Current Research Interests

Visions on Future Computing

We have seen the exponential number increase of computers in the last decades. Such exponential increase is going on with higher and higher computer performance as predicted by Moores law. At the same time, the size of computers becomes smaller and smaller. They can be attached/embedded/blended (AEB) to other machines, devices, human cloths/bodies and even ordinary objects, for instances, a cup, a toolbox and a key. They are so small to be unobtrusive or invisible as if they had disappeared.

We are stepping into a post-PC era, in which a great number and variety of computers with different sizes and functions will be everywhere, so ubiquitous around us and pervasive in our environment. Such vision was first depicted by Mark Weiser, and associated technologies and applications were called ubiquitous computing (Ubicomp) by him around 1990 and later called pervasive computing (Percomp) by IBM in 1999. Although many new terms of computing, e.g., invisible computing, disappearing computing, wearable computing, ambient intelligence (AmI), proactive computing, autonomic computing, everyday computing, sentient computing, organic computing, amorphous computing, spray computing, palpable computing and so on, have appeared since 2000, they can be regarded as something stimulated by ubicomp visions with some special emphases on or extensions of some aspects in the broad unicomp/percomp frontier.

Cyberworld brings us to the computerized virtual world, basically via mapping or converting things on the real world into some kinds of virtual counterparts (e-things) on the cyberworld so that many conventional activities can be moved to the digital world and done with e-ways. Ubicomp, in contrast, brings computers to the physical real world including everyday objects, environments and ourselves. The power of ubicomp lies at seamless integrations and mutual actions of the real and virtual worlds. What will happen when thousands of computers/devices share one user, trillions of ubiquitous computers/devices spread the whole world, and all of them are universally interconnected by ubiquitous networks with ubiquitous services?

Under our feet is a road towards Ubiquitous Intelligence (UI, u-Intelligence) or Pervasive Intelligence (p, PI) and smart world (SW), the graceful integration of the physical world and the cyberworld, in which ambient environments including objects attached/embedded/blended with small or tiny networked computers can greet us, remind us, advise us, and help us performing many jobs automatically, precisely, promptly, reliably, comfortably, trustworthily and politely with knowing and adapting to rich dynamic contexts of human, society, physical environment and digital world as well. Profound revolutionary changes are taking place in our world due to the emergence and pervasion of the u-things including u-objects, u-spaces and u-systems as well as their u-services and u-applications towards u-worlds and u-societies on the new Cyber-Physical-Social World.

• smart/intelligent object
• smart/intelligent space/environment
• smart/intelligent system

u-Science, including u-Engineering, is the systematic study of the u-things, related theories and technologies, their implementations and applications, and associated economic and social issues. It is based on computer and information sciences, and crossed with many other disciplines ranged from the theoretic foundation, engineering to social science. To gain the systematic knowledge on the u-things and make the useful u-things in practical, u-science should be studied from all possible aspects by many researchers from various fields.

Cyber Science is a collection of all cyber-related sciences including e-Science, u-Science, Web Science, Network Science, Service Science, etc. It is necessary to make integrated study and common knowledge for these new emerged sciences. The Cyber is a new space/dimension for people to live. Its profound impacts to human and our conventional world just begin! Cyber Sociology is the systematical study of human social existence/structure/relation and activity on cyber-physical-social spaces to form the foundation for social computing and their applications. One of my specific interests is to study digital explosions and digital clones (called Cyber-I) in cyber and hyper worlds.

More about my ideas and visions, please refer the following:
Cyber-Individual Meets Brain Informatics (in IEEE Intelligent Sys. Mag., 2011) - Featured by IEEE Computing Now
Hyperspace and Cyber-I (invited talk in AMT'10 in 2010)
Cyber Science and Sociology (invited talk in CyberSocialCom09 in 2009)
u-Science and u-Engineering for u-Things (invited talk in 2008)
Ubiquitous Computers, Networks and Services (in Japanese, invited talk in 2007)
Ubisafe Computing (invited talk in 2006)
Smart World, Ubiquitous Intelligence, Smart Hyperspace & UbicKids Study (invited talk in 2004)
Towards a Smart World and Ubiquitous Intelligence: A Walkthrough from Smart Things to Smart Hyperspaces and UbicKids (A feature paper in JPCC, March 2005)
Ubiquitous Intelligence: The Intelligence Revolution (Interview by Wise Media, a revised version is published in ID People Magazine, 2005.)
Smart u-Things – Challenging Real World Complexity (in IPSJ Symposium Series Vol. 2005, No. 19)
Ubisafe Computing: Vision and Challenges (I) (in Springer LNCS Vol.4158, Proc. of ATC-06, 2006)
Spacelog Concept and Issues for Novel u-Services in Smart Spaces (Keynote in IEEE CS Proc. of FGCN 2008)
Journal of Ubiquitous Computing and Intelligence (JUCI), American Scientific Publishers.
Journal of Autonomic and Trusted Computing (JoATC), American Scientific Publishers.
Ubiquitous Intelligence and Computing, Lecture Notes in Computer Science , Vol. 4159, Springer.
The Second International Symposium on Ubiquitous Intelligence & Smart Worlds (UISW2005)
6th Int'l Conf. on Ubiquitous Intelligence & Computing (UIC-09) - Building Smart Worlds on Real & Cyber Spaces
6th International Conference on Autonomic and Trusted Computing (ATC-09)
The 2007 IEEE International Symposium on Ubisafe Computing (UbiSafe-07)
4th IEEE International Conference on Internet of Things (iThings2011)
4th IEEE International Conference on Cyber, Physical and Social Computing (CPSCom2011)