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Association: Unobtrusively creating digital contracts with smart products
Abstract
Many business models for smart products, like pay-per-use, require that the smart product can digitally verify whether the user has a contract with the smart product and should be granted access to priv-ileged functionality. Traditional means to do so, e.g. password login, are very obtrusive and can thus not be applied for smart product scenarios. In this paper, we present the mechanism of association. Associations represent the abstract concept of a digitally checkable contract on the middleware level. Associations use a ser-vice for digitally representing the user that performs the tedious parts of creating a digitally checkable contract automatically. Thus, the interaction can be established unobtrusively. As this service acts on behalf of the user, the user must trust this service. We address this issue in two ways: the service is executed on the personal trusted device of the user and the user can control and inspect the actions of the service via a user interface.
We notice an increasing usage of web applications in interactive spaces, a variant of ubiquitous computing environments. Interactive spaces feature a large and dynamically changing number of devices, e.g., an interactive TV set in the living room that is used with different input devices or an iPhone that is dynamically federated to devices in the environment. Web applications need a better way to exploit the resources in the interactive space beyond the standard input devices like mouse and keyboard, e.g., a speech recognition device. This paper presents MundoMonkey a web browser extension and programming API for interactive spaces. The API follows the event based programming paradigm for allowing web applications and end-user scripts to access the interactive space. Our approach aligns well with the commonly used programming style for web applications. We used MundoMonkey to customize the interface of web applications to user preferences and the interactive space at hand. To our knowledge our approach is the first to address adaptation of the output as well as processing of input data. With MundoMonkey the customization is performed transparently to the application developer by the end-user. Thereby, MundoMonkey is an alternative to model driven user interface development approaches.
We took a standard off-the-shelf espresso machine and integrated a microcontroller, an RFID-reader, and a Bluetooth module. We can control the machine from a computer or a cellphone using these extensions. With the RFID-reader, the machine can automatically detect a cup being inserted; it is also possible to distinguish between cups. We have equipped the cups in our group with suitable RFID-tags. Coffee cups are shared, therefore users associate cups with them by using their personal, electronic doorkey. This action personalizes a cup with a user's preferences. Before cups are put into the dishwasher, they are swiped over a second RFID-reader to remove the user association. By default, cups stay personalized for a predefined time, the corresponding lease is extended every time the cup is used.
protocols (HTTP), as well as the format and semantics of any data exchanged over via those protocols (usually HTML or XML). Web services and their clients must agree upon known service interfaces, generally expressed in the Web Service Description Language (WSDL) and invoked via Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). In all of these cases, there is a priori agreement on the form (syntax) and function (semantics) of communication, and this agreement is built in to each party to the communication. In other words, the respective developers of these programs have coded into them the ability to use a particular handful of protocols, and an "understanding" of the semantics of a handful of data types. Clearly, if we hope for a future in which arbitrary devices and services can interoperate, there must be some prior agreement of the details of communication among these devices and services. The question that is at the core of this paper is: at what level should this agreement take place? This paper describes an approach to interoperability, and an architecture called Speakeasy that embodies this approach, based on three premises: fixed domain-independent interfaces, mobile code, and user-in-the-loop interaction. We believe that this combination of premises, which we call recombinant computing, can support "serendipitous" interoperability—the ability for devices and services to use one another with only very restricted prior knowledge. The term "recombinant computing" is meant to evoke a sense that devices and services can be arbitrarily combined with, and used by, each other, without any prior planning or coding. In the sections that follow we present our rationale for the premises upon which our approach is based, and why we believe that they are key to providing the ability for devices and services to offer serendipitous interoperability. After this, we present the Speakeasy Figure 1 A user gives a presentation using Speakeasy. The network-enabled projector, and the filesystem on which the presentation resides, are Speakeasy components. The wireless PDA used to set up the connection automatically downloads presentation controls. ABSTRACT Interoperability among a group of devices, applications, and services is typically predicated on those entities having some degree of prior knowledge of each another. In general, they must be written to understand the type of thing with which they will interact, including the details of communication as well as semantic knowledge such as when and how to communicate. This paper presents a case for "recombinant computing"—a set of common interaction patterns that leverage mobile code to allow rich interactions among computational entities with only limited a priori knowledge of one another. We have been experimenting with a particular embodiment of these ideas, which we call Speakeasy. It is designed to support ad hoc, end user configurations of hardware and software, and provides patterns for data exchange, user control, discovery of new services and devices, and contextual awareness.
