ABSTRACT
Pervasive Computing is a research area that has been around since the 1990s. Also known as Ubiquitous Computing, the research area started short before 1990s and has gotten more attention since the introduction of Mark Weiser’s well known publication—the Computer for the 21 century in 1991. It has brought researchers from various backgrounds—wireless communication, software engineering, human–computer interaction, engineers, etc.—to explore the potential of the vision presented by Mark. Since then the research has come a long way. Some of the envisioned scenarios, proof of concepts, and prototypes are beginning to emerge as commercially available products. Pervasive Computing will still continue to challenge researchers and industry to produce technology that hides complexity and explicit interaction to, on the one hand make computers invisible and disappear into the background, and on the other hand serves users through intuitive and unobtrusive manners to improve quality of life. In this entry, a brief history and important attributes about pervasive computing are presented. This is followed by a summary of example research activities since 1990s until today. A list of conferences and journals is also presented. The entry ends with a selection of example application areas of pervasive computing.
