Intel Technology Journal
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Intel® Technology Journal | Volume 14, Issue 1, 2010 Intel Technology Journal Publisher Managing Editor Content Architect Richard Bowles Andrew Binstock Herman D’Hooge Esther Baldwin Program Manager Technical Editor Technical Illustrators Stuart Douglas Marian Lacey InfoPros Technical and Strategic Reviewers Maria Bezaitis Ashley McCorkle Xing Su John Gustafson Milan Milenkovic Rahul Sukthankar Horst Haussecker David O‘Hallaron Allison Woodruff Badarinah Kommandur Trevor Pering Jianping Zhou Anthony LaMarca Matthai Philipose Scott Mainwaring Uttam Sengupta Intel® Technology Journal | 1 Intel® Technology Journal | Volume 14, Issue 1, 2010 Intel Technology Journal Copyright © 2010 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. ISBN 978-1-934053-28-7, ISSN 1535-864X Intel Technology Journal Volume 14, Issue 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4744. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Publisher, Intel Press, Intel Corporation, 2111 NE 25th Avenue, JF3-330, Hillsboro, OR 97124-5961. E mail: [email protected]. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. 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Publisher: Richard Bowles Managing Editor: Andrew Binstock Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data: Printed in United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 First printing: April, 2010 2 | Foreword Intel® Technology Journal | Volume 14, Issue 1, 2010 INTEL® TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL ESSENTIAL COMPUTING Articles Foreword ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 5 Essential Computing: Simplifying and Enriching Our Work and Daily Life ������������������������������������������������������������� 6 Tabletop ESP: Everyday Sensing and Perception in the Classroom ������������������������������������������������������������������� 18 Collective Participation: Technology-Enabled Social Action ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 34 Physicality: Interacting with the Physical World, from Atoms to Humans ������������������������������������������������������������� 48 Augmented Reality on Mobile Internet Devices Based on Intel® Atom™ Technology ������������������������������������������ 64 Ensemble Computing: Opportunities and Challenges ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 78 Opportunities at the Intersection of Biology and Silicon: Decoding Biological Complexity ��������������������������������� 102 Cloud Computing on Rich Data ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������116 Table of Contents | 3 Intel® Technology Journal | Volume 14, Issue 1, 2010 4 | Foreword Intel® Technology Journal | Volume 14, Issue 1, 2010 FOREWORD Herman D’Hooge Intel Labs Intel Corporation In the history of computing, there have been several major transitions in the use of computing, and each of these transitions has reshaped large sectors of human activity. For example, the first use of computers focused on data processing and on supporting census counts, and later, computers were used mainly for basic accounting functions. Then came the move to individual office workers who became empowered by having a personal computer on their desk to control data, analysis, and presentation. With the advent of networking, the Internet, and the Web, computing was transformed into a tool for communication and information sharing. This tool further transformed how work is done by corporations, how entire industry ecosystems operate, and the nature of the relationship that corporations have with their customers. These same transitions in computing capabilities have revolutionized consumer activity. Today, consumers have surpassed business as the driver for advances in technology. Through each of these major transitions in computers (from mainframe to personal standalone, to networked, to connected worldwide), we have seen a radical expansion in both the number of people using computers and also in the ways in which computers are used. We may be on the verge of the largest transition of all. At this time, computers are still of limited use and capability: although computationally powerful, they are not engaged in the “soft” aspects of our lives, such as relationships, emotional well-being, and community. We are now poised on the cusp of a new explosion in computer usage, built on the capabilities of computing systems to understand our emotional, personal, and daily lives and to act meaningfully in them. We call the vision for this next wave of computing, Essential Computing. Enjoy! Herman D’Hooge Foreword | 5 Intel® Technology Journal | Volume 14, Issue 1, 2010 ESSENTIAL COMPUTING: SIMPLIFYING AND ENRICHING OUR WORK AND Daily LIFE Contributors Herman D. D’Hooge Abstract Intel Corporation How computer systems are used is changing constantly. They have evolved from systems that are used occasionally to perform specific tasks to systems that act as our constant companions, deeply embedded in our daily lives. Intel’s Future Technologies Research Lab is driving a broad-based effort to create applications, systems, and technologies that simplify and enhance many aspects of our work and daily lives. The vision that fuels these research efforts is known as “Essential Computing.” Central to the Essential Computing vision is computing that empowers us in the deep personal, emotional, and social dimensions of our lives, a decided contrast to the functional capabilities of computers (i.e., spreadsheets and word processing) that dominate computer usage today. Such Essential Computing systems will need to be keenly aware of and understand individuals, families, and communities as well as other aspects of our social environment. To achieve this, computing systems must acquire new key capabilities, which are the focus Index Words of Intel’s Future Technologies Research Lab and the theme of this issue of the Intel Technology Journal. Sensing In this article, we provide an overview of the Essential Computing vision, Sense Making outline its goals and discuss the associated research challenges. Context-aware Perceptual Computing Social Introduction Personalization Computing and communications technologies are steadily permeating nearly Adaptation every facet of life and work. An endless stream of advances in processing Human-computer Partnership power, storage capacity, bandwidth, wired and wireless communications, miniaturization, and power efficiency enable the proliferation of technology to the point that computing is always with us. This trend towards the presence of computing in the “essence” of our lives will continue, as every “thing” in the world seems destined to become intelligent, connected, and collaborative in supporting our lives. Essential Computing is about understanding and creating the next-wave applications, services, systems, and technology capabilities that will push the use of computing and communications technology further and touch the essence of what we hold most dear: ourselves, family, community, and society. Essential Computing involves people trusting technology to mediate their human relationships and to connect to their passions