Into Ambient Intelligence

Ambient intelligence (AmI) refers to electronic environments that are sensitive and responsive to the presence of people. The paradigm relates to a vision for digital systems in the years 2010-2020 that was developed in the late 1990s, and which has become quite influential in the development of new concepts for information processing, combining multidisciplinary fields including electrical engineering, computer science, industrial design, user interfaces, and cognitive sciences. In an AmI world, devices operate collectively using information and intelligence that is hidden in the network connecting the devices. Lighting, sound, vision, domestic appliance, and personal health care products all cooperate seamlessly with one another to improve the total user experience through the support of natural and intuitive user interfaces. Evidently, the new paradigm is aimed at improving the quality of peoples' lives by creating the desired atmosphere and functionality via intelligent, personalized, interconnected systems and services. However simple this requirement may seem, its true realization is for the time being not within our reach. To bring this ideology closer to its realization, substantial investigation into integration technology, natural interaction concepts, and human behavior is neede, and this is the aim of Ambient Intelligence.