The Talking Assistant Headset: A Novel Terminal for Ubiquitous Computing

Research on ubiquitous computing (UC) infrastructures at the Telecooperation Group emphasizes ears-and-mouth devices for nomadic users. In this context, the following document describes the prototype of such a device. This voicecentric headset features a Bluetooth radio for wireless network connectivity and a combination of sensors to gather context information, such as the location of the mobile user in space and the head orientation. The Talking Assistant headset targets tour, exhibition, and museum guidance as an initial application domain. A corresponding demonstrator testbed has been built in order to evaluate the functionality of the device, context model, and software architecture. The Talking Assistant is also a key element of the MUNDO ubiquitous computing infrastructure which will be briefly sketched at the end. Technical Report TK-02/02, Technische Universität Darmstadt, 1. Oktober 2002 URL: http://www.tk.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de/Forschung/publikationen The Talking Assistant Headset: A Novel Terminal for Ubiquitous Computing Technical Report No. TK-02/02 Erwin Aitenbichler, Max Mühlhäuser Telecooperation Group, Department of Computer Science, Darmstadt University of Technology Alexanderstr. 6, D-64283 Darmstadt, Germany {erwin,max}@informatik.tu-darmstadt.de Abstract: Research on ubiquitous computing (UC) infrastructures at the Telecooperation Group emphasizes ears-and-mouth devices for nomadic users. In this context, the following document describes the prototype of such a device. This voicecentric headset features a Bluetooth radio for wireless network connectivity and a combination of sensors to gather context information, such as the location of the mobile user in space and the head orientation. The Talking Assistant headset targets tour, exhibition, and museum guidance as an initial application domain. A corresponding demonstrator testbed has been built in order to evaluate the functionality of the device, context model, and software architecture. The Talking Assistant is also a key element of the MUNDO ubiquitous computing infrastructure which will be briefly sketched at the end. Research on ubiquitous computing (UC) infrastructures at the Telecooperation Group emphasizes ears-and-mouth devices for nomadic users. In this context, the following document describes the prototype of such a device. This voicecentric headset features a Bluetooth radio for wireless network connectivity and a combination of sensors to gather context information, such as the location of the mobile user in space and the head orientation. The Talking Assistant headset targets tour, exhibition, and museum guidance as an initial application domain. A corresponding demonstrator testbed has been built in order to evaluate the functionality of the device, context model, and software architecture. The Talking Assistant is also a key element of the MUNDO ubiquitous computing infrastructure which will be briefly sketched at the end.