Final Year Project

Bye bye blog!

2008-05-25T17:44:00.002+01:00

So everything is finshed, project and thesis handed in, presentation done which I got 2nd place in because yes I am that good and college is over forever!

It was going so well...

2008-04-16T18:54:00.001+01:00

So I think I may have fixed the Processing problem, it now prints out 1 bubble for each person.

SQL is back to ruin my life though, I was going to use the UPDATE statement to update a persons location but the TIMESTAMP is making this way too difficult and it doesn't want to. So I think I'll have to go to plan B and reorganise the DB. ugh.

No Pressure!

2008-04-11T14:54:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I met with Steve and Lorcan to get feedback on my interim report and discuss my goals for this last part of term.

For my final report, it was suggested that I go through my project specification and with each milestone, write whether I have achieved that milestone or not, if not why not, and if I have what steps I took to complete it. These milestones can also be used as my report subheadings to break up the report a bit.

To complete my mandatory I have to get the display working properly, find a way to get Wireless Access Points, hopefully this should be similar to how I obtained the MAC addresses and then I have to find a way so that the clock gets the updated locations automatically rather than the user manually inputting them.

We also talked about the final demo, so I'll have to come with ways of showing the clock in action even though I'll still be in the room the whole time! Lorcan suggested having 2 bluetooth dongles, each representing a different location.

Testing and evaluation was discussed, the idea of testing it with my family would work, then after a week I could ask them if they used it much, did they like it, the usual evaluation questions.

Back to Work

2008-04-10T12:04:00.002+01:00

I have Processing and Java cooperating with each other, although as soon as they did I found a load of problems with the database tables and stuff.

To update a location it allows it only if it is not there so you can really only register a location and not update it. I think I'll have to add a new table and use the SQL update statement so that this tells the clock where people are without deleting locations with their registered addresses.

Another problem is with the display, if a users location does change then the icon appears in the right location but it also satys in the previous one, so i have extra icons! Not good. Not sure how to fix this one at the moment.

Also need to figure out a way of incorporating individuality to the icons so that they can be distinguished between each other and correspond to a specific user. I think this should be ok to do. Not sure if I'll be using text or pictures yet.

Thats my list of things to do in the immediate future, I'm sure after my meeting later on I'll have a new longer list!

Microsoft Trip - 14/03/08

2008-03-17T07:57:00.005Z

Geeking it up in Cambridge

On Friday, Lorcan and I flew out to Cambridge to go to Microsoft Research and visit some of the researchers who were part of the Whereabouts Clock. We met with Abigail Sellen (who looked after us for most of the day - thank you!), and we had a talk with her and also with Alex Taylor who also worked on the clock. We went through the differences with their clock and mine, the main issue being that mine is web-based and will more be for friends than family or colleagues. Abigail thought that this was completely different from their clock as theirs is designed to be at-a-glance but always there whereas if mine is on the internet then someone would have to log onto that page to see it and this perhaps defeats the purpose. This made me think and I would like to re-explore the possibility of having the clock as a tangible clock that can stand in a room rather than just be on the internet.

We then got to see the Whereabouts Clock and were shown a demo of it. There were a few icons and when an icon was pressed a new display popped up showing text messages that had been sent with the most recent being on top and you could scroll through these messages. One of the icons represented a child who would be too young to take part but when pushed the icon would make a sound and do random animations e.g., the icon would turn into a flower. Also when someone changed location the clock would make a noise which I liked the idea of and would like to use in my project. Below the clock is a small area where the settings are, I didn’t know what these were before so I was curious to find out, the pendulum swings in the middle and this would show the signal strength of the GPRS while on the left hand side was 5 buttons for brightness, Abigail mentioned that in the trials people liked to dim the clock at night and on the right there were 5 buttons for volume as sometimes the noises could be a little loud especially with children pressing their icon. We also got to see other past projects such as HomeNotes.

After lunch we met with Tim Regan, who did not work on the clock but he was full of ideas especially regarding how to acquire Wireless Access Points, and told us about past projects that he had worked on which were all incredible. He kindly took our picture next to the Whereabouts Clock and sent them on. We then got to talk to Sharam Izadi who was behind the technology part of the clock and I showed him what I’d done so far but of course it decided not to work properly!

After meeting everyone we got a chance to go into the town of Cambridge and it is such a lovely town so I’m glad I got to see it. It was such a good day and we didn’t run into any problems which was very surprising!

