Pervasive computing: a paradigm for the 21st century - Computer

P u b l i s h e d b y t h e I E E E C o m p u t e r S o c i e t y Pervasive Computing: A Paradigm for the 21st Century In 1991, Mark Weiser, then chief technology officer for Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center, described a vision for 21st century computing that countered the ubiquity of personal computers. “The most profound technologies are those that disappear,” he wrote. “They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.” Computing has since mobilized itself beyond the desktop PC. Significant hardware developments—as well as advances in location sensors, wireless communications, and global networking—have advanced Weiser’s vision toward technical and economic viability. Moreover, the Web has diffused some of the psychological barriers that he also thought would have to disappear. However, the integration of information technology into our lives still falls short of Weiser’s concluding vision: