Concept: Context Sensitivity
As I stated before, the ability for computers, electronic devices and software to be sensitive to a given context is extremely valuable. When combined with the concept of seamless computing, it's value increases even more.
Let's try an example:
I'm in my car with phone in tow and (thanks to seamless computing) my entire schedule for the year resides on this device. By the time I've sat down in the driver's seat, my phone has told my computer that, according to my schedule, I am most likely headed to the Bangor Hoyt's Cinema. My GPS unit then asks if I would like directions to the cinema. If so, it begins tracing the route to my destination as I drive. I've now arrived early to the movie only to find that it is sold out. Bummer, guess I should have ordered the tickets ahead of time. Ah, but what's this? There is another movie showing 20 minutes later that I've been dying to see. I alert my phone that I've changed plans. It immediately leaves text messages on each of the other attendee's phones to let them know. Once my friends have arrived, we walk into the theater -- the phone responds by automatically going into vibrate mode since it is aware of my current surroundings. After the movie, it's time for a bite to eat. No one is familiar with our immediate surroundings. We ask the GPS to give us an overlay of the nearby restaurants complete with recommendations by friends we have manually entered and trust. The nearest and best restaurant is selected, the GPS responds by giving us directions.
The overlying concept of this description is context sensitivity. Software and devices are no longer dumb, but helpful. The phone turned itself off because understood how location and behavior are linked. It messaged my friends because it understood common courtesy. The phone was programmed to understand social contexts. The car GPS unit understands the meaning of time and its impact on events and messages. It also understands location and that when I say, "What is the best restaurant around?" I mean, "What is the nearest restaurant that I might like because my trusted friends liked it?" Mobile computing already exists. It works with PDAs, smartphones, and laptops. The technology that we own, however, is not imbued with these abilities... not yet anyway.
I am certainly not the first to point out such scenarios. The cell phone industry is paying attention to this trend and they are investing heavily in it. They must not get lost in the glitter of it all and push new features on their users, however. The cellphone is made to reflect the user's need, not the other way around. How do we blend the abilities of our mobile, connected technology with our mobile, connected lives without burdening them? How do we make technology courteous, not annoying or demanding? This may be the most difficult challenge of them all.
Let's try an example:
I'm in my car with phone in tow and (thanks to seamless computing) my entire schedule for the year resides on this device. By the time I've sat down in the driver's seat, my phone has told my computer that, according to my schedule, I am most likely headed to the Bangor Hoyt's Cinema. My GPS unit then asks if I would like directions to the cinema. If so, it begins tracing the route to my destination as I drive. I've now arrived early to the movie only to find that it is sold out. Bummer, guess I should have ordered the tickets ahead of time. Ah, but what's this? There is another movie showing 20 minutes later that I've been dying to see. I alert my phone that I've changed plans. It immediately leaves text messages on each of the other attendee's phones to let them know. Once my friends have arrived, we walk into the theater -- the phone responds by automatically going into vibrate mode since it is aware of my current surroundings. After the movie, it's time for a bite to eat. No one is familiar with our immediate surroundings. We ask the GPS to give us an overlay of the nearby restaurants complete with recommendations by friends we have manually entered and trust. The nearest and best restaurant is selected, the GPS responds by giving us directions.
The overlying concept of this description is context sensitivity. Software and devices are no longer dumb, but helpful. The phone turned itself off because understood how location and behavior are linked. It messaged my friends because it understood common courtesy. The phone was programmed to understand social contexts. The car GPS unit understands the meaning of time and its impact on events and messages. It also understands location and that when I say, "What is the best restaurant around?" I mean, "What is the nearest restaurant that I might like because my trusted friends liked it?" Mobile computing already exists. It works with PDAs, smartphones, and laptops. The technology that we own, however, is not imbued with these abilities... not yet anyway.
I am certainly not the first to point out such scenarios. The cell phone industry is paying attention to this trend and they are investing heavily in it. They must not get lost in the glitter of it all and push new features on their users, however. The cellphone is made to reflect the user's need, not the other way around. How do we blend the abilities of our mobile, connected technology with our mobile, connected lives without burdening them? How do we make technology courteous, not annoying or demanding? This may be the most difficult challenge of them all.
posted by Matt James at
10:36 PM
2 Comments:
Are you sure that machines can think and understand?
By
Yuri, at 6:22 AM
No, I'm not asserting that these machines are thinking, deciphering beings or anything. The devices that I'm talking about are programmed to respond to their current context in time and space. In my examples, the machine was programmed to know that if an event is changed, it should let the other people know. Although, and this is an important piece that I'll get to in another post, it is much preferred if the phone asked whether or not the user wanted to notify other attendees of the changes.
In the cinema example, the phone had GPS coordinates. The programmers merely put into the software a piece that says, "These are places where it is impolite to ring. Turn on vibrate mode." If the current location matched one of those GPS points, it turns on vibrate mode. (Again, perhaps it should ask the user first, though this one is debatable.)
I think the key here is that the developer took into account common scenarios and what the appropriate response for the device would be. The device has then, essentially, been instructed in etiquette. This is one of the missing links to bring a better relationship between us and our devices. Perhaps another post later on down the road?
Thanks for the question/comment!
By
Matt James, at 8:16 AM
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