ubiquitous computing and augmented realities

Notes

Study Notes

HCI Notes: Ubiquitous Computing & Augmented Reality

Emerging Fields: Ubicomp and Augmented Reality

Extending computing beyond the desktop into the environment and physical world.

1. Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp)

Coined by Mark Weiser in 1991, Ubiquitous Computing describes the future of computing where technology is embedded everywhere in the environment, becoming invisible or "calm" to the user.

A. Core Concepts

  • **Invisibility:** The technology recedes into the background, focusing on the task rather than the device.
  • **Context-Awareness:** Systems sense the user's situation (location, time, activity, identity) and adjust their behavior automatically.
  • **Pervasiveness:** Computers are integrated into everyday objects (IoT) and across multiple scales (from tiny sensors to large screens).

B. Weiser's Device Scales (The "Three Sizes")

  • **Tabs:** Small, inch-sized devices (e.g., smart tags, digital badges).
  • **Pads:** Hand-sized devices (e.g., tablets, large smartphones).
  • **Boards:** Wall-sized displays (e.g., interactive whiteboards, public information displays).

2. Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented Reality is a technology that superimposes computer-generated images, information, or 3D models onto a user's view of the real world, thus augmenting the real-world environment.

A. AR Core Components

  • **Combination of Real and Virtual:** Seamlessly blending digital content with the real environment.
  • **Interactive in Real Time:** The virtual content changes dynamically based on the user's movement or input.
  • **Registered in 3D:** The virtual objects must be spatially registered with the real world (e.g., a virtual arrow appears fixed on a real street sign).

B. AR Display Technologies

  • **Optical See-Through (OST):** Glasses or headsets where the user views the real world directly through transparent lenses, and graphics are reflected onto them (e.g., Microsoft HoloLens).
  • **Video See-Through (VST):** A headset uses a camera to capture the real world, and the digital view (real + virtual) is displayed on internal screens (e.g., some VR/AR mixed systems).
  • **Mobile/Screen-Based:** Using a smartphone or tablet screen as a "magic window" to view the augmented environment.

3. Design Challenges and Intersection

Both fields aim to make information available in the physical world, but with different approaches.

Ubicomp Design Focus

  • **Privacy:** Managing the vast amount of data collected by ubiquitous sensors.
  • **Interruption:** Designing systems that are "calm" and interrupt only when necessary (notification overload).
  • **Interaction:** Developing seamless interaction across multiple devices (e.g., transferring a task from a pad to a board).

AR Design Focus

  • **Registration Accuracy:** Maintaining precise alignment between real and virtual elements despite user head movement.
  • **Visual Clutter:** Ensuring augmented information does not overwhelm or obscure critical real-world views.
  • **Ergonomics:** Designing wearable devices that are comfortable, socially acceptable, and safe.

4. AR as a Ubicomp Interface

AR can be viewed as one of the most powerful interface methods for Ubicomp. When computers are everywhere, AR displays the system's output right where the user is looking.

  • **Scenario:** A context-aware Ubicomp system detects a user struggling to repair a machine. An AR headset (the interface) overlays digital instructions, diagrams, and warnings directly onto the machine components in the real world.
  • **Principle:** The physical world acts as the **interface context**, while AR acts as the **output medium**.

Navigation

Groupware syste... Back to Module hypertext