Pebbles Project connects PDAs up Smartly

Interesting work at Carnegie Melon on using PDA interfaces in more connected and varied ways can now be heard on the Web. A lecture given at Stanford on the work has been uploaded for public broadcast. (The link is below.)

With the coming wireless technologies, such as BlueTooth and IEEE 802.11, connecting hand-held computers and conventional computers together will no longer be an occasional event for synchronisation. Instead, the devices will frequently be in close, interactive communication. Many environments, such as offices, meeting rooms and classrooms, already contain computers, and the smart homes of the future will have ubiquitous embedded computation. When the user enters one of these environments carrying a hand-held or wearable computer, how will that computer interact with the environment?

The Pebbles project is exploring the many ways that small handheld Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) such as 3Com Palm Pilots or Windows CE devices can serve as a useful adjunct to the "fixed" computers in those situations. One set of applications supports meetings where the participants are co-located. All participants' PDAs are in continuous two-way communication with each other, and with the main computer which is often projected on a screen to serve as the focal point of the discussion.

For classrooms, the project is investigating how the students' hand-helds can enhance testing and notetaking when they are connected to the instructor's PC. Another set of applications supports a single user using the PDA as an extra input and output device. In the future, they will also explore the use of the PDA as a customisable, intelligent front end to other applications and devices.

More details of the projects can be found at The Pebbles Project: Using Hand-Held Computers With Other Devices.

Associated Link: The Pebbles lecture given at Stanford

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