous Computing are as follows:

1. Establishment of National Ubiquitous Computing Research Centres

Under National Ubiquitous Computing Research Initiative by C-DAC Centres (Hyderabad, Chennai & Bangalore), the objective is to create a R&D base in the multi-disciplinary areas of Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp). Some of the development areas include Intelligent Home technologies for Illumination control, HVAC and augmenting artefact’s used at home such as Interactive Mirror, Smart Bed, Automated Kitchen, as well as Body Area Networks for connecting health care sensors in order to provide always-on (ubiquitous) healthcare.

2. Pollution Monitoring and Evaluation system

A project on Pollution Monitoring and Evaluation system using Sensor based Wireless Mesh Network for the protection of Public spaces" was initiated at IIM Kolkata. The objective of the project is development of a Wireless Sensor Network for pollution monitoring by identifying the primary source of emission, (detecting Benzene, Toluene, Xylene, CO & CO2 et al, developing a mechanism for data filtering and aggregation, power management and finally commercialization of the product/ system. The field trials have been successfully completed in Kolkata Metropolitan area and the project is to be launched soon.  

3. Design and Development of Ubiquitous Computing Test Bed and UC Applications

A Project on “Design and Development of Ubiquitous Computing Test Bed and UC Applications" is at IISc Bangalore. The project aims to develop efficient test-bed architecture for ubiquitous applications and a framework for testing UC applications having standard configurations. Currently many of the systems have already been developed.

4. Wireless Sensor Network for Real-Time Landslide Monitoring

A project on Wireless Sensor Network for Real-Time Landslide monitoring is on at Amrita University, Kollam, in Kerala. The project aims at development of a Wireless Sensor Network for Real-Time Landslide Monitoring with pore water pressure, tilt meter and rain gauge sensors, along with a wireless sensor network for the deployment site. With this technology in operation, the risk of landslide will be assessed and remote command and control interface will be provided for different purposes. The on-site sensors are to be installed very soon.

5. Development of Multimodal User Interface

A project on development of multimodal user interface for Internet access to common people in India is going on at IIT-Kharagpur. This project aims to providing support for Internet access to backward communities in India in their own languages like Hindi and Bengali and providing multimodal interaction facilities.

6. National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting Centre (NCMRWF)

A project on National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting Centre (NCMRWF), Noida is being implemented by C-DAC, Pune. This project jointly funded by DST and DIT is for setting up PARAM system. The project aims to port several weather forecasting models for Medium Range Weather Forecasting on PARAM Computers. Currently the system is under benchmarking and porting of forecasting software models will be continued for regular operational data. Ubiquitous Computing is also known as Pervasive Computing. Generally it is present in devices and sensors. Most of the Internet of Things (IOT) devices are based on Ubiquitous Computing. Some of the examples are:

1. Apple Watch
2. Amazon Echo Speaker
3. Amazon Echo Dot
4. Fitbit
5. Electronic Toll Systems
6. Smart Traffic Lights
7. Self-Driving Cars
8. Home Automation
9. Smart Locks
10. NEST

Conclusion: The key questions that arise from Technology Paternalism seem to be always the same: When do we want to have things under control and when do we want things to act silently and autonomously? When should things be intrusive and when not? When is Paternalism in general right and when wrong? And, of course, who controls who in a specific context? The first two questions have to be answered individually by everyone. Some people might prefer total personal control and would also pay the price of lower comfort and more attention. Others would eventually prefer the feeling of things that work automatically and would be willing to pay the price of a restrained freedom of choice. There is no single answer and there will be no silver bullet except building flexibility into systems to allow everyone to answer these questions for them. The question whether paternalism is good for people is one of the oldest philosophic questions around and still discussed widely.   Reference:

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