Programming Pervasive Spaces: Workshop on Semantic Interoperability in Smart Spaces

In principle, the entire world can exploit smart spaces to great societal benefits. In practice, however, there is as yet little fundamental basis or widely accepted programming models for such systems. There are also very few established standards for interoperability and for promoting a much needed ecosystem. In this talk, I will present our ongoing research efforts in defining and supporting programmable pervasive spaces. I will start by presenting our experience and lessons learnt in building "assistive environments" for the elderly, to demonstrate the need for space programmability and to define critical new requirements particular to smart spaces. I will then present ATLAS, a middleware architecture and a sensor platform that supports self-integration and enables SODA -- a Service-Oriented Device Architecture standard. I will show how ATLAS was used as the foundation on which we built and programmed the Gator Tech Smart House, and how it enabled pervasive application development, and scalable data collection and analysis. I will then delineate the limitations of SODA and present programming model extensions that address space and user safety as well as reliability and scalability. Finally, I will present our views of a possible ecosystem within which our programming models and system support can be used to promote the interoperation and the proliferation of programmable and manageable smart spaces.