I had such a good day and a big thank you to Microsoft Research for having us and also to the college who funded this trip – I really appreciate it and came back eager to get started on my project again! But first there is the small matter of exams…

Php and java

2008-02-26T15:37:00.001Z

I have a java class that connects to the server through php and it prints out the information my php displays in the command line
e.g., Colin's location is unknown etc...
Go me.

Meeting - 25/02/08

2008-02-26T10:16:00.002Z

Met with Graeme, Steve and Lorcan yesterday for a meeting. The aim is to get my project working so it's an end to end version, this invovles doing some more java to get updates from the server, I'll probably do this via php, I'll look into that first.
Next I have to combine the java with Processing so that the java code is linked to my clock and the animation is updated whenever someone changes location, Processing is a form of Java so hopefully this won't be too difficult to implement.
I'll be meeting with Lorcan next week at some stage to sort out the plans for the Microsoft trip and he'll run through his presentation.
Then there's the interim report which I hope to have my first draft finished by the end of this week.
After that I'll then get to work on adding a way of getting wireless access points.

Coding Schtuff

2008-02-14T15:28:00.002Z

I added JOptionPanes into my code to start off a GUI, I don't really like the default look and feel so was thinking of having a JFrame just so I can change that but that's really just me being picky!
Also I noticed when no name was entered, the record would be added to the database with the name field being null so I changed this where it gives an error if the field is left blank and it quits the program.

Designing woop woop

2008-02-13T13:39:00.005Z

So I've come up with one idea for the clock and hopefully its ok!

Also wanted to have my icons in a bubble like this

now i have to work on the text with HOME, SCHOOL etc.

teeny tiny update

2008-02-11T19:18:00.000Z

thought i broke my code but i had it trying to send info to a php file that i'd deleted! oopsies. Luckily I had a backup coz I'm great.

I have my java code giving an error whenever its not connected to the internet as me and Graeme couldn't figure out why it wasn't getting the MAC address over in CASL where there is no internet where we were, go us, although in fairness to Graeme he figured it out!

My webpage has two extra pages, one to register a username, one to register a location, at the moment the php page doesn't get the MAC address, it just gives directions on how to get it and the user has to put it in themselves.

Meeting - 07/02/2008

2008-02-07T13:07:00.001Z

I met with Graeme and Lorcan today and discussed my presentation, basically I have to not apologise ever and get less nervous! I'll work on that.
Also discussed the trip to Microsoft Research, plan is that Lorcan will talk about my project, some of the other final year projects and some of his research which will be interesting, then I'll demo my project which should be pretty good by then (fingers crossed!)
Spent a while cleaning up my code, I had an extra table in my database which I didn't need and I'll incorporate user inputs into my webpage so they can register a location and register their usernames which will then be saved in the database. This shouldn't be too hard so I'll do this first. I will also update my System Architecture diagram and post it when I get round to doing it.
Next step is my clock display, can't wait! Graeme gave me a list with Flash, java 2d etc, which I will look into, was talking to Owen about Processing which he is using, it can be used in Eclipse which sounds handy.
I'm gonna make a start on my report as well wrt the design and why I've chosen to use the technologies and other possibilities I considered etc.
Also have to make a java GUI such as a JOptionPane but this is less important for now.

2008-02-04T20:47:00.000Z

So I now have my php displaying where people are refreshing every 60 seconds for when the database is updated.
I also have it displaying when someone's location is not known, but instead of printing out their name it prints out "Resource id#3's location unknown", I'm not sure why...!

Presentation plans

2008-02-04T14:51:00.000Z

I followed pretty much the outline Lorcan gave to us with regards to our slides for the presentation, I've sent them to Graeme just to check that they're not crap so hopefully they're ok!
Been panicing slightly over the demo we have to give, my Java code is interacting with the database although it isn't inputting the information it takes in, it just adds a blank row, grrr.
I should be meeting with Graeme tomorrow to go over the code in person, this should solve the problem

More Java

2008-01-25T17:11:00.000Z

I'm still working on the Java program, and after a very dumb half an hour yesterday (sorry Graeme!) I now have the MAC code and all the Java code works together and prints out in the command line asking for a user name and prints out the MAC address. But now it doesnt print out on my php page so I'm once agin confused. I think it's because I have more than one Java file I'm not sure so I'll troubleshoot this and see what information I can find.

