In everyware, the garment, the room and the street become sites of processing and mediation. Household objects from shower stalls to coffee pots are reimagined as places where facts about the world can be gathered, considered, and acted upon. And all the familiar rituals of daily life, things as fundamental as the way we wake up in the morning, get to work, or shop for our groceries, are remade as an intricate dance of information about ourselves, the state of the external world, and the options available to us at any given moment.- From Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing, by Adam Greenfield
Take a second to think about all the things in your life that you consider “frozen” and inanimate: your car keys, your refrigerator, your clothing. Now, imagine them as living, breathing, computing machines that collect, distribute, analyze information and react to you and your environment. You can probably imagine a very different world—one that is more customized to your life, perhaps.
Because of the evolving price performance of computer processors, affordable, practical micro mobile computing is finally upon us. The emerging technology world calls it “ubiquitous computing,” or “ubicomp” for short. Ubicomp technology is quickly helping us conceive that every artifact touching our daily life has the potential to process, analyze and service our needs and wants in ways we haven’t even envisioned yet.
Enter the intelligent ubicomp devices. These artifacts, redesigned with micro processing capabilities, are able to learn much more about us (and changes in the environment) and adapt to fit our needs—in real time. If you haven’t noticed, this ubiquity in processing and computation is already surrounding us: freeway speedpasses, “smart” phones and even running shoes. As Greenfield states, this new phenomenon is quickly becoming “everyware.”
Practical Applications For Ubiquitous Computing
Like the examples above, imagine these not-so-fanciful scenarios:
- Packages that are location and climate aware and make constant real time updates to delivery services and recipients
- Trash cans that calculate weight, material, frequency of use and make calculations on ecological efficiency and wasted resources
- Buildings that sense foot traffic, temperature and noise, and transform their fundamental composition (using nanotechnology) to accommodate efficient and appropriate uses for the people in them.
- Retail spaces that sense customers’ moods, sentiments and emotions and adapt messages, offers and merchandise for more meaningful shopping experiences
Practical Implications For Smart Things, Data Analysis and User Experiences
If you haven’t already felt it, the flood gates of the information age have been open for a while. The volumes of data we consume isn’t slowing down, and analysis of that data is growing up in a big way. Deriving meaning from it is another challenge. Immediate implications that come with ubicomp and smart “things” are now, however, obvious:
- The computational power of small devices will open up opportunities in a deeper understanding of human behavior, well beyond demographics and psychographics. This complex albeit more holistic view of people—and customers—will provide a powerful, multidimensional view of our plugged-in audiences.
- The floodgates of data collection, mining and filtering will continue to be problematic but will pose the most opportunity for information professionals—analysts, strategists, and user experience designers—to develop holistic customer experiences that address people’s needs and wants in real-time, real-world scenarios.
- Designers of interactive tools, environments and services will lead the charge to design and program smart, everyday objects that accommodate basic needs as well as appeal to the emotional component of people’s experiences, helping develop connections that reach well beyond person-to-person contact.
The possibilities could go on and on, as ubicomp, intelligent devices and user experience design are transforming the way we interact with our “stuff” on a daily basis. How else can you envision the changing landscape of ubiquitous computing for you? For your customers?
