ABOUT ICE

Research and Visions

The last decade has seen a shift in the nature of computer systems with the development of a new set of network based applications. The merging of computing and communication systems has in combination with the maturing of distributed computing techniques altered the way in wich computers are now seen with a growing focus on the information infrastructure rather than the devices that access it. The rapid development of the World Wide Web represents the most dramatic example of this shift in the nature of computer systems with the popular acceptance of massively interconnected computersystems. This transformation in the nature of computers has seen a shift in their public perception with computer and communication systems being seamlessly interwoven within the everyday life of the general public. This transformation has not only resulted in the emergence of a new economic sector it also serves as an illustrative example of current trends in the nature of computer and communication systems. These trends suggest that in the future:

Computers will continue to become smaller and more mobile and will be even more integrated into the everyday fabric of the workplace.

Computers will become increasingly interconnected and exploit new forms of interconnection to provide application facilities by working in tandem with each other.

Computers will support an increasing range of media and provide novel forms of interaction including and increased interleaving of physical and electronic media and virtual and physical environments.

Communication systems will continue to grow in bandwith and accessibility

Communications infrastructures will become increasingly based on wireless technology.

These trends are likely to continue to change the way in which IT systems are constructed and used suggesting that in the future our everday exposure to computer systems will be based around a range of devices working in tandem and exploiting a sophisticated computational environment. Essentially these applications will be highly contextual in nature and the ability of systems to meet the needs of users will be based on the provision not only of new forms of interactive device but on access to a sophisticated communication environment. The web illustrates an early example of an information infrastructure with its provision of on-line resources and services. Future infrastructures will offer considerably more sophisticated services and will need to support new forms of media and interaction. The already ubiquitous nature of the web suggests that these services will be closely integrated with the everyday fabric of the workplace and the home forming new classes of interactive collaborative environments.

The Collaborative Environment Laboratory at SICS focuses on the development of future computational environments that will support and promote cooperative interaction. Developing the computer environments of the future and uncovering the facilities and services they will need to provide presents a considerable set of research challengers. These essentially demand a multidisciplinary approach that ranges from developing the scientific principles underpinning technologies to understanding the setting in which they are used. The research interests of the group also span both real environments populated by computational elements and virtual environments that are computationally realized. These environments will also need to span both space and time. These environments should support their inhabitants independently of their physical location and allow interaction to occur when people are simultaneously available and when their activities occur at different times.

This work brings together work in tangible and physical interfaces and distributed virtual reality to explore how a number of heterogeneous devices and interfaces can be used in unison to support the activities of citizens of the future information society. The central theme of the group is the way in which future information technology will provide a ubiquitous backdrop to our future activities both at work and at home.

Also, see Research Area: Generic data-sharing infrastructures