Intelligent environments (IE) are spaces with embedded systems and information and communication technologies creating interactive spaces that bring computation into the physical world and enhance occupants experiences. "Intelligent environments are spaces in which computation is seamlessly used to enhance ordinary activity. One of the driving forces behind the emerging interest in highly interactive environments is to make computers not only genuine user-friendly but also essentially invisible to the user".
IEs describe physical environments in which information and communication technologies and sensor systems disappear as they become embedded into physical objects, infrastructures, and the surroundings in which we live, travel, and work. The goal here is to allow computers to take part in activities never previously involved and allow people to interact with computers via gesture, voice, movement, and context. The annual IEEE conferences on intelligent environments present current trends and applications.
Technology
As the Intelligent Environments Conference (2007) points out: "Types of Intelligent Environments range from private to public and from fixed to mobile; some are ephemeral while others are permanent; some change type during their life span. The realization of Intelligent Environments requires the convergence of different disciplines: Information and Computer Science, Architecture, Material Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Sociology and Design.
In addition, technical breakthroughs are required in key enabling technology fields, such as, microelectronics (e.g., miniaturization, power consumption), communication and networking technologies (e.g., broadband and wireless networks), smart materials (e.g., bio-implants) and intelligent agents (e.g., context awareness and ontologies)".
An example of such spaces is the 'Intelligent Room'; a laboratory room which supports computer vision, speech recognition, and movement tracking, based on about fifty distinct intercommunication software agents that run on interconnected computers. Another is intelligent cities, territories that sustain innovation processes with virtual spaces and ICTs. An extremely rich source of applications and experimentations in the field is to be found in the Intelligent Community Forum (2007) and the cities selected by ICF as top intelligent communities.
The critical question is not whether we may build intelligent environments, but how we may use these environments as instruments for distributed problem-solving.