Ubiquitous Commerce - Always On, Always Aware, Always Pro-active

The development of the infrastructure for ubiquitous computing is progressing rapidly, yet the applications that will be built on this new infrastructure remain largely ill defined. What will we do with these emerging capabilities? Stock quotes in 3-D on your heads-up display? Sports scores in stereo sound? We believe that the new kinds of services will result from three primary capabilities of ubiquitous devices: (1) to provide a service channel for remote service providers through an “always on” connection, (2) to inform these services about the local context of the user through an array of sensors, and (3) to enable these services to affect things in the user environment through actuators and local communication links. The new services enabled by these capabilities will lead to a new era of ubiquitous commerce, and change all business functions from customer relationship management to enterprise and supply chain management. 1. Ubiquitous Devices as Service Channels Mobile and embedded devices represent a new, constantly present, personal service channel. This is a relatively new phenomenon. We are only beginning to see connections that are “always on” such as NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode 1 , General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) 2 , and third generation mobile services (3G) 3 . At home, only a minority of Internet users currently have a high-speed (DSL or cable modem) connection. When these “always on” connections become ubiquitous, businesses that provide services will be also challenged to be “always on,” ready to respond to their customers whenever customers might need them. For example, if I see some product I like – whether in a store or on the sidewalk, I should be able to pull out my mobile device and get information on that product or order it from my shopping services provider. 1 http://www.nttdocomo.com/i/ 2 http://www.gsmworld.com/technology/gprs.html 3 http://www.3gnewsroom.com/ While the new connections certainly open up a new marketing channel for existing services, more interesting are the new kinds of services that will become possible. Once an always present, always-on channel becomes a reality, access to customers will cease being a constraint on commerce. Not only will you, the user, be able to get services anywhere, anytime -services, in effect, will be able to casually tap you on your shoulder and whisper in your ear. But what should these new services whisper? And how will this newfound access be managed across competing interests? 2. Ubiquitous Devices as Sensors Today’s mobile devices are essentially deaf, dumb, and blind. Service providers depend upon users to enter all necessary information. Consequently, services available today are essentially those that can be delivered despite these rather drastic limitations. Over time, however, ever more powerful mobile and embedded devices will become equipped with a variety of sensors: • Geo-positioning capabilities such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) will inform devices of their location. • Biometrics such as fingerprint or retina scanners will identify the user. • Tagging and tracking technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags will identify the objects around them. In short, ubiquitous devices will begin to open their eyes to the world around them and as a result we will begin to see services that don’t depend solely upon the user’s explicit input to establish, interpret, and communicate their present situation. One simple example of a sensor that can add value to a mobile device is a barcode scanner. There are already several personal digital assistants (PDAs) on the market equipped with a barcode scanner. These devices are widely used in inventory control and warehousing applications. Other miniature sensors such as GPS, cameras, microphones, thermometers, finger print Proceedings of the 2002 Symposium on Applications and the Internet (SAINT’02) 0-7695-1447-2/02 $17.00 © 2002 IEEE scanners, and even chemical analyzers are becoming commercially available as well. The problem is that if we integrate all of these in a single mobile device it will become rather unwieldy and unusable. Fortunately, Bluetooth can solve this problem. It creates a wireless extension bus for portable devices and will enable users to mix and match the exact combination of sensors that is necessary for the task at hand. I can have a wireless camera in my lapel, a wireless earphone in my ear, a 3G phone on my belt, a GPS receiver in my pocket and a PDA in my hand – all working together. Devices for ubiquitous commerce will not be limited to mobile phones and PDAs with various accessories. Most electronic devices will have these capabilities. There are already digital cameras on the market equipped with communications capabilities. At first, they will be used by professionals (journalists, insurance adjusters) to send their pictures back to their offices. As prices come down, it is not unreasonable to envision people sharing their vacation experiences in real time or getting a 10 minute photography lesson as a Web service delivered right through the viewfinder of your camera. All your camera will need is a Bluetooth connection to your 3G mobile phone. 3. Ubiquitous Devices as Effectors The ubiquitous commerce trend is not happening in a vacuum. Just as millions of people are acquiring mobile phones, millions of objects of various kinds – kiosks, displays, cars, kitchen appliances are now acquiring wireless capabilities of their own. In other words, the mobile user is increasingly surrounded by smart appliances and infrastructure of all kinds. Mobile services delivered through my portable device should be aware of what is available in my environment and be able to use it. For example, if I am receiving a TV listing on my PDA, the PDA should be able to control my TV or my video recording device. If I am in a store interacting with a customer service through my mobile phone, I should be able to switch to a nearby kiosk that has a far better screen than my phone. In fact, the mobile device, by virtue of its presence on one’s person, has the chance to be the user interface for the myriad of intelligent objects we find around us. Today we can point a phone at a soda machine and buy a Coke. Soon we will be able to point to a far larger array of objects and receive supporting services. In effect, the mobile device becomes a remote control to the world. 4. Re-thinking Business Functions We believe that these “tri-corder”like capabilities of the new mobile devices – a service channel, a sensor, and an effector – will change the way we think about many business functions. For example, today Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is mainly concerned with identifying and targeting the right customers and with handling customer contacts. Ubiquitous commerce will dramatically expand the scope of CRM. Today your customers have to come to your store, office or Web site to conduct business with you. Tomorrow, you will be able to conduct your business at your competitor’s location -in effect the location of your customer will become the location of your business. Consequently, your customer services must also follow your customers, or someone else’s will. Your products, equipped with RFID labels, will continue to communicate with you after they are sold. You will know where they are and how they are performing. That also will become part of your customer service. Tomorrow, I will expect the manufacturer of my jacket to let me know when I need a pair of pants that actually match my jacket. Your products will be your best sales representatives. If you sell clothing, each garment might have an RFID label using technologies such as Hitachi’s mu-chip which is only 0.4mm 2 in size. A teenager wearing this garment might let his friends scan the label using their mobile phones with RFID readers. At this point, your additional sales should be only one click away. To provide the high level of services that will be required to compete in ubiquitous commerce, companies will have to follow the three “always” commandments: • To be always on and connected to their customers • To be always aware of their customers real-time context (where the customers are, what they are doing, what is around them) • To be always pro-active, taking advantage of the real-time opportunities to satisfy customer needs Proceedings of the 2002 Symposium on Applications and the Internet (SAINT’02) 0-7695-1447-2/02 $17.00 © 2002 IEEE