Introduction to Ambient Intelligence (AmI)

Lectural Cheng-Hsun Hsieh Department of MES, STUT zcc@mai.stut.edu.tw

Introduction
Send this to Juan. Get me a hardcopy quickly!
Ambient Intelligence (AmI) is a striking and to some extent provocative vision of the future society.

Definitions
Ambient Intelligence is a distributed network of intelligent devices that provides us with information, communication and entertainment.
Emile Aarts , Rick Harwig, Ambient Intelligence

Ambient Intelligence is a network of hidden intelligent interfaces that recognize our presence and mould our environment to our immediate needs.
John Horvath, Telepolis, Making Friends with Big brother

Definitions
Ambient Intelligence refers to an exciting new paradigm in information technology, in which people are empowered through a digital environment that is aware of their presence and context and is sensitive, adaptive and responsive to their needs, habits, gestures and emotions.
Taken from Ambience Project URL: http://www.extra.research.philips.com/euprojects/ambience

Three Key Technologies

1. Ubiquitous Computing means the integration of microprocessors into everyday objects like furniture, clothes or toys. 2. Ubiquitous Communication should enable these objects to communicate with each other and with the user.

Three Key Technologies

3. Intelligent User Interface enables the inhabitants of the AmI to control and interact with the environment in a natural (voice, gestures) and personalized way (preferences, context).

AmI Should be
Ambient Intelligence will raise some concerns over privacy and security issue. That is why Ambient Intelligence must be user friendly, controllable and secure. Besides it should be almost invisible and moreover it should be nowhere unless we need it.

Key Word

CONTROL

Scenarios for Ambient Intelligence

4 scenarios from ISTAG 2001 report : Ambient Intelligence In 2010
Scenario 1: `Maria' Road Warrior Scenario 2:`Dimitrios' and the Digital Me' (D-Me) Scenario 3 Carmen: traffic, sustainability & commerce Scenario 4: Annette and Solomon in the Ambient for Social Learning

ISTAG is a abbreviation of Information Society Technology Advisory Group

S1: `Maria' Road Warrior

Socio-political issues:
What makes people actually being afraid of Ambient Intelligence? Marias P-com (key of keys) will contain many personal and confidential information about the user. privacy, confidence and security

S1: `Maria' Road Warrior

Business environment:
market is here primarily targeted at the highwage business-oriented users standard services (central billing, network access management, programming) special services (booking hotel rooms, renting cars, health services) Merging different nature of services or different corporate culture

S1: `Maria' Road Warrior

Technological issues:
What must be done in the technological field to make P-com reality?
A micro-sized radio software transceiver interoperate with different wireless protocols (e.g. GSM) or even with satellite. ID key of keys: biometrics or chip implantation

S2: `Dimitrios' and the D-Me

Socio-political issues:
PRIVACY:
Who are my data accessible to?

AUTHENTICITY:
People, and especially the old guard, may prefer talking to realhuman being.

ETHICS:
fake identities

CRIME:
Misusing the D-Mes for ethically suspicious activities

S2: `Dimitrios' and the D-Me

Business environment:
Market segmentation: Not all D-Mes will have the same performances Fashion design The core service : matching activity. Public service provision to counterbalance the users that D-Mes might acquire if driven only by fun or hedonistic drivers.

S2: `Dimitrios' and the D-Me

Technological issues:
It should be micro-sized device with an integrated data capture capacity and wireless ad hoc network communication. The D-Me is meant to be a network device to services such as virtual matching or decentralized data warehousing

S3 Carmen: traffic, sustainability & commerce

Socio-political issues:
AmI will not solve all transport and environmental problems, but it aims at reaching a situation that can deserve the attribute tolerable. Are there any pressures we would be faced with if forced to accept all these changes? new taxes may be imposed (counterparts of the socalled subway-tax in some big cities), and this is always considered a significant social cost

S3 Carmen: traffic, sustainability & commerce

Business environment:
A smart city would demand a great deal of new smart devices and systems There will be much room for the companies providing software necessary to make these complex systems function. E-commerce might be a driver of different organizational patterns between the supplier and the retailer. The supply of products would be strictly on-demand.

S3 Carmen: traffic, sustainability & commerce

Technological issues:
Whole traffic infrastructure must be renewed and the whole network of multifunctional sensors PAN, the technological challenge would consist in miniaturization, low power sources, wirelessness, providing security, developing biosensors. The scenario is based on three levels of communication networks.
Level 1: ex. PAN (person with person) Level 2: ex. VAN (networks with networks) Level 3: ex. WAN (level with level)

S4 Annette and Solomon in the Ambient for Social Learning

Socio-political issues:
Educational modern trends include life-long learning or learning by doing. Learning is a social process and, additionally, one of essential social processes One of the main achievements of the ASL could be exceeding and removing learning and interacting obstacles set by numerous language and cultural backgrounds.

S4 Annette and Solomon in the Ambient for Social Learning

Business environment:
3D visualization technology including real-time rendering of video and projection of holographs. Manipulation of sound fields so that people can lead individual conversations in shared place Opportunities for multi-channel (web-TV, mobile) services and for online storage, re-processing and retrieval of content on demand Multimedia developers creating user-friendly toolboxes for self-production of content Multi-skilled project-oriented teams that are available to work with grassroots groups, firms or traditional educational providers.

S4 Annette and Solomon in the Ambient for Social Learning

Technological issues:
Ability to record and review experiences of past and present participants. A network for communication and a collective corporate memory must be provided
Some other requirements: Recognition- tracing, Interactive commitment, Natural language and speech interfaces Projection facilities for light and sound fields Reflexive learning systems Knowledge management tools

Structuring differentials between the scenarios

Three main sustainability dimensions

Personal physical and psychological sustainability
Can AmI reduce (mental) health risks from information stress, virtual identities and information overload?

Socio-economic sustainability:
digital divides emerging from unequal developments and access to the AmI infrastructure

Environmental sustainability:
recycling and reclamation of electronic waste