Ubiquitous Computing
Hard Drive Recovery -Â Ubiquitous Computing
Ubiquitous computing is a post-desktop model of human-computer interaction in which information processing is thoroughly integrated into everyday objects and activities.
Mark Weiser coined the phrase ubiquitous computing in 1988. This was during his tenure as Chief Technologist of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center.
Users of ubiquitous computing engage many devices and systems simultaneously, and may not necessarily even be aware that they are doing so. This model is an advance form from the desktop paradigm.
One of the earliest ubiquitous systems was artist Natalie Jeremijenko’s Live Wire (also known as Dangling String), installed at Xerox PARC. This was a piece of string attached to a stepper motor and controlled by a LAN connection; network activity caused the string to twitch, yielding a peripherally noticeable indication of traffic.
All models of ubiquitous computing share a vision of small, inexpensive and robust networked processing devices. Models are distributed at all scales throughout everyday life and turned to distinctly common-place ends.
Ubiquitous computing presents challenges across computer science. These include in systems design and engineering, in systems modeling, and in user interface design. Contemporary human-computer interaction models, whether command-line, menu-driven, or GUI-based, are inappropriate and inadequate to the ubiquitous case.
This, in fact, suggests that the natural interaction paradigm appropriate to a fully robust ubiquitous computing has yet to emerge. Contemporary devices that lend some support to this idea include mobile phones, digital audio players, radio-frequency identification tags, GPS, and interactive whiteboards.