Java fun

2008-01-23T21:50:00.000Z

Just an update on what I've done recently, admittedly it's not much with the first week and the fact that it was Java I needed to do!
At the moment I have two seperate Java programs, one can read in input from the command line which I need to get a username.
The second is a program that communicates with php, at the moment it's a simple hello world test that prints to my web page but I have it working so shouldn't be too bad to get it to do what I want.
So I've saved the best till last, to get the MAC address through Java.

Meeting - 18/01/08

2008-01-21T18:51:00.000Z

On Friday I had a meeting with Steve and Graeme, they helped solve my problem with the database taking in the usernames and showing their most recent time, the php can now take in any number of users and output their max times.

I had to make a few minor changes to my code, just clean it up a bit.

My next task is to write some java code that takes in a username string and obtains the MAC address, thank you Graeme for sending on the code to help with that section! I'll have to look into how to connect to the web from java such as httprequest or something.
Then I'll have another php page that gets the username and MAC address from the java code and it will then send this to the database.

yaaay

2008-01-17T21:32:00.000Z

So the for loops and all that was hurting my head and I tried two different queries in the one php file and when I had it for my name it printed nothing as I didnt have the Max(time) the other user did. This was a problem but Colin was the bestest and helped me so I used ASC LIMIT which prints out the two most recent times and it works woop woop. I'm going to add another user to see if it still works for more users.
The code needs to be cleaned up but that can wait.

I'm stuck

2008-01-16T22:36:00.000Z

So the printing out a line for each person is hard and I'm officially stuck, I used the MAX(time) method and that works for only the most recent obviously, so it only prints out "Christine was last seen at home at [maxtime]".
I tried a few other methods I think the LIMIT method could be a possibility but I wasn't able to incorporate it into my code.
I was thinking maybe there could be a way to have a query for each person to print out their max times but once again I'm not sure how to go about this, any ideas?

2008-01-15T16:48:00.000Z

I got my table printing out stuff in order of the most recent input, that was ruining my life for a while but I've gotten to grips with how time works in sql, I had to change it back to TIMESTAMP but it doesn't seem to be a problem.

I've been trying to get it to print out the most recent input rather than all of the fields and it now prints out the most recent one, I'll have to do a bit more to get it to print out a line for each person but hopefully that won't be as time consuming as the other one which turned out to be one line of SQL code

Database Fun

2008-01-12T00:20:00.000Z

Yesterday I added some test data to my two tables and I have a php page displaying fields from both tables in a table, e.g., Name, Location, Time using the SELECT keyword, i preferred this over the JOIN keyword. I have to change it from text into sentences like Christine was at home at 1.20p.m.
At the moment it just prints out everything that is the same in both tables so I have to get it to print out the recent location added by someone. I had my 'time' field as type TIMESTAMP but apparently this doesn't work well with comparisons so I'll have to change that probably to DATETIME. TIMESTAMP was handy because it printed out the date and time by default, hopefully DATETIME does this too.
I'll probably need to alter my database a little once most things are working, like the IP address is of type TEXT so it takes in anything at the moment but that's not hugely important right now, also the collation default in phpmyadmin is swedish for some random reason but it works in english so i'll leave it!

First meeting of 2008

2008-01-11T18:19:00.000Z

I met with Graeme and Steve yesterday to discuss my progress and what I need to do next with regards to my database.
I need to input some test data and work from that to get stuff working, i'll need to have two tables in my database using each other to get all the information required, one table will have ID, IP address and location e.g., HOME, SCHOOL etc, the other table will have ID, IP address and the time it was last updated.
I'll then need to have the two tables working together and printing out a line for each person, e.g., Christine was at home at 1.20 p.m.
Once I have that working I can try to find a way to obtain the IP address rather than typing it in manually.

Database Interactions

2008-01-09T21:50:00.000Z

I have my website getting the information inputted by a user and storing it in my database using PHP and today I did the opposite, I can now also display the contents of my database on a web page so I'm a happy camper.
I have to think more about my database now and decide what needs to be stored in it.
I have a meeting tomorrow so there'll be a huge long blog to write after that more than likely.

Christmas is over, sob

2008-01-04T23:56:00.000Z

So I started work yesterday and I got my Chapter 2 draft finished and have included my abstract and stuff in the final report template.

Today's goal was to fix up my simple php file as the input from my html form wasn't outputting to another php file but I have that fixed and working now although it is very basic but as long as it's working that's enough for me at the moment.

