UBIQUITOUS CONCERNS

Breadcrumbs: The Future of Ubiquitous computing in 2025 --> Ubiquitous Concerns

2007 – 2013 (Laying the foundation)
The ISTAG report of 2007 marked the start of a new wave of IT research and development in Europe, as it encouraged the European countries to invest into the development of ubiquitous computing in order to compete with the already leading IT development and research countries, Japan and the USA. Research into fields such as embedded technology, mesh sensor networks, context-aware systems, new ways of effectively interact with embedded systems, standards for inter-connectivity, and energy efficiency management were on their way. The infrastructure on which ubiquitous computing would develop on was being founded. Parallel to this development, embedded systems were being introduced into companies and public facilities. As RFID started to replace barcodes fully by 2013, RFID tags had optimized the supply chain within many industries, and it also proved to be an effective technology to optimize the flow of people in public transportation systems, including airports, bus and train systems. In 2007, some places around the world, like Hong Kong’s Octopus system and California’s E-ZPay system, implemented RFID technology to be used as an electric payment system. Many companies were research what possibilities RFID could provide them if everybody would start wearing cards/ID’s embedded with RFID. Many governments were concerned about privacy violations that RFID would bring with it and inter-connectivity of many different aspects of life. In 2008, the EU and other governments started to look at e-privacy directive laws. An EU commission assessed the policy options and future legislative steps for RFID, and by 2013 a law was passed through local legislative processes that would reduces the data collection and exchange of information gathered by RFID. Governments restricted the collection of sensitive information, resulting that companies (ang government organizations) couldn’t fully utilize local-based services.
During the development of ubiquitous computing technologies, many researching institutions believed that the leading research fields for ubiquitous computing was the development and implementation of mesh sensor networks. They believed that this technology could reduce energy consumption in large office buildings and public facilities, but also allow for an enhanced security system, and allow for data collection over a large area. The mesh sensing network allows for tracking the location of people in building, and can activate or de-active certain equipment or tools. Due to the increasing public awareness of global warming, many electronics companies started bringing energy efficient products to the market which would reduce energy consumption levels in comparison which older products. As a result many companies didn't see the use of implementing a relative expensive mesh-network just to automate the activation of equipment. Also the idea of information systems tracking employees at work constituted a breach in privacy, and many people didn't feel comfortable with the idea. As a result the mesh-networking systems, which were perceived to become the backbone for ubiquitous computing, never took off. Governments also didn't perceive this new technology to be of any use for reducing energy consumption.

2013 – 2019 (Green Entrepreneurship)
The continuation of Moore’s law, wide availability of optic fiber connections, and the implementation of ultra-widebandnetwork access in urban areas enabled many new possibilities for ubiquitous computing and other products. The research and businesses developing ubiquitous computing technologies, which had been undertaken since 2007, was creating a entrepreneurial boom for developing new smart products. During this period, many companies started looking researching and perfecting products that could help elderly people. Within the time-frame of 2013 to 2019, many companies were developing the next ‘must have’ smart products. Many of the earlier smart products produced didn’t create extra value to the consumer, and many consumers didn’t see the advantage of purchasing a ‘smart’ products. Some interfaces which were developed were meant to be used intuitively, but many users seem to have found them to be an annoyance. Other products developed were seen as just another funky gadget, which was only bought by the technology fanatics. The development of this research continued and improvements were made, however companies were still having trouble developing products that consumers weren't really waiting for. Some products managed to enter the market, and were widely accepted, but most failed. The technology that was being developed was simply an enhanced version of previous products and as a result didn't provide consumers with any newly enhanced sense of personal freedom. During the development of many of the products, each company started developing their own standards for the interoperability of heterogeneous devices. The resulting situation was that there were products on the market which could not cooperate with all other devices. Many of the embedded technologies that did enter the market weren't compatible with all other technologies on the market, and as the technology was embedded into the environment it wasn't easy to replace. Again, the technology that promised to be the next wave in IT development wasn't taking off.
In some countries, governments started to experiment with smart devices which were intended to stimulate environmental behavior for their citizens. One of these experiments was a system that linked the citizens recycling behavior to their RFID electronic payment system that banks had introduced earlier. An example of such an experiment were recycling bins that contained sensors which can provide a recycler with mini-credits when recycling their products. These projects never developed into a wider accepted technology, because there were more viable alternative non-technological methods that were cheaper to install.

2013 – 2019 (IT-Defiance)
To prepare for the baby-boomers reaching the age in which they require an increased level of care (especially in Japan and Europe), governments starting stimuating ubiquitous computing production industry to produce products that help elderly people live their lives independently as long as possible, and find ways to accommodate their special needs. Context-aware memory augmentation devices were developed to help elderly people by preventing circumstances in which they would seem (or feel to be) decrepit and forgetful. Biomedical devices enabled care centers to monitor a patience health condition from a distance, and reacts if a system warns about an elderly getting hurt. Voice-recognition and gesture based technology also started to enter the market as they provided an increased level to easiness of life, especially for the elderly. The technologies which help elderly people augment their memory also finds its way into the market of ‘ordinary’ users. As a result people start relying less on their own memory, and become more dependent on technology to remember things for them. These systems infiltrate the everyday decisions that people have to make and hence the less we start to trust the evidence of our own senses. This development causes concerns by many people, as they wonder how technology will affect them next! Debates live up about whether there should be grading system that will refuse people of specific ages to use certain technology (just as it was done in the sigarette, movie, and alcohol industry), and it seems that many governments are going to introduce such a system preventing younger people to use certain technologies!