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“Ubiquitous” is a word heard and seen all over the place nowadays. Could you explain what it means?
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“Ubiquitous” is a word from modern Latin that expresses a Christian concept, and is translated in Japanese as henzai. In the original Christian sense, it was a religious term meaning that God is everywhere. “Ubiquitous computing” thus literally means “computing power that is everywhere”.
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Who began using the word “ubiquitous”?
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The term first began to attract interest when it was used in an article by the late Mark Weiser of American Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), who died of liver disease in April 1999, entitled “The Computer for the 21st Century”, which was published in the September 1991 edition of the journal Scientific America. This article had an enormous impact, and was the original text, if you like, in the field of ubiquitous computing. The main thesis of the article was that computers will penetrate our everyday lives in such a manner that we are unaware of their existence, with hundreds of computers in a single room being interconnected by cable and wireless networks. PARC, which is the institute that came up with the current paradigm of computing, reportedly conducted research on what computers would be like in 10 or 20 years time, and out of this research emerged the new concept of “ubiquitous computing”. Weiser describes ubiquitous computing as follows: “It means having computers everywhere and anywhere, though that does not mean that they should be visible as at present. Rather, computers will be completely hidden away, just as motors were once removed from sight, and be inter-connected to provide support in every field of human activity. Humans will be unaware of them, and be the central actors in a new world in which they are not coerced by systems.”
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I have heard that this was preceded by the “TRON Project” led by Professor Ken Sakamura of Tokyo University.
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Yes. “TRON” is short for “The Real-Time Operating System Nuclear” (real time ON), which was a project launched in 1984 to produce the “definitive” Japanese-made real-time computer technology for industrial and consumer products. It was conceived in terms of a computer standard for computers incorporated into equipment to control instruments and devices used in everyday life, rather than being limited only to use in computers such as personal computers. “TRON” was the forerunner of the ubiquitous computer.
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In more concrete terms, what exactly are “ubiquitous networks” and the “ubiquitous society”?
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Ultra-compact computer chips are built into all kinds of existing things, such as electrical products and automobiles, and connected by information terminals such as mobile phones to form networks..
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Could you explain giving examples
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A microchip built into a front door would be able to tell a mobile phone that the front door was open and allow it to be locked. If one were out, one would be able to switch on the rice cooker by mobile phone. It would also be possible to set the bath temperature or display what was left in the fridge on the display of a mobile phone in order to be able to decide what to buy on the way home. Inserting a microchip in furniture would enable one to obtain information about things such as who bought it where and when, how it should be mended if broken, and who should be contacted if repairs are required by putting a mobile reader close to the furniture. Insertion of a microchip into a medicine bottle would enable users to be warned of the risk of side effects should it be placed in proximity to a bottle containing drugs that should not be taken at the same time. Fresh foods containing microchips would be able to indicate by whom and when they were produced or processed, and when their usable date was. When thrown away, a microchip in a product could tell a waste disposal system what it was made of and how it should be recycled, and whether it would emit poisonous gases if incinerated. When transported to a plant, the “waste” itself would be able to say, for example, “This part can be recycled.” In other words, it would be possible to produce “intelligent waste.” Or if someone was unable to find, say, a van Gogh painting that was purchased in the past by a certain company, “van Gogh painting” could be inputted as text into a mobile phone and recognized by a computer using voice recognition to enable that person to search for it in the same way as one can search for information on the Internet. The nearest computer would then ask, “Where is the van Gogh painting?” A search would then be made of each location with pictures via the company network. If not to be found where one would expect it to be on a shelf somewhere in the reference room, the same question—“Where is the van Gogh painting?”—would be transmitted to all the computers in the company. The computer built into a cabinet in the reception room on the first floor might then answer, “It’s hanging here.” If asked how much it cost, the computer built into the picture would give the appropriate answer distinguishing between people to whom such information may be given and those not authorized to receive such information. To give a further example, a book that someone was looking for in a library would be able to say, “Here I am.”
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That would be extremely convenient. Implanting a microchip into meat would make it impossible to hide or alter the area of production or usable date. However, this won’t be possible unless microchips can be produced extremely cheaply, will it?
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Yes, that’s true. In another four or five years, it should be possible to buy microchips for about ¥1 each if ordered in units of one billion. It should not be long before around 100 microchips are used in each home. The barcodes now used for inventory and logistics control will all be replaced by memory chips. Although barcodes need to be read individually, microchips can all be read at once, enabling the usable dates of the contents of fridges and inventories to be determined at a glance..
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If ubiquitous networks become a reality, what will be the repercussions?
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It is currently estimated that they will result in business worth ¥7.3 trillion in 2005 and ¥34.4 trillion in 2010. In the service sector, the monetary impact on business will be ¥6.2 trillion in 2005 and ¥24.2 trillion in 2010.
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The Japanese Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications has identified ubiquitous networks, fourth generation (4G) mobile phones, satellites and similar technologies as priority fields, and is encouraging integrated standardization and R&D, isn’t it?
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That’s correct. The 2003 Information and Communications White Paper calls confidently for Japan to play the lead in the creation of a ubiquitous network society taking advantage of Japan’s technological prowess and information infrastructure.
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Alongside the convenience of being able to, say, make a bank transfer from one’s own car, the potential for village office officials to check on the safety of elderly people living alone and the development of databases allowing credit card companies’ to monitor which station cardholders alight at offers a glimpse of a possible nightmare “control society” in the future.
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That is certainly something to beware of. These are in a sense the risks that go with the ubiquitous society. How to solve the problems of personal security and protect the privacy of the individual are issues that will need to be addressed.
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