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Last time, I introduced the subject of UC (ubiquitous computing) and listed 5 principles of UC. Perhaps to help you understand what it could mean, it would be worth your time to consider a future vision with fully-enabled UC.

Before I start, though, my first question is this: what are “regular” people saying about UC? I mean, other than the ones directly in the path of the research, what is being said about it? Are people even talking about it?

Interestingly enough, there are about 2.4 million hits on Google, but Technorati listed only 19 blogs that even mentioned the term (the most recent was 57 days ago – unless you count my humble post from yesterday, of course).

Alas, of the blogs listed, I found very little substance. I suppose I could quote one blog from 157 days ago (nasefei’s Blog):

文档状态：本报告系列是我所“曙光高性能计算机”和“织女星网格”两个品牌的相关研究开发动态与趋势的整合与分析，也包括与“龙芯”品牌、存储服务器相关的内容。另外,本报告系列关注计算机领域的突破性创新，对全所的工作都有参考作用。本报告主要关注国际研究开发趋势，但也包括市场应用趋势、对我所的影响

– but it’s not very helpful since I don’t read Chinese. Considering the tremendous implications of the technology, though, I find it strange that more people aren’t already talking about it.

The concept of UC reminds me of a series of sci-fi books written by Peter F. Hamilton called, collectively, the Night’s Dawn Trilogy. (Actually, although sci-fi is easier to say, I still prefer the term speculative fiction – it’s more in keeping with the spirit of the genre.) If you like sci-fi, I highly recommend these books. (Bloat alert – the paperback version has three two-part volumes. That’s 6 books and about 3,000 pages!) What I found most interesting about this particular fictional universe (called the Confederation universe) was the pervasion of UC in the societies of the day.

For example, the main character, Joshua Calvert (a young, dashing starship captain) has within his body nanonic-sized devices that can, among other things: a) serve as supplemental memory cells, b) allow him to interface seamlessly and fully with his spaceship, c) communicate with anyone either directly (a sort of artificial telepathic ability) or via communication interfaces, d) manipulate his own body in various ways, such as stiffening his body’s internal membranes to avoid damage at high-G accelerations, e) full control of his body’s various volitional and autonomous functions, such as pain blockage, sleep, and (like any good male hero figure) his ability to make love to a woman for longer than 6 minutes.

Another character, Reese Macklin, is a top-of-the-line mercenary soldier. With a body that is almost entirely artificial, he also has, besides similar capabilities mentioned for Captain Calvert, the ability to: a) interface directly with a wide range of weapons, b) control virtually every aspect of his body including oxygen and adrenaline levels, c) set autonomous subroutines to manage his walking, running, etc. while he focuses his main attention on targeting the bad guys.

Of course, these characters represent the pinnacle of UC in their society and not the average Jane Doe or Joe Blow. Not everyone has the ability, or even the need, for connections at the same level. On the other hand, in this universe virtually everyone has some form of “neural nanonics” that enables them to interface with the world around them at the level they need.

So just for fun, let’s put you into this picture.

You’re in Philadelphia and need to meet a client for lunch in New York? No problem. Just connect wirelessly to the nearest information terminal and download the latest plane, train and spaceship schedules, select your options, and book a ticket. Contact your house and have it stop defrosting the roast you planned for supper, hold the mail delivery for a day, and feed the dog. Call a cab and reserve a table at 21. Of course you have full access to anything from your office system at any time, so no need for a briefcase full of papers.

Sounds kinda fun, doesn’t it?

One of the things I like about this particular future is we will no longer need to use separate devices to accomplish all this – it’s all done with machines built into our bodies. No more lugging around notebook computers, PDAs, phones, projectors, etc. (In fact, it will change the face of business as well - but that’s another post.)

Yesterday I listed the 5 principles of UC as presented by Adam Greenfield, and just for the heck of it, here they are again:

• Default to Harmlessness – in a world where it is possible for a device to broadcast your most intimate details, user’s safety (physical, psychic and financial) must be ensured.
• Be Self-Disclosing – ubiquitous systems should be technically and graphically self-disclosing, so that users encountering them are empowered to make informed decisions.
• Be Conservative of Face – ubiquitous systems must not necessarily embarrass, humiliate, or shame their users.
• Be Conservative of Time – ubiquitous systems must not introduce undue complications into ordinary operations and should be respectful of our time.
• Be Deniable – ubiquitous systems must offer the users the ability to opt out, always and at any point.

In the Confederation universe, which naturally portrays a fully mature vision of UC, these and other concerns are addressed within the context of the story, and in some cases become integral parts of various plot lines. But what really shines out is the value UC brought to virtually every aspect of the lives of the people in the story. This is what I like to imagine life in the future could be like.

The bottom line can be summed up in one word: capabilities. What are you and I capable of? If the intent of UC is to enhance our capabilities, then judging by what is at least imaginable, it promises to be an amazing world of tomorrow.

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!