Ubiquitous (aka pervasive) computing is an emerging concept of how people may use computing support in the future: no longer interacting with one computer at a time, but rather interacting with a dynamic set of networked computers, often invisible and embodied in everyday objects in the environment. This course introduces ubiquitous computing concepts and technology through guided readings and hands-on project experience. It offers an overview of how ubiquitous computing builds on distributed systems and mobile computing. Specifically, the following topics will be covered:
Definition and scope of ubiquitous computing, architectures for ubiquitous computing, applications and devices such as wireless sensor networks and radio frequency identification devices, low power hardware design for ubiquitous computing, power management and power sources, security requirements, social aspects of ubiquitous computing incl. privacy concerns, interactions between humans and (ubiquitous) computers, deployment and evaluation of solutions, sensing and actuation, awareness and perception.
Related GMU Project
EducáTable, Interactive Surface to Support Elementary School Teaching
The EducáTable is the result of an undergraduate Senior Design project here at GMU.
The goal of this project was to build a kid-friendly interactive surface and develop an
application targeted to educating elementary school students.
An interactive surface is a device similar to a graphical user interface (GUI), however the
user manipulates it with one (Touchscreen) or more fingers (Multitouch) and by placing
everyday objects on the screen and manipulating these objects (Surface Computing). This
leads itself naturally to a table style design where users can place objects and also use
their fingers. This idea is not new and has been used for the Microsoft Surface and for the ReacTable.
This project by K. Sato and G. Paudel was awarded the title Outstanding ECE Senior Design Project.
The final table of this Senior Design project is showcased in a
video by this group on
YouTube.
The technical presentation can also be viewed:
Part 1
and
Part 2.
General Information
| Type | Day | Time | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | Thursday | 7:20 pm - | 10:00 pm | in Engineering Building 1108 |
Documents
- Syllabus: (pdf)
Instructors
Dr. Jens-Peter Kaps
Office: Engineering Building, Room 3222
Email: jkaps'at'gmu.edu
Office Hours:
- Monday 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm
- Wednesday 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Additional office hours are by appointment only (see the Contact page for how to setup an appointment).
Dr. João Pedro Sousa
Office: Engineering Building, Room 4427
Email: jpsousa'at'gmu.edu
Office Hours: (to be posted)
Textbook
(Recommended) Advances in Ubiquitous Computing: Future Paradigms and Directions by Mostefaoui, Maamar, Giaglis. IGI Publishing, 2008, ISBN 9781599048406.
Additional papers will be made available at the schedule page.