Configuring personal network services

As Mark Weiser's vision of a ubiquitous computing environment is becoming evident, a flexible mechanism for personalization of Internet services is needed.

Towards this end, we are investigating a configuration frontend for highly personalized WAIF services. Using our prototype system, novice Internet users can compose highly personalized applications from a set of independent services. Users achieve high value without doing explicit programming. They interface to the WAIF system through Personal Overlay Network Systems(PONS).

We have developed a set of highly configurable WAIF services, a configuration frontend and client applications to receive and present information flowing to the user.

Our configuration frontend is able to map user preferences into event routing in overlay network structures. Users are able to compose advanced network services from available WAIF services using simple commands, and are completely unaware of the complexity of their services.

To demonstrate the abilities of the system, we have developed a set of WAIF services feeding events containing bus routes, weather data, time alerts and concert information. These are all useful services on their own, and can be polled as traditional web resources. However, our system wraps these services and enables users to combine them as they wish to create added value. For instance, we have demonstrated applications where users are informed about interesting concerts, and also receive bus route information on how to get there. The weather service can be set up to inform users interested in wind surfing about good surfing conditions, and add bus routes to the messages.

Currently, we are working on developing new services and deploying these internally. Our current goal is to harvest experiences from a university-wide deployment. Results of these findings will be published sometime 2005.