Designing for the Human Experience in Smart Environments
Gregory D. Abowd, Elizabeth D. Mynatt · S.M.A.R.T. environments · 2004
Mark Weiser originated the term ubiquitous computing (ubicomp), creating a vision of people and smart environments augmented with computational resources that provide information and services when and where desired. What is clear from this articulation of ubicomp is that people and their activities are central to this vision and realizing the vision requires us to address a number of clear goals. First, the everyday practices of people need to be understood and supported. Second, the world needs to be augmented through the provisioning of heterogeneous devices offering different forms of interactive experience. The networked devices must be orchestrated to provide for a holistic user experience. In this chapter, we will overview how these human-centered goals have impacted research in three areas relevant to smart environments: the definition of the appropriate physical interaction experience; discovering general application features; and the evolution of theories and practices for designing and evaluating the human experience in smart environments. Though we will provide examples from many other research efforts, we will conclude this chapter with concrete examples from our own work in classrooms and the home.