User Interaction in a Shared Information Space – a Pervasive Environment for the Home

Connected technology in the home is growing rapidly due to advances in modern electronics. The growth of broadband is being followed by an associated uptake in home networks. At present the enabling technology tends to be visible and distinct (PCs, multimedia systems, Televisions, screens, etc). In the future, we predict the home will incorporate embedded systems and even greater networked-enabled shared resources resulting in a pervasive computing environment. Currently, there are a number of challenges to make this a reality. For example, how will users interact with the technology in a way that is intuitive and non-threatening; how will the wide range of devices communicate and coordinate their requirements and services? This paper describes research which is investigating that as devices in the home become more interconnected and announce capabilities over a network, then a new model presents itself where devices are decomposed into functional components which may then be reused in a much more flexible way. An architecture to support this model is proposed and presents a novel approach to device configuration called Task Oriented Programming (TOP) together with work on meeting the challenge of providing suitable user interfaces in the pervasive home. In Proceedings of the IEE Workshop on Perspectives in Pervasive Computing, London, UK,25 October 2005. © University of Essex 2005 2 INTRODUCTION Trends in technology in the home Over the last 5 years, we have seen a huge growth in broadband connections and use within the home. People have quickly come to realise the benefits of a fast, always on connection. This together with an ever-increasing quantity of consumer equipment, which either requires or is enhanced by a wired or wireless network means that the trend for a home network is following the broadband trend. This is confirmed in a report by Forrester (1) which states that 42% of PC owners having multiple PCs in the home with broadband also have a home network, whereas this figure drops to 16% for homeowners without broadband. Figures from the same report for single PC owners are 12% with broadband and 6% nonbroadband. Reference to any recent computerrelated magazine in a newsagent and you will see entertainment, multimedia, gaming devices and appliances on offer, together with routers, gateways, hubs and even networked storage devices. The latter trend being almost certainly a result of the popularity of digital photography and the need to store and retrieve easily large numbers of digital images. Inevitably, these exciting technological trends, come with increasing complexity and confusion, especially for the new, non-technically minded home user. There is a long-standing anecdote about adults not being able to program the video recorder and leaving it to the children. On the positive side, user interfaces for such devices have become easier to use and technology like VIDEO Plus+® 1 have helped. However, growth of new consumer devices has far exceeded development of simpler user interfaces so the consumer is still left with a range of quite complex pieces of equipment each with their own interface style. Unfortunately, much of the functionality may not be available to the user because of the confusion caused by the complexity of system operation. As devices in the home become networked, this confusion becomes compounded with a range of proprietary interfaces and protocols.