Ambient intelligence (AmI) refers to environments with electronic devices that are aware of and can recognize the presence of human beings and adapt accordingly. This concept encompasses various technologies in consumer electronics, telecommunications, and computing. Its primary purpose is to enhance user interactions through context-aware systems.
AmI aims to create environments where devices communicate seamlessly with users, leveraging data from interconnected systems. A common example of Aml is the Internet of Things (IoT), which integrates everyday devices into networks that provide intelligent responses based on user behavior.[1]
The term “ambient intelligence” was coined in the late 1990s by Eli Zelkha and his team at Palo Alto Ventures. The project envisioned a future where technology would seamlessly blend with daily life.[2] [3] [4] [5] In the early 2000s, the concept gained further attention when the Information Society and Technology Advisory Group (ISTAG) of the European Commission published a series of reports on the topic.[6]
Ambient intelligence has been characterized as a speculative or imaginary concept.
The concept of ambient intelligence builds upon pervasive computing, ubiquitous computing, profiling, context awareness, and human-centered computer interaction design. It is characterized by systems and technologies that are:[7]
The implementation of ambient intelligence requires several technologies to exist. These include hidden hardware that benefit from miniaturisation, nanotechnology, and smart devices, along with human-centered computer interfaces (intelligent agents, multimodal interaction, context awareness, etc). These systems and devices operate through a seamless mobile or fixed communication and computing infrastructure characterized by interoperability, wired and wireless networks, and service-oriented architecture. Systems and devices must also be dependable and secure. This could be achieved through self-testing and self-repairing software and privacy-ensuring technology.
Ambient intelligence has a relationship with and depends on advances in sensor technology and sensor networks.[8]
User experience became more important to developers in the late 1990s as a result of experiences with digital products that were difficult to understand or use. In response, user experience design emerged to create new technologies and media around the user's personal experience. Ambient intelligence is influenced by user-centered design, in which the user is placed in the centre of design activity and gives feedback to the designer.
In 1998, the management board of Philips Research commissioned a series of presentations and internal workshops organized by Eli Zelkha and Brian Epstein of Palo Alto Ventures. They investigated future scenarios and how consumer devices might advance over the next quarter-century. Zelkha and Epstein described the high-volume consumer electronics industry of the 1990s as "fragmented with features", contrasted by what they envisioned as the emergence of industry trends where user-friendly devices would support ubiquitous information, communication, and entertainment by 2020.[9] As a result, the term "ambient intelligence" was coined.
While developing the ambient intelligence concept, Palo Alto Ventures created the keynote address for Roel Pieper of Philips for the Digital Living Room Conference of 1998,[10] which included Eli Zelkha, Brian Epstein, Simon Birrell, Doug Randall and Clark Dodsworth. In 2000, there were plans to construct a feasible and usable facility dedicated to ambient intelligence; these led to the opening of HomeLab on April 24, 2002. In 2005, Philips joined the Oxygen Alliance, an international consortium of industrial partners within the context of MIT's Oxygen Project,[11] which was aimed at developing technology for the computer of the 21st century.
In parallel to the development of the concept and vision of "ambient intelligence" at Philips, several other initiatives were also starting to explore the concept of ambient intelligence. Following the advice of the Information Society and Technology Advisory Group (ISTAG), the European Commission used the vision for the launch of their sixth framework (FP6) in Information, Society and Technology, with a budget of 3.7 billion euros.[12]
During the first decade of the 21st century, several significant initiatives were launched. The Fraunhofer Society started several such activities, including multimedia, micro-system design, and augmented spaces. MIT started an ambient intelligence research group at their Media Lab.[13] Several more research projects were started in countries such as the United States, Canada, Spain, France, and the Netherlands. Since 2004, the European Symposium on Ambient Intelligence (EUSAI) and many other conferences have been held that address special topics in ambient intelligence.
Europe's ISTAG suggests that society may be encouraged to use ambient intelligence if AmI projects are able to meet the following criteria:[14]
A variety of technologies can be used to enable ambient intelligence environments, such as:
The ambient intelligence concept is subject to criticism.[15] Ambient intelligence can be immersive, personalized, context-aware, and anticipatory. These characteristics bring up societal, political, and cultural concerns about the loss of privacy. Proponents of AmI argue that applications of ambient intelligence can function without necessarily reducing privacy.[16] [17] [18]
Critics also discuss the potential for concentrations of power in large organisations; a fragmented, decreasingly private society; and hyper-real environments where the virtual is indistinguishable from the real.[19] Several research groups and communities have investigated the socioeconomic, political, and cultural aspects of ambient intelligence.