The next task is to try and get my php file to interact with my database. Not quite sure to go about this but google will be my friend and I'll read up on it.

stuff I've been up to

2007-11-16T16:15:00.000Z

I installed twitter (if I get to the exceptional, I'll be needing this), the feature to find people in your gmail already signed up is disabled at the mo, so I am friendless! added the application on facebook so it's there for when I need it.

Also made a submission form and the php file to read it, clever me did it on my computer that had no php so obviously nothin worked! i just need to get the form to read in the variables but the basics are there.

I kinda have WAMP workin with a password, the error page comes up but then i click to open another phpmyadmin page and it works. slightly confused about that one but it works for now so thats something.

meeting - 14/11/07

2007-11-15T11:56:00.000Z

I had a meeting with Lorcan and Graeme yesterday to get feedback on my presentation, I now have a few things to fix so next time it should be better!
From the presentation I gave, it was clear that I didn't have a clue about the technology side so its been simplified right down for me and I'll be tackling it in small steps. At the moment I have to get my head around what my project is actually doing and not worry about the precise technologies just yet. I have a simple diagram which I'll blog soon.
This weekend I have to create two php forms/pages which will be part of the server although they're not yet going to be connected to the database or anything. One page will have a form asking for two inputs, an ID/name and an IP address (this doesn't yet correspond to a specific location), and the other page will be printing out a list of what was inputted. I'll be using Lorcan's lecture notes to do this as he has good examples which are very relevant and I can pretty much use as they are. I'll be looking at a few more tutorials on html and php this weekend to get to grips with it.
By the end of next week at the latest I will have my 2nd draft of Chapter 2 done, with the full template in place, I will try to get my abstract written as well because Graeme said this should explain the whole project in 5 sentences and if you get sidetracked you always have your abstract to get you back and focused. I think they are on Lorcan's blog so I'll have a look at what they are.
My WAMP is now all working and we added a database with two fields - ID and IP, haven't done anything with it but it's good to have it set up. I have to add a password which we had some trouble with but Graeme has sent me a link which looks good so I'll try following that and see if I have any luck!

System Architecture Diagram - updated

2007-11-05T13:02:00.000Z

3rd meeting - 05/11/07

2007-11-05T12:53:00.000Z

I met with Lorcan and Steve and they helped me alot with what technology fits where and what relates to what, i will have my new system archictecture diagram up soon. They also checked my laptop and explained Apache and WAMP to me, they both seem to be working but MySQL isn't so I will have a look at that and do a few tutorials this week and if I have any problems I'll let them know.

We talked about building a paper prototype of my clock, this will be beneficial to me and for when I try to explain the idea of the clock to other people.

The presentation is on this Thursday and the advice given was to make about 8 slides and have the introduction and the conclusion of my presentation scripted, that way I know where I'm starting and where I will be finishing. This should help with the nerves if I'm more confident in what I'm doing!

I will try to get my 2nd draft finished in the next 2 weeks I'll set my deadline for the 17th/18th November, I'll also be familiar with the technology side a bit more so I can write a short bit on that too.

Also, Lorna Brown from Microsoft Research has been keeping in touch with Lorcan and it looks like a possible trip to meet Lorna and some of her colleagues working on the Whereabouts Clock may happen in January. Fingers crossed!

System Architecture Diagram

2007-10-25T12:12:00.001+01:00

I think this is right!

What needs to be done...brace yourselves!

2007-10-24T12:05:00.000+01:00

Graeme sent me a list of what I need to have done soon!

Finish reading work – I pretty much have this done, I just need to look at the comments and answer them.
Setting up LaTeX – I have this done and also TeXnicCenter, I just need to have a look and get to grips with using it.
Writing the background/related work part of the background section
(ignoring technology for now) – I plan to start this today and get it finished within the next few days, I'll set my deadline for this Friday evening and I'll email it to Graeme as soon as it's done!
Sketch out the high-level system architecture diagram - I'll aim to get his done today and scanned in tonight.
Investigate and choose my technologies – as soon as I've finished 1-4 I will start on this so it'll be this weekend that I begin.
Then when this is finished I can draw an updated system architecture diagram with the technologies I'd decided on from point 6.

That's my lovely list of things to do.

