GVU Technical Report Number: GIT-GVU-01-04

Title: The Family Intercom: Developing a Context-Aware Audio Communication System

Authors:
Kris Nagel, Cory D. Kidd, Thomas O'Connell, Anind Dey, Gregory D. Abowd

Abstract:
We have begun an exploration of how ubiquitous computing technology can facilitate different forms of audio communication within a family. We are interested in both intra- and inter-home communication. Though much technology exists to support this human-human communication, none of them make effective use of the context of the communication partners. In the Aware Home Research Initiative, we are exploring how to augment a domestic envi-ronment with knowledge of the location and activities of its occupants. The Family Intercom project is trying to explore how this context can be used to create a variety of lightweight communication opportunities between collo-cated and remote family members. It is particularly important that context about the status of the callee be communicated to the caller, so that the appropriate social protocol for continuing a conversation can be performed by the caller. In this paper, we will discuss our initial prototypes to develop a testbed for exploring these context-aware audio communication services.

Keywords:
Home, audio, ubiquitous computing, computer-mediated human-human communication, context-aware computing, domestic technology
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