Pervasive computing: a paradigm for the 21st century

TLDR

Pervasive computing envisions digital environments that sense, adapt, and respond to human needs, treating devices as portals to application‑data spaces, applications as task‑enabling means, and physical spaces as information‑enhanced, rather than merely virtual program runners. Pervasive computing is close to technical and economic viability.

Abstract

Pervasive computing promises to make life simpler via digital environments that sense, adapt, and respond to human needs. Yet we still view computers as machines that run programs in a virtual environment. Pervasive computing presumes a different vision. A device can be a portal into an application-data space, not just a repository of custom software a user must manage. An application is a means by which a user performs a task, not software written to exploit a device's capabilities. And a computing environment is an information-enhanced physical space, not a virtual environment that exists to store and run software. Pervasive computing is close to technical and economic viability.