In this position paper we introduce Cooperative Artefacts, physical objects that embed sensing, communication, computation and actuation in physical objects. In contrast to many other approaches, Cooperative Artefacts do not require any external infrastructure but co-operate by sharing knowledge. They are programmable with application rules abstracting from low level system aspects. We present an instance of our framework in connection with a scenario from the chemicals in-dustry in which appropriate storage of chemicals is critical for safety reasons. We conclude this paper by discussing potential future research directions for Smart Object Systems.
This article has provided, through reference to recent research, insights into the ways that people are using their mobile
phones in their everyday lives and in particular it has explored and examined the concept of emotional attachment to the mobile
phone. In offering some explanations for this seemingly unique behaviour it has highlighted the role of the social groups
or buddy groups as the focus for the emotional attachment. The constant changes that occur in people’s everyday lives frequently
involve the use of mobile phones—even if the people do not have one of their own. The rearranging of appointments, the casual
setting up of new ones, the relationships between lovers conducted by text and the reassuring contact between families all
have some effect on the individual’s autopoiesis. The multiple roles of the mobile phone in everyday life adds to the complexity
of the debate but underlying the functional purposes is this constant and increasing emotional attachment. The assertion that
this is in part due to the senses being pierced by all that the device engenders offers some explanation for this emotional
attachment and is certainly an area for further study within the mobile communications social sciences and engineering communities.
In this paper we address the problem of secure communication and authentication in ad-hoc wireless networks. This is a difficult problem, as it involves bootstrapping trust between strangers. We present a user-friendly solution, which provides secure authentication using almost any established public-key-based key exchange protocol, as well as inexpensive hash-based alternatives. In our approach, devices exchange a limited amount of public information over a privileged side channel, which will then allow them to complete an authenticated key exchange protocol over the wireless link. Our solution does not require a public key infrastructure, is secure against passive attacks on the privileged side channel and all attacks on the wireless link, and directly captures users' intuitions that they want to talk to a particular previously unknown device in their physical proximity. We have implemented our system in Java for a variety of different devices, communication media, and key exchange protocols.
Ubiquitous computing is associated with a vision of everything being connected to everything. However, for successful applications to emerge, it will not be the quantity but the quality and usefulness of connections that will matter. Our concern is how qualitative relations and more selective connections can be established between smart artefacts, and how users can retain control over artefact interconnection. We propose context proximity for selective artefact communication, using the context of artefacts for matchmaking. We further suggest to empower users with simple but effective means to impose the same context on a number of artefacts. To prove our point we have implemented Smart-Its Friends, small embedded devices that become connected when a user holds them together and shakes them.
Toolkits and other tools have dramatically reduced the time and technical expertise needed to design and implement graphical user interfaces (GUIs) allowing high-quality, iterative, user-centered design to become a common practice. Unfortunately the generation of functioning prototypes for physical interactive devices as not had similar support -- it still requires substantial time and effort by individuals with highly specialized skills and tools. This creates a divide between a designers' ability to explore form and interactivity of product designs and the ability to iterate on the basis of high fidelity interactive experiences with a functioning prototype. To help overcome this difficulty we have developed the Calder hardware toolkit. Calder is a development environment for rapidly exploring and prototyping functional physical interactive devices. Calder provides a set of reusable small input and output components, and integration into existing interface prototyping environments. These components communicate with a computer using wired and wireless connections. Calder is a tool targeted toward product and interaction designers to aid them in their early design process. In this paper we describe the process of gaining an understanding of the needs and workflow habits of our target users to generate a collection of requirements for such a toolkit. We describe technical challenges imposed by these needs, and the specifics of design and implementation of the toolkit to meet these challenges.
