AmbientBrowser: Web browser in everyday life

Abstract

Recently, due to the remarkable advancement of technology, the ubiquitous computing environment is becoming a reality. People can directly obtain information anytime from ubiquitous computer. However, conventional computing style with a keyboard and a mouse is not suitable for everyday use. We proposed and developed a Web browser called the AmbientBrowser system that supports people in their daily acquisition of knowledge. It continuously searches Web pages using both system-defined and user-defined keywords, and displays sensors detect users' and environmental conditions and control the system's behavior such as knowledge selection or a style of presentation. Thus, the user can encounter a wide variety of knowledge without active operations. It monitors the context of the environment, such as lighting conditions and temperature. In addition, it displays Web pages incrementally in proportion to the context. This paper describes the implementation of the AmbientBrowser system and discusses its effects. © 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin/Heidelberg.