The case for end-user programming of ubiquitous computing environments

Gone are the days that computers will be used by select users sitting at a desk with a mouse and keyboard. The next wave of computing, ubiquitous computing, is upon us. With smart phones, tablet computers, and embedded sensors/actuators flourishing, users are already interacting with dozens of computers per day. A large body of research has addressed many issues in hardware and software for the future, but few have focused on the users. We posit that the reason ubiquitous computing environments are still largely unrealized is because research is technology-centric, with inadequate focus on users. To bridge this gap between what technology can provide and what users need and want from ubiquitous computing, we motivate the need for end-user programming in ubiquitous computing environments and provide a vision for enabling end-user programming. We believe that the software engineering community must provide end-user programming capabilities in ubiquitous computing environments if this domain is to reach its full potential.

[1]  Gregg Rothermel,et al.  End-user software engineering , 2004, Commun. ACM.

[2]  Tom Rodden,et al.  "Playing with the Bits" User-Configuration of Ubiquitous Domestic Environments , 2003, UbiComp.

[3]  Sang-Hwan Kim,et al.  USABILITY CHALLENGES IN UBICOMP ENVIRONMENT , 2003 .

[4]  Alan F. Blackwell,et al.  AutoHAN: an architecture for programming the home , 2001, Proceedings IEEE Symposia on Human-Centric Computing Languages and Environments (Cat. No.01TH8587).

[5]  Mari Zakrzewski,et al.  Probing a Proactive Home : Challenges in Researching and Designing Everyday Smart Environments , 2006 .

[6]  HENRY LIEBERMAN,et al.  End-User Development: An Emerging Paradigm , 2006, End User Development.

[7]  John Seely Brown,et al.  The Origins of Ubiquitous Computing Research at PARC in the Late 1980s , 1999, IBM Syst. J..

[8]  Mary Shaw,et al.  Estimating the numbers of end users and end user programmers , 2005, 2005 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC'05).

[9]  Mark Weiser,et al.  The computer for the 21st Century , 1991, IEEE Pervasive Computing.

[10]  Amy Jo Kim,et al.  Community Building on the Web: Secret Strategies for Successful Online Communities , 2000 .

[11]  Christine Julien,et al.  What Users Want from Smart Environments , 2009 .

[12]  Christine Julien,et al.  Opening pervasive computing to the masses using the SEAP middleware , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications.

[13]  D. Garlan,et al.  Task-based adaptation for ubiquitous computing , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part C (Applications and Reviews).

[14]  Gregory D. Abowd,et al.  CAMP: A Magnetic Poetry Interface for End-User Programming of Capture Applications for the Home , 2004, UbiComp.

[15]  Vlad Stirbu,et al.  Towards a RESTful Plug and Play Experience in the Web of Things , 2008, 2008 IEEE International Conference on Semantic Computing.

[16]  Diane J. Cook,et al.  Keeping the intelligent environment resident in the loop , 2008 .

[17]  Albrecht Schmidt,et al.  An Experimental Comparison of Physical Mobile Interaction Techniques: Touching, Pointing and Scanning , 2006, UbiComp.

[18]  Mounir Mokhtari,et al.  User Needs and Usage Analysis in a Smart Environment for People Requiring Assistance , 2007 .

[19]  Kent Larson,et al.  Activity Recognition in the Home Using Simple and Ubiquitous Sensors , 2004, Pervasive.

[20]  Dirk Heylen,et al.  Meetings and meeting modeling in smart surroundings , 2004 .

[21]  Diane J. Cook,et al.  MavHome: an agent-based smart home , 2003, Proceedings of the First IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications, 2003. (PerCom 2003)..

[22]  Gilles Grimaud,et al.  The Web of Things: Interconnecting Devices with High Usability and Performance , 2009, 2009 International Conference on Embedded Software and Systems.

[23]  Christoph Richter,et al.  Interactive Displays and Next-Generation Interfaces , 2009, Hagenberg Research.

[24]  Brad A. Myers,et al.  Six Learning Barriers in End-User Programming Systems , 2004, 2004 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages - Human Centric Computing.

[25]  James H. Aylor,et al.  Computer for the 21st Century , 1999, Computer.

[26]  Erik Wilde,et al.  Putting Things to REST , 2007 .

[27]  Mohamed Abdelaziz,et al.  Project JXTA-C: enabling a Web of things , 2003, 36th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2003. Proceedings of the.