Powerful mobile devices with minimal I/O capabilities increase the likelihood that we will want to annex these devices to I/O resources we encounter in the local environment. This opportunistic annexing will require authentication. We present a sensor-based authentication mechanism for mobile devices that relies on physical possession instead of knowledge to setup the initial connection to a public terminal. Our solution provides a simple mechanism for shaking a device to authenticate with the public infrastructure, making few assumptions about the surrounding infrastructure while also maintaining a reasonable level of security.
This contribution concerns itself with the potential of Usage-Based Pricing policies for smart products. We develop an analytical model of a supplier of machines and a customer that allows us to compare Usage- Based Pricing to a traditional scheme with fixed prices, and to determine optimal solutions for both parties. Based on these findings, we discuss the value of Usage- Based Pricing on an operational as well as on a strategic level. The main conclusion that can be drawn from our research is that Usage-Based Pricing does not provide any additional value that could not also be achieved by information sharing and joint price optimization. From a more strategic perspective, however, we find that the transfer of demand risk from the customer to the supplier implied by Usage-Based Pricing might be used as a strategic tool to attract new prospects and to enter new markets, but only to a lesser extent as a means to keep existing customers.
We present a novel idea for user authentication that we call pass-thoughts. Recent advances in Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology indicate that there is potential for a new type of human-computer interaction: a user transmitting thoughts directly to a computer. The goal of a pass-thought system would be to extract as much entropy as possible from a user's brain signals upon "transmitting" a thought. Provided that these brain signals can be recorded and processed in an accurate and repeatable way, a pass-thought system might provide a quasi two-factor, changeable, authentication method resistant to shoulder-surfing. The potential size of the space of a pass-thought system would seem to be unbounded in theory, although in practice it will be finite due to system constraints. In this paper, we discuss the motivation and potential of pass-thought authentication, the status quo of BCI technology, and outline the design of what we believe to be a currently feasible pass-thought system. We also briefly mention the need for general exploration and open debate regarding ethical considerations for such technologies.
This paper introduces the concept of synchro- nous user operation, a user interface technique for establishing spontaneous network connections between digital devices. This concept has been implemented in the ''SyncTap system'', which allows a user to establish device connections through synchronous button opera- tions. When the user wants to connect two devices, she synchronously presses and releases the ''connection'' buttons on both devices. Then, multicast packets con- taining button press and release timing information are sent through the network. By comparing this timing information with locally recorded information, the de- vices can correctly identify each other. This scheme is simple but scalable because it can detect and handle simultaneous overlapping connection requests. It can also be used to establish secure connections by exchanging public keys. This paper describes the prin- ciple, the protocol, and various applications in the domain of ubiquitous computing.
The Personal Server is a mobile device that enables you to readily store and access the data and applications you carry with you through interfaces found in the local environment. Unlike conventional mobile computers with relatively poor user interfaces, it does not have a display at all, instead wirelessly utilizing displays, keyboards and other IO devices found nearby. By co-opting large screens such as those found on desktop PCs, public display monitors, information kiosks, and other computers, a Personal Server is more effective than relying on a small mobile screen. This model goes beyond the mobile context and has wider implications for how we think about computing in general. A prototype system, including applications, system infrastructure, and a mobile platform, has been built to fully explore this model. This prototype sheds light on the suitability of standard components to support such a computing model, and from this illuminates directions for the design of future ubiquitous computing systems.
Exploring novel ubiquitous computing systems and applications inevitably requires prototyping physical components. Smart-Its are hardware and software components that augment physical objects with embedded processing and interaction to address this need. Our work, which uses small computing devices called Smart-Its, addresses the need to create embedded interactive systems that disappear from the foreground to become secondary to the physical objects with which people interact during everyday activities. Such systems create new design challenges related to prototyping with embedded technologies and require careful consideration of the physical design context.
