Implementing a sentient computing system
Addlesee, M.; Curwen, R.; Hodges, S.; Newman, J.; Steggles, P.; Ward, A.; Hopper, A.
Computer
Volume 34, Issue 8, Aug 2001 Page(s):50 - 56
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/2.940013
Summary:Sentient computing systems, which can change their behaviour based
on a model of the environment they construct using sensor data, may hold
the key to managing tomorrow's device-rich mobile networks. At AT&T
Laboratories Cambridge, we have built a system that uses sensors to
update a model of the real world. We designed the model's terms (object
positions, descriptions and state, and so forth) to be immediately
familiar to users. Thus, the model describes the world much as users
themselves would. We can use this model to write programs that react to
changes in the environment according to the user's preferences. We call
this sentient computing because the applications appear to share the
user's perception of the environment. Treating the current state of the
environment as common ground between computers and users provides new
ways of interacting with information systems. A sentient computing
system doesn't need to be intelligent or capable of forming new concepts
about the world, it only needs to act as though its perceptions
duplicate the user's. In earlier work, we described a prototype of this
system and stated our intention to deploy it on a large scale. We have
now installed an enhanced version throughout an office building. Over
the past year, approximately 50 staff members have used the system daily
with a set of trial applications
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