The research activities of the Ubiquitous Computing Applications Laboratory (UbiCA Lab) are enclosed within the general discipline of Ubiquitous Computing, a.k.a. Pervasive Computing, defined as1:

“Ubiquitous computing (Ubicomp) is a post-desktop model of human-computer interaction in which information processing has been thoroughly integrated into everyday objects and activities. In the course of ordinary activities, someone ‘using’ ubiquitous computing engages many computational devices and systems simultaneously, and may not necessarily even be aware that they are doing so. This model is usually considered an advancement from the desktop paradigm. More formally Ubiquitous computing is defined as ‘machines that fit the human environment instead of forcing humans to enter theirs’. This paradigm is also described as pervasive computing, ambient intelligence, where each term emphasizes slightly different aspects. When primarily concerning the objects involved, it is also physical computing, the Internet of Things, haptic computing, and things that think.”

Ubiquitous Computing is a wide discipline, within which UbiCA Lab focuses on specific areas. To better specify these specific areas, we may map all the areas of research having to do with sensors and adding intelligent objects and spaces, according to the following two axes:

  • The Sense-Know-Act dimension: in which on the left side are all the research activities dedicated to obtain data from the physical world, on the center the activities dedicated to obtain information from such data, and on the right side the activities dedicated to prompt action based on such information.

  • The Granularity dimension: representing the level at which the data, information, and actions are considered (e.g. planet, buildings, objects, etc.)
     

The picture illustrates this 2-dimensional representation, with some sample research areas. The shaded region is the area in which UbiCA Lab focuses its research.

From the above diagram it is clear that the research area of UbiCA Lab spans the complete Sense-Know-Act (SKA) axis, and is defined by its scope within the Granularity axis, covering from objects to buildings, and including containers, people, vehicles, rooms and floors.

UbiCA Lab researches all the technologies, algorithms, processes, and systems that gather all relevant information from objects, object containers, vehicles, rooms and building floors, process it, and act on it in order to reach some predefined goals, and do so in an autonomous manner. Below there are the UbiCA Lab ongoing research projects.

Current Projects