Downloading a UI over a network |
Ever since we started
integrating hypertext browsers into mobile phones, people have proposed using
mobile phones as remote controls. Now, with the provision of short-range
wireless connectivity- for example, through Bluetooth mobile phones and other
handhelds might substantially change the way people interact with electronic
devices. Here, we report on our effort to create a low-power wireless
microserver with a very small form factor and connect it to mobile devices
using standard consumer technology.
Embedding Servers Into
Devices
There are several ways
to make things visible on the Web. In the simplest case, a server hosts an
item's Web presence without a physical connection to the item. A handheld
device reads links between the item and its Web presence, connects to the
respective URL, and retrieves information about the item. A well-known example
for this approach is the Cooltown Museum, 1 where small infrared transceivers
are located close to the pictures. When coming close, the visitor's PDAs
receive Web links that point to the information pages for the particular
picture. Unfortunately, interacting with the item itself is impossible.
Interaction with a device would be possible if the device had a wireless
control interface to its internal logic. For example, the mobile terminal could
download a device-specific user interface application from the Web and use it
to control the device through a device-dependent protocol (see Figure A1). This
approach might become feasible when we can download Java applications into
mobile terminals with access to Bluetooth APIs.
Accessing the device
immediately and locally without an Internet connection would be possible only
if the device contained an embedded Web server (see Figure A2). An execution
environment, such as serverside scripting, would be required to interact with
the device's logic.
Short-range
connectivity seems to be an obstacle, but it empowers location-aware
applications through the wireless link's limited reach. If a user wants to
adjust a microserver-equipped TV's volume, he or she does not want to
accidentally interact with somebody else's TV. Therefore, short-range wireless
radio links, preferably using unlicensed bands, are well suited for networking
things and people.
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