Place Labs

2007-10-24T11:23:00.000+01:00

I read "Place Lab: Device Positioning Using Radio Beacons in the Wild", this paper doesn't hugely apply to my project but it gives me more of an idea about "ubiquitous" computing and location-based services. This paper has a few of the same issues mentioned in other papers, such as coverage and the cost of entry for "both users and application developers". They mention MAC addresses and how they'll be used as they'll be affordable for everyday use. Privacy is also mentioned - it is clearly a big issue in "location awareness".

The Field Trial

2007-10-19T17:59:00.000+01:00

"Locating Family Values: A Field Trial of the Whereabouts Clock” was the next Microsoft paper I read, it was nominated for the best paper award so I was expecting good things! The clock was mentioned as “privacy preserving” given the fact that the locations are so vague and “coarse-grained”. They went on the basis that “less is more”, you only need to know who the person is and where they are. There are only limited applications in this field possibly because it is not yet delivering “compelling value for [the] user”. The Whereabouts Clock was tested on 5 families consisting in total of 26 people over a period of 6 months. It seemed that the clock provided more reassurance than anything, it was used for telling them what “families already know”. The location awareness also meant that people knew if someone wasn't where they were supposed to be.

The clock brings location based services which is so preoccupied with privacy issues involving tracking and situated displays which do not usually have “real-time data”. The clock becomes “part of the routine of life”, the same as a regular clock and it is not “stirring for accuracy or completeness” it is just giving a broad location.

The look of the clock is generally appealing perhaps a bit bland, it would be interesting to give the choice of different background colours to match people's décor or their personalities, I think it would make the clock even more integrated in the home. The casing for the clock could also be changeable this would be a big seller I think especially for younger family members. One feature I liked a lot was the “pendulum” that was animated to show the signal strength, it is a good thought. The clock also chimes whenever someone in the clock moves I also liked this idea.

There was only the need to register a location such as “school” once although the option to re-register is available, this means that some cheating could go on, if someone skipped school that day but didn't want anyone to find out, all they have to do is re-register the location to wherever they want. A child lock or something similar could be implemented to stop this but then that brings up trust issues!

I liked that there were icons for family members even if they were too young or just didn't have a mobile phone, the icon would animate or make noises when touched, this is good so that a young child could feel included, it is something I'd never considered but I would like to possibly include.

From the field trials, members said that they had more of a sense of togetherness, much like the trial done by Microsoft in the office. People adapted to the clock and used it in different ways, if no one in the family went to school, that location came to mean something different and all the family knew what it meant, there should be an option to change the labels which was addressed in this paper later on.

Overall the clock showed more than “just co-ordination and awareness” but also “reassurance, connectedness, expression of identity and social touch.” the clock was not seen as an invasion of privacy it was just showing and confirming what people already knew. People adapted and did more than was expected by the researchers. This paper has given a good indication of what the clock tests should be like and I found it very informative.

"Homes that make us smart"

2007-10-19T12:48:00.001+01:00

I read another Microsoft paper “Homes that make us smart”, I had mixed feelings about it. The main idea behind this paper was to talk about “smart homes” and in this paper it wasn't so much about ubiquitous computers but that computers should be thought of as “more as a resource for intelligence”. They want to “augment and support” life, enhance it rather than change the way people go about their daily routines. The paper made a good point about this type of technology only benefiting people who really need it, the elderly, disabled etc. and that people who don't have a need for it might not see the point. Surfaces are a key point in this paper especially fridge surfaces which I felt they spent too long in making this point, it was over simplified. Reminding magnets are the first technology mentioned and they seem a good idea, I would probably invest in them, they glow whenever a urgent note or reminder needs to be seen and all it takes is a glance.

HomeNotes were next mentioned, similar to post-it notes which was an idea also brought up in Weiser's paper, “The Computer for the 21^st Century”, seems to be popular. Notes are meant to be intrusive, you are meant to notice them that is their only purpose so it is important where they are placed. HomeNote is a tablet computer but with a SIM card and GPRS in it so people outside the home can communicated by SMS, once again this is costly. It was tested and like the whereabouts clock people felt they had a presence in the home even when they weren't there.

The next technology is the Whereabouts clock, this paper was written before any field trails had been done. They describe it a s “persistent availability” it is not a necessity in the home but it's there if you need it, it is unobtrusive, “at-a-glance” technology, there is no effort involved. Privacy is a concern but the conclusion was made that the clock is still in your home so anyone who sees it will more than likely be a family member or close friend and your specific location is not given just a general location such as “work”, “home”, or “school”.

