Project Oxygen

Devices And Networks

        People access Oxygen through stationary devices (E21s) embedded in the environment or via portable hand-held devices (H21s). These universally accessible devices supply power for computation, communication, and perception in much the same way that wall outlets and batteries deliver power to electrical appliances. Although not customized to any particular user, they can adapt automatically or be modified explicitly to address specific user preferences. Like power outlets and batteries, these devices differ mainly in how much energy they can supply.

Software Architecture

        Oxygen’s software architecture supports change above the device and network levels. The software architecture matches current user goals with currently available software services, configuring those services to achieve the desired goals. When necessary, it adapts the resulting configurations to changes in goals, available services, or operating conditions. Thereby, it relieves users of the burden of directing and monitoring the operation of the system as it accomplishes their goals.

 Abstract

In the future, computation will be human-centered. It will be freely available everywhere, like batteries and power sockets, or oxygen in the air we breathe. It will enter the human world, handling our goals and needs and helping us to do more while doing less. We will not need to carry our own devices around with us. Instead, configurable generic devices, either handheld or embedded in the environment, will bring computation to us, whenever we need it and wherever we might be. As we interact with these "anonymous" devices, they will adopt our information personalities. They will respect our desires for privacy and security.

Specifications

Specifications make abstractions explicit, exposing features to other system components. In Oxygen, specifications support adaptation and change by providing information about

•       system configurations, to determine what modules and capabilities are available locally,

•       module repositories, to provide code over the network for installation on handheld and other devices.

Conclusion

        Widespread use of Oxygen and its advanced technologies will yield a profound leap in human productivity one even more revolutionary than the move from mainframes to desktops.