Peaceful Cohabitation and Scalability in Ubicomp

Radar detectors normally cover all the frequencies that police use for their radar. Any detector will detect an active source within a certain range. I was told this weekend that sometimes wrong alarm are caused by gas stations’ security system, often confusing the drivers. Moreover, 4 years ago the radar detector launched devices that created interference problems with gas stations (interference at pay-at-the-pump credit card terminals resulting in lost or incorrect sales), fast-food outlets, convenience stores. (causing music and advertisements to skip or mute), small airports (several private pilots have been unable to get weather updates because of radar detectors in airport employees’ cars parked nearby). Source: New radar detectors zing small satellite systems.

Relation to my thesis: Setting ubicomp applications free to the real-world will challenge the peaceful cohabitation of systems. Hence creating confusion, uncertainty and errors. I share the same concerns over ubicomp and scalability as Adam Greenfield puts mentions in his conversation in progress over at the Well.

But I’m not sure how many people in academic ubicomp have really marinated themselves in a consideration of the experiential and affective dimensions of system failure. I’m not sure to what degree people have ever simply sat and imagined what it will feel like when systems like these surround us…and break down, as technical systems often do. They may have thought about the specific system at hand, but as a gestalt? I haven’t heard that many people raising the issue.