The last technology was the PictureBowl it serves to manage digital clutter that we are increasingly ending up with more of, photos and videos etc.. while the idea is good I think at the end of the day when the bowl gets full there is still going to be the choice or deleting or transferring the items, it is still in the early stages and I would like to see more about this to see how it progresses.

verall I felt the paper was too long, it had interesting ideas but they seemed to get bogged down with every detail and it distracted from the projects themselves. The idea of intelligent computing almost seemed like it was being forced on me rather than letting me read about the technologies and coming to my own conclusion. I did like the ideas though, the technologies look really useful and pretty cool. I'd love those magnets for my fridge!

2nd Meeting 17/10/07

2007-10-19T11:56:00.001+01:00

I went to CASL to see Graeme, Steve and Lorcan and yes I did manage to get lost. Mainly talked about the technology and what I will be needing to research in the next week or so to help me choose my candidate technology, a lot of information! Basically my project will be divided into 5 core components:

database in background to store the necessary fields such as person, location, etc.
web server such as LAMP that gives access to the database from the web server.
query component that resolves the information (maybe php or jsp; php links nicely with mysql – an open source database) how to find IP(global IP/gateway address) and Wireless Access Point
client component to get their location and updated location (could even use a url type thing such as REST?Spring, hibernate and tapestry were also mentioned although hibernate less)
actual clock display

So it's pretty much all going to be web based which will make life slightly easier (I hope).

Lorcan sent me his lecture slides on php just to help me get started and I will look at Miktex this weekend, and Texnic center was mentioned so I will have a look at that website as well.

All 6 of us doing Aaron's projects will have to give a presentation at the beginning of November, we will have to talk about what the project is, what technologies we will be using and we should have a system architecture diagram as well. I can't wait.

Lorcan mentioned Lorna Brown who works for Microsoft Research in Cambridge, apparently there has been interest in this project and a possible trip over to Microsoft Research could be in the future, it would be amazing!

At the beginning it's the big picture that has to be addressed but when it comes down to it, it's split into chunks that will be manageable.

My aim this weekend is to finished the rest of the research papers and get that bit sorted and have a look at the technologies that were mentioned to me, basically I have to research a lot this weekend! I'll probably get this finished by next week some time hopefully.

I think I got this all right and remembered most of the stuff said in the meeting if not I'm sure you'll let me know!!!

Computers in the 21st Century...hmmm

2007-10-12T16:47:00.000+01:00

I read “The Computer for the 21^st Century”, a paper written by Mark Weiser. I found the paper odd but overall it was an interesting read. I think the paper was written in 1991 and he was hoping, even expecting his ideas to be a reality in 20 years time but that time constraint is nearly up and we are nowhere near what Weiser describes, not in mainstream life anyway. The aim of this paper is to consider ubiquitous computers, i.e., computers that aren't invasive to the extent that you don't realise you're even using a computer. At the moment the Weiser didn't feel like computers were a part of everyday life, in a sense they get in the way, he wants computers to be an “integral, invisible part of the way people live their lives”. Weiser talks about laptops, they have tried to integrate into our everyday lives but a “single box” is still in the way and not “invisible”. He sees integrated computers as the goal for example, “tabs” that act like post-it notes, boards with “electronic chalk”, “liveboards” can be used for conferences when all the people aren't in the same place 2 boards can display the same information. So pretty much pen and paper would never be the same, it would all be electronic. These “liveboards” can also be used as bulletin boards but the bulletins are specific to an individuals needs, all the user needs is an “active badge”, so there is no effort involved, the user doesn't have to do anything, no effort is required.

Weiser seems to want computers to mimic/replace everyday objects and to work together, for instance paper will beep if it is mislaid or a file cabinet will open with the file you are searching for, it will have found it for you. He mentions the money aspect but thinks that a standard screen will be very cheap in the next few years so it won't be a huge problem, I think this is what is holding the idea back, computers and screens are not so cheap that someone could afford to have hundreds in their house! Plus nowadays everyone is very energy efficient I can't see how this idea Weiser has is feasible when it comes to using energy wisely, these computers would always have to be on.

In the wrong hands Weiser recognises these ubiquitous computers such as active badges could have adverse effects, people could access personal data but with “cryptographic techniques” existing, if someone does access your data without consent they will leave behind a kind of digital fingerprint and can be traced.

