Well, howdy.
Let me tell you about the Active Badge project
here at Olivetti Research in Cambridge.
Now, the Active Badge project is one
of a number of projects we have here which deal with location
of personnel and equipment to generate information, which
makes it possible for computer and communication systems
to be easier to use.
Now, Active Badges are personal devices
like this one, which we wear.
They transmit and receive in the infrared spectrum
to transceivers, base transceivers such as this one.
And this information makes it possible to define
infrared cells which correspond to working spaces.
So let's start off with the hardware.
And my colleague, Tom Blackie, will
describe the components that make up the Active Badge
system.
There are two main components to the Active Badge system, sensor
receivers and Active Badges.
Each Active Badge contains infrared transmitter diodes,
infrared receiver, two push buttons
for signaling information back to the system,
two visible LEDs to provide status information to the user,
and a piezoceramic sounder for sounding signaling information,
such as basic paging.
Now, the Active Badge information
is made available to everybody throughout this organization.
And one of the systems it's available on
is the Unix system.
And here is my Unix window, X Window,
which shows what's going on in the company right now.
So here is a list of all the individuals here, our visitors
today.
So for example, my colleague, Mark Chopping,
is shown as being on extension 434.
This column indicates whether he's moving or not.
The five asterisks mean that all the recent sightings
have been in one place so that he's static.
And in fact, he's in my office right here right now.
Mike Addlesee is shown as being away.
It is possible to put your own string, your own little words,
over here.
And so it shows that he's not here right now.
Other columns indicate the actual position,
and other regions indicate what's
happening to Olivetti research personnel, what's
happening to visitors.
I can also click on an individual.
I'll click on myself, and it shows
that Andy Hopper is at a gathering in fact
with the film crew and one or two others,
as you would expect, and also shows
the various methods of communication that
can be used to get hold of me and my particular list of away
entries.
Now, the information for our organization
is made available throughout.
But we also have sightings come from the computer laboratory.
And there, they have to be individually authorized.
So here is a list of the computer laboratory
personnel who appear on the Olivetti research screen
and who have authorized sightings in this way.
Now, I can show you the university screen.
Here it is.
I've logged on to a university computer,
and these are the university people who are currently
using the system over there.
And I can show you that on their screen,
the Olivetti personnel number of people is much smaller.
Now, we are very interested in what
the effect of making sighting information available
elsewhere is.
And in particular, we have integrated this with the Unix
finger command on a machine.
And so essentially, worldwide, my position, my Active Badge
information--
Andy Hopper is in this office, plus my telephone number--
is made available to any Unix user around the world.
Now, making the badge information
available to everybody in this organization
has totally transformed the way we
behave, because you no longer walk down the corridor to see
somebody who is not there.
That's absurd.
You're no longer telephone somebody who is not there.
That's absurd.
Well, certainly, you don't call somebody
who is in circumstances where you might disturb them.
But in a way, the most important thing
is that for the normal telephone calls
which come into this building, the information is made
available to the receptionist.
And so calls are routed in a more sophisticated way.
Distributing location information
through this organization has been a big win,
but we've also used to use the badge information
in other systems.
So for example, we have a videophone system
available throughout this building
into the university to some extent.
And in order to videophone somebody, I type their name.
So I just typed "Harter."
He's one of the badge team, Andy Harter.
And the videophone will be put through to him
based on where he actually is, rather
than some other position.
Hello, Andy.
Hi, Andy.
Are you Andy Harter of the badge team?
Yes, I am.
And here's my badge to prove it.
Very good.
So what's happened here is that we've controlled videophones
using Active Badge data.
Anyway, over to you, Andrew.
Thank you.
Another application presenting location information
makes use of graphics.
This X Windows application presents a hierarchical series
of two-dimensional maps and, at the top level,
shows the center of Cambridge.
The areas with bold outlines indicate areas
with Active Badge systems.
If I select the new museum site, I
see three areas comprising the computer laboratory system.
If I further select on the tower,
I see the 10 levels of the tower structure.
If I select on floor two, I can now zoom in and move around.
At this level, the map is annotated
with Active Badge sensors and Active Badge users themselves.
By using the presence of the Active Badge as a key,
we can control access to resources.
For example, I can control access to this workstation.
The workstation is monitoring the location of my badge.
And when I leave the room, the workstation becomes locked.
When I return to the room, the workstation is unlocked.
The same sort of technique can be
used to give hands-free access through doors.
Another application is the management of printer queues.
The printer at which a document is eventually printed
can be determined from the Active Badge wearer's location.
This can be extended to provide a confidential print facility
where the document only appears when the badge wearer is
next to the printer.
One of the problems with infrared tags
is that they can be forged by recording and replay.
We've been able to address this problem in the badge
because it has a receive capability
and an authentication function.
The system can generate a random challenge
to the badge, which the badge encrypts
using password and function.
Since the system knows the function and the password,
the identity of the badge can be verified.
Another application of location information
is the customization of the environment.
The Active Badge can play a key role in intelligent building
services.
For example, air conditioning, lights, vending machines,
and even telephones can be configured as a badge wearer
approaches them.
So what of the future?
Well, we've been most taken by this do-nothing technology.
So we're going to label all equipment.
Everything that moves in this building will be labeled.
And we'll see what new applications
come about as a result of that.
And in the longer term, we think of something
called the "active office environment."
And in this environment, I would like
computer and communications systems
to be personalized for me.
So I would like to walk up to a computer,
and I would like the badge to identify me to that computer
and for my user interface to be automatically put up
on that computer.
And similarly with the communications infrastructure--
whether videophones, video mail, telephone,
whatever-- what is available is automatically
made known to the system.
And when a user makes a call, the best possible fit
is made available to them.
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