HANDS ON GUIDE

6 - Ubiquitous computing

Google your missing socks

WHAT IS IT?

The term refers to computers being so widespread in society, and so numerous, that they become invisible. This is already starting to happen, as digital devices in RFID tags, capable of many elementary computing tasks, are already a part of daily life. Oyster Cards (for London's transport system), passports and credit / debit cards contain tiny digital processors, and without being told, you wouldn’t know a computer is present.

Ubiquitous computing will affects us in many different ways. Tiny wireless chips could be included in many different gadgets around the home. The idea of a smart fridge has been suggested - it could email you when you’re running low on groceries. Tagging every single item in your house will be possible, so you never misplace your keys again. Computerised clothing, an oft-discussed idea amonst futurologists, would rely on light and inexpensive processors inside your coat. You could even be able Google your missing socks.

There's more to ubiquitous computing than RFID tags. The exponential growth of databases and online services is another example. As with tagging on physical goods, you never need to see that your records are stored on a database, which in turn is housed in a computer somewhere. All you see are the (supposed) benefits.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Computing devices come in many shapes and sizes. Most people equate a computer with a PC, but mobile phones, pocket calculators and RFID tags are all computers. As more transistors can be squeezed into a smaller space than ever before, not only are devices getting smaller but they're also becoming more capable, and more connected than ever.

Ubiquitous computing is the next step from wireless networks and the ability to produce low-cost miniaturised chips. The chips are hardly powerful - they are designed to simply send small packtets of information rather than perform complex calculations. The commonly used passive RFID tags don’t even need a power source. These tags can be powered on by the minute charge from a radio wave p - just enough to transmit necessary information and then shut off.

WHAT COULD GET IN THE WAY?

People may not be willing to accept computers invading every aspect of their lives, at least not consciously. Ubiquitous computing is often a feature of dystopian sci-fi novels by authors such as Phillip K Dick. It’s easy to imagine a world where ubiquitous computing allows governments and big business easier control of people. Many science fiction novels have even suggested that placing digital chips in everything could lead to some artificial intelligence nightmare, where our gadgets become self-aware and naturally, try to destroy us.

In this case, it's not just a technological shift that's required, but a social one - and while it's unquestionable that the technology will continue to evolve, whether people's acceptance of it will is far from clear cut, and with good reason. We're still used to our interactions with computers being over once we press the off switch, although digital information is all around us.

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