Designing for All in Ambient Intelligence Environments: The Interplay of User, Context, and Technology

Abstract

This article outlines issues that emerge from the evolution of the Information Society towards Ambient Intelligence (AmI) environments, focusing on the diversity of human needs, the dynamic evolution of context, and the multifaceted characteristics of interactive technologies. Such an evolution brings forward many implications and challenges in the context of Universal Access, that is, accessibility and usability of Information Society Technologies by all users, independently of individual abilities and characteristics. Identified research challenges include the investigation of human requirements in the context of AmI, suitable approaches to nonfunctional characteristics (such as accessibility, privacy, security, and safety), suitable models of the context of use, appropriate interaction devices and techniques for diverse users and contexts of use, interaction design for continuous and implicit interaction, elaboration of design methods suitable for very complex interactive environments, and mechanisms for interaction adaptation. This article argues that such challenges in the context of AmI environments can be addressed by systematically investigating the interplay between the user, the context, and the technologies. Such a research direction requires systematic approaches to diverse human needs, dynamic context characteristics, and technology possibilities, all of which need to be elaborated and validated in practice.