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International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing

UbiComp 2006: UbiComp 2006: Ubiquitous Computing pp 404–421Cite as

Moving on from Weiser’s Vision of Calm Computing: Engaging UbiComp Experiences

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Part of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series (LNISA,volume 4206)

Abstract

A motivation behind much UbiComp research has been to make our lives convenient, comfortable and informed, following in the footsteps of Weiser’s calm computing vision. Three themes that have dominated are context awareness, ambient intelligence and monitoring/tracking. While these avenues of research have been fruitful their accomplishments do not match up to anything like Weiser’s world. This paper discusses why this is so and argues that is time for a change of direction in the field. An alternative agenda is outlined that focuses on engaging rather than calming people. Humans are very resourceful at exploiting their environments and extending their capabilities using existing strategies and tools. I describe how pervasive technologies can be added to the mix, outlining three areas of practice where there is much potential for professionals and laypeople alike to combine, adapt and use them in creative and constructive ways.

Keywords

  • calm computing
  • Weiser
  • user experiences
  • engaged living
  • Ubi- Comp history
  • pervasive technologies
  • proactive computing

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  • DOI: 10.1007/11853565_24
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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Informatics, Indiana University, 901 East 10th Street, Bloomington, IN, 47408, USA

    Yvonne Rogers

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  1. Yvonne Rogers
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California, Irvine, 92697-3440, Irvine, CA, USA

    Paul Dourish

  2. Computing Department, Lancaster University, InfoLab 2, South Drive, LA1 4WA, Lancaster, UK

    Adrian Friday

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© 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Rogers, Y. (2006). Moving on from Weiser’s Vision of Calm Computing: Engaging UbiComp Experiences. In: Dourish, P., Friday, A. (eds) UbiComp 2006: Ubiquitous Computing. UbiComp 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4206. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11853565_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11853565_24

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-39634-5

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