Development Tools for Ubiquitous Computing.


John J. Barton, Margaret Fleck, Christopher Hoover, and Tim Kindberg
HP Labs Palo Alto
Vikram Vijayaraghavan,
Stanford University.


  Research in the emerging field of ubiquitous or pervasive computing
faces many challenges.  Through a combination of environmentally
embedded and mobile computing devices connected by advanced wireless
technologies, this field hopes to provide new kinds of services for
people. However, practical research work requires the combination of
unproven technologies in handheld devices, wireless networks, and
unattended services together with the usual problems of designing
robust systems and user interfaces in new and unfamiliar forms.  These
problems are compounded by the lack of clearly defined services that
are realizable with technology.


  To reduce the barrier for research we have been investigating new
development tools in ubiquitous computing. We will demonstrate two of
them at WMCSA 2002: Ubiwise, a simulator for ubicomp and GLAD, an
adapter that adds wireless data upload capability to handheld PC
peripherals like digital cameras.


  Ubiwise allows ubiquitous computing ideas to be tried in simulation
within the powerful and flexible confines of personal computers.  The
ubiwise client has two windows, one--WISE--for simulated operation of
user interfaces for devices and one--ubisim--for simulating the
physical environment of the user.  The WISE window is programmed in
Java using images of the external faces of devices; it allows
experimentation in user interface design, interaction with services,
and communications protocols.  The ubisim window is programming in C++
against the Quake3Arena game engine API; it allows experimentation in
device-device interaction, the role of physical space, and multiuser
interactions.  Multiple clients are connected via a server that
synchronizes the views over the Internet fast enough to simulate
ubiquitous computing scenarios.  The simulator and the development
tools needed to exploit will be demonstrated.


  GLAD stands for Glimmer/Linux Adapter Device.  This is a single
board StrongArm-based microcomputer(BadgePad IV) a bit bigger than a
PCMCIA card running Linux equipped with an 802.11b network interface
and cables that can connect to handheld devices like digital cameras.
By duct-taping the microcomputer to the bottom of a digital camera and
connecting it to the camera's USB port we create a wireless
device. The "Glimmer" software we run over Linux is a prototype of a
web-like data-transfer program we are developing for appliance-like
wireless clients.  In our demo we will send images from a GLAD-camera
to simulated pictureframes in ubiwise.  A collection of tools like
GLAD would significantly accelerate research and development in
ubiquitous computing by adapting commercial devices to ubiquitous
computing.