Palpability Support Demonstrated

In ubiquitous computing, as more and more devices are embedded into the environment, there is a risk that the user loses the understanding of the system. In normal use this is not always a problem, but when breakdowns occur it is crucial that the user understands the system to be able to handle the situation. The concept of palpable computing, introduced by the PalCom project, denotes systems which support such understandability. In PalCom, a set of prototype scenarios provide input for an open software architecture and a conceptual framework for palpable computing. One of these prototype scenarios is based on the Active Surfaces concept in which therapists rehabilitate physically and mentally impaired children by means of an activity that stimulates the children both physically and cognitively. In this paper we demonstrate how palpability can be supported in a prototype of the Active Surfaces. Services on the tiles have been developed using the PalCom service framework that allows them to be combined into PalCom assemblies. The support for palpability is shown by examples of use scenarios from the work of the therapist who can inspect and alter the runtime state of the tiles to change their configuration and cope with breakdown situations. The prototype implementation runs on a standard PC simulating the network layer and a first reference implementation has been made on the target embedded platform.