Carlos Manuel Rodrigues Machado Autonomic Ubiquitous Computing

2.3 Ubiquitous Systems Concerns
The projects and research presented in this chapter show a diversity of approaches to try to
build a ubiquitous system. Some projects focus mainly on the acquisition of information about
users activities; others try to help users on standard activities by enabling the execution of tasks in
different platforms and places; some let users create new and personalized input layouts in order to
adapt to user needs; some let users define rules of what the system should do in a specific
situation.
2.3.1 Context-awareness
All the projects mentioned in this chapter have the context-awareness as a system objective in
order to achieve the implementation of the ubiquitous systems. Context-awareness allows systems
to predict user’s objectives or situations and therefore prepare applications, interfaces and spaces
to consequent user’s tasks.
In a ubiquitous system, the system must help the user by supplying what is important for that
particular moment.
"Machines that fit the human environment instead of forcing humans to enter theirs
will make using a computer as refreshing as a walk in the woods"
[Weiser, 1991]
The statement from Weiser points out that systems must be used effortless, i.e., must be
used in a natural way. To achieve this, the system needs to known, in some degree, what the user
needs, i.e., the context of the moment. This means that the system needs to gather information of
What, Who, Where, When, and How to build the context that can effectively help users.
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