Weiser gives an extract from a book which I found quite weird and not really appropriate for a paper but it did put across his point of what the world he imagines was real.

He concludes by saying ubiquitous computers will bring a sense of community into workplaces as workers will have more interaction with each other, also there will be less “computer addicts” as computers will be so common and normal that everyone is using them. Computers are a lot of the time related to stress whereas if they are less intrusive people won't make that connection. I'd never thought of this concept before but it is a very provocative insight into what the future could be like. This paper and it's ideas relate to my project as a device that was a computer but so integrated into normal life is exactly what he describes if only a tiny step into his world.

I'm back!

2007-10-12T11:55:00.000+01:00

I read "The Whereabouts Clock: Early Testing of a Situated Awareness Device" published by Microsoft Research members. I found this paper very interesting(which is good as it's my project!). The whereabouts clock is basically a device that shows where certain people are, in this case using a 19 inch LCD touch screen, by using location based services (LBS) and situated displays.
The motivation behind this idea seems to be based on peace of mind for the customer in knowing where their workers/family members are, a "sense of reassurance."
Harry Potter is mentioned and accredited with the concept of a clock that displays where people are although there are differences, the whereabouts clock uses icons rather than hands pointing to the people and of course the obvious one of relying "on technology rather than wizardry to make the clock work!"
I liked the idea of peoples faces "fading" on the display when they were out of range/had the application switched off and when they were using the application their faces would "appear bright and also animated(appearing to float slightly)". The main difference with this project and mine is how people are being located, this project used mobile phones with SMS while i'll be using laptops to obtain IP addresses or the nearest wireless access point depending on whether the person is in one place or in transit. The nearest cell tower was used to get a location of the person but what if the person had no coverage on their phone or switched their phone off? Then there would be no way to trace that person which defeats the purpose of the clock in my opinion. Updates would be sent by SMS which to me seems very costly and i know i would be put off because of this. The customer can also select activities from a menu and using SMS transfer this information, that's more money being spent again.
The early field trial that was carried out had very encouraging results, and i liked the fact that it was tested early on as they would get an idea if it was useful or if anyone even used it. 14 people were involved in the trial which i think is quite a big number for an office and the feedback gained would be more than sufficient to get an idea of the need for this clock. In the office trial it was beneficial as if you were working at home or in a meeting, not everyone has to be told individually, it's right there displayed on the clock. The drawbacks the field trial came up with was that sometimes people wanted to convey more, for example if their computer was not working or they'd be in the office after lunch, a location wasn't enough. This problem was addressed and the notion of touching a person's face to find out more information was said. I don't like this idea, I feel it's a bit too invasive but I suppose you only give the information you are comfortable giving.
The volunteers described the "wonder" of the clock and it was also described as "visual enchantment." To me this sums up the entire idea and why I think it would be well received, it's almost magical. The location was not the only important issue/aspect, where someone is going next, what they are doing and why seemed to be significant at times and then the clock would not just be about location it's making a person more real, you're in their personal life. The next step of this project is to add layers and make it touch screen so you can find out more information about an individual, then it's not a "clock" which the researchers recognise. This trial was for office use, the next trial will be in the home.
Overall the researchers seemed to find no negative areas only constructive criticism and room for improvement which is no real surprise as it's a paper written by microsoft about their own product.

my first meeting 01/10/2007

2007-10-02T02:07:00.000+01:00

Today me and Colin met Graeme, Steve and Lorcan for an introductory meeting. My project is the Whereabouts Clock. We discussed what is expected of us throughout the project generally, i.e. backup files, write minutes on every meeting, use the CVS as a backup submitting not just code but our thoughts as well. Collaboration is recommended between the 6 of us working on Aaron Quigley's projects. We went through our projects in detail, and looked at the milestones that should be achieved before the next meeting. By the end of October I should aim to have Chapter 2 of my report written which is the background research section and it should be around 5 pages long. I should take into account while reading these papers what relates to my project and what is and isn't useful in regards to my own work. I also need to look at location technologies such as WiFi and see what will be most effective.
We were advised to aim for the bulk of our project to be completed by Christmas as "second semester is going to be hell"! Time management is a very important technique and will be very beneficial for organising this project with other college work.
As well as background reading I need to sort out what my working environment will be, Trac was recommended as project management software as it's the "new GForge", also a programming environment, a language to write in(e.g., java, C++) and a blog(obviously i have chosen blogger).
I'm scared.