The paper discusses the Gaia metaoperating system which extends the reach of traditional operating systems to manage ubiquitous computing habitats and living spaces as integrated programmable environments. Gaia exports services to query, access, and use existing resources and context, and provides a framework to develop user-centric, resource-aware, multidevice, context-sensitive, and mobile applications.
The Interactive Workspaces project explores new possibilities for people working together in technology-rich spaces. The project focuses on augmenting a dedicated meeting space with large displays, wireless or multimodal devices, and seamless mobile appliance integration.
A predominant issue in a ubiquitous computing world is that of future personal devices in the postPC era. In this paper we present the Talking Assistant (TA), a prototype device we have developed to serve as a personal device. The main function of the Talking Assistant is to serve as the user's digital identity. In addition, the TA features local processing and storage, wireless networking capabilities, and a set of sensors. We present the rationale behind developing the TA and discuss possible use case scenarios from the real world.
Ubiquitous computing focusing on users and tasks instead of devices and singular applications is an attractive vision for the future. Especially the idea of nomadic, mobile users poses new challenges on hardware and software. Mobile devices provide vastly different presentation capabilities and need to integrate into heterogeneous environments. Network bandwidth is far from being constant and services may be available only when online. This paper presents MUNDO, an infrastructure for ubiquitous computing that addresses these challenges. The infrastructure is intended to be non-monolithic with its parts supporting mobile computing using multi-modal user interfaces, mobile data delivery, and ad-hoc communication and networking.
MundoCore is a communication middleware specifically designed for the requirements of pervasive computing. To address the high degree of heterogeneity of platforms and networking technologies, it is based on a microkernel design, supports dynamic reconfiguration, and provides a common set of APIs for different programming languages (Java, C++, Python) on a wide range of different devices. The architectural model addresses the need for proper language bindings, different communication abstractions, peer-to-peer overlays, different transport protocols, different invocation protocols, and automatic peer discovery.
The increasing complexity of pervasive computing environments puts the current software development methods to the test. There is a large variation in different types of hardware that need to be addressed. Besides, there is no guarantee the environment does not evolve, making the software developed for the initial environment deprecated and in need for updates or reconfiguration. Software deployed in such an environment should be sufficiently dynamic to cope with new environment configurations, even while the system is in use. This goes beyond coping with new contexts of use and building context-aware systems: while most approaches are mainly focused on how the software behavior adapts according to the changing context in a fixed environment, our approach, ReWiRe, allows the environment configuration to change over time.
Ubiquitous computing focusing on users and tasks instead of devices and singular applications is an attractive vision for the future. The idea of nomadic, mobile users in particular poses new challenges for hardware and software. Mobile devices provide vastly different presentation capabilities and need to integrate into heterogeneous environments. Network bandwidth is far from being constant and services may be available only when online. This paper presents MUNDO, an infrastructure for ubiquitous computing that addresses these challenges. The infrastructure is intended to be non-monolithic with its parts supporting mobile computing using multi-modal user interfaces, mobile data delivery, and ad-hoc communication and networking.
Laptops are vulnerable to theft, greatly increasing the likelihood of exposing sensitive files. Unfortunately, storing data in a cryptographic file system does not fully address this problem. Such systems ask the user to imbue them with long-term authority for decryption, but that authority can be used by anyone who physically possesses the machine. Forcing the user to frequently reestablish his identity is intrusive, encouraging him to disable encryption.
- M Roman
- C Hess
- R Cerqueira
- A Ranganathan
- R H Campbell
- K Nahrstedt
M. Roman, C. Hess, R. Cerqueira, A. Ranganathan, R. H.
Campbell, and K. Nahrstedt. A Middleware Infrastructure
for Active Spaces. Pervasive, 1(4), October 2002.