In the future, computation will be human-centered. It will be freely available everywhere, like batteries and power sockets, or oxygen in the air we breathe. It will enter the human world, handling our goals and needs and helping us to do more while doing less. We will not need to carry our own devices around with us. Instead, configurable generic devices, either handheld or embedded in the environment, will bring computation to us, whenever we need it and wherever we might be. As we interact with these "anonymous" devices, they will adopt our information personalities. They will respect our desires for privacy and security.

New systems will boost our productivity. They will help us automate repetitive human tasks, control a wealth of physical devices in the environment, find the information we need (when we need it, without forcing our eyes to examine thousands of search-engine hits), and enable us to work together with other people through space and time.

It must be accessible anywhere. It must adapt to change, both in user requirements and in operating conditions. It must never shut down or reboot —components may come and go in response to demand, errors, and upgrades, but Oxygen as a whole must be available all the time.

Vision:

For over forty years, computation has centered about machines, not people. We have catered to expensive computers, pampering them in air-conditioned rooms or carrying them around with us. Purporting to serve us, they have actually forced us to serve them. They have been difficult to use. They have required us to interact with them on their terms, speaking their languages and manipulating their keyboards or mice. They have not been aware of our needs or even of whether we were in the room with them. Virtual reality only makes matters worse: with it, we do not simply serve computers, but also live in a reality they create.

In the future, computation will be human-centered. It will be freely available everywhere, like batteries and power sockets, or oxygen in the air we breathe. It will enter the human world, handling our goals and needs and helping us to do more while doing less. We will not need to carry our own devices around with us. Instead, configurable generic devices, either handheld or embedded in the environment, will bring computation to us, whenever we need it and wherever we might be. As we interact with these "anonymous" devices, they will adopt our information personalities. They will respect our desires for privacy and security. We won't have to type, click, or learn new computer jargon. Instead, we'll communicate naturally, using speech and gestures that describe our intent ("send this to Hari" or "print that picture on the nearest color printer"), and leave it to the computer to carry out our will.

New systems will boost our productivity. They will help us automate repetitive human tasks, control a wealth of physical devices in the environment, find the information we need (when we need it, without forcing our eyes to examine thousands of search-engine hits), and enable us to work together with other people through space and time.

Challenges

To support highly dynamic and varied human activities, the Oxygen system must master many technical challenges. It must be
• pervasive—it must be everywhere, with every portal reaching into the same information base;
• embedded—it must live in our world, sensing and affecting it;
• nomadic—it must allow users and computations to move around freely, according to their needs;
• adaptable—it must provide flexibility and spontaneity, in response to changes in user requirements and operating conditions;
• powerful, yet efficient—it must free itself from constraints imposed by bounded hardware resources, addressing instead system constraints imposed by user demands and available power or communication bandwidth;
• intentional—it must enable people to name services and software objects by intent, for example, "the nearest printer," as opposed to by address;
• eternal—it must never shut down or reboot; components may come and go in response to demand, errors, and upgrades, but Oxygen as a whole must be available all the time.

Approach

Oxygen enables pervasive, human-centered computing through a combination of specific user and system technologies. Oxygen's user technologies directly address human needs. Speech and vision technologies enable us to communicate with Oxygen as if we're interacting with another person, saving much time and effort. Automation, individualized knowledge access, and collaboration technologies help us perform a wide variety of tasks that we want to do in the ways we like to do them. Oxygen's device, network, and software technologies dramatically extend our range by delivering user technologies to us at home, at work or on the go. Computational devices, called Enviro21s (E21s), embedded in our homes, offices, and cars sense and affect our immediate environment. Handheld devices, called Handy21s (H21s), empower us to communicate and compute no matter where we are. Dynamic, self-configuring networks (N21s) help our machines locate each other as well as the people, services, and resources we want to reach. Software that adapts to changes in the environment or in user requirements (O2S) help us do what we want when we want to do it.

Applications

The following scenarios illustrate how Oxygen's integrated technologies make it easier for people to do more by doing less, wherever they may be.

Business conference:

Hélène calls Ralph in New York from their company's home office in Paris. Ralph's E21, connected to his phone, recognizes Hélène's telephone number; it answers in her native French, reports that Ralph is away on vacation, and asks if her call is urgent. The E21's multilingual speech and automation systems, which Ralph has scripted to handle urgent calls from people such as Hélène, recognize the word "décisif" in Hélène's reply and transfer the call to Ralph's H21 in his hotel. When Ralph speaks with Hélène, he decides to bring George, now at home in London, into the conversation. All three decide to meet next week in Paris. Conversing with their E21s, they ask their automated calendars to compare their schedules and check the availability of flights from New York and London to Paris. Next Tuesday at 11am looks good. All three say "OK," and their automation systems make the necessary reservations. Ralph and George arrive at Paris headquarters. At the front desk, they pick up H21s, which recognize their faces and connect to their E21s in New York and London. Ralph asks his H21 where they can find Hélène. It tells them she's across the street, and it provides an indoor/outdoor navigation system to guide them to her. George asks his H21 for "last week's technical drawings," which he forgot to bring. The H21 finds and fetches the drawings just as they meet Hélène.

Guardian Angel:

Jane and her husband Tom live in suburban Boston and cherish their independence. As they have advanced in age, they have acquired a growing number of devices and appliances, which they have connected to their E21. They no longer miss calls or visitors because they cannot get to the telephone or door in time; microphones and speakers in the walls enable them to answer either at any time. Sensors and actuators in the bathroom make sure that the bathtub does not overflow and that the water temperature is neither too hot nor too cold. Their automated knowledge system keeps track of which television programs they have enjoyed and alerts them when similar programs will be shown. Just before their children moved away from the area, Jane and Tom enhanced their H21 to provide them with more help. Tom uses the system now to jog his memory by asking simple questions, such as "Did I take my medicine today?" or "Where did I put my glasses?" The E21's vision system, using cameras in the walls, recognizes and records patterns in Tom's motion. When Tom visits his doctor, he can bring along the vision system's records to see if there are changes in his gait that might indicate the onset of medical problems. Jane and Tom can also set up the vision system to contact medical personnel in case one of them falls down when alone. By delivering these ongoing services, the E21 affords peace of mind to both parents and children.

Conclusion:

Widespread use of Oxygen and its advanced technologies will yield a profound leap in human productivity — one even more revolutionary than the move from mainframes to desktops. By enabling people to use spoken and visual cues to automate routine tasks, access knowledge, and collaborate with others anywhere, anytime, Oxygen stands to significantly amplify human capabilities throughout the world.

 References:
1.	http://oxygen.csail.mit.edu/Overview.html 
2.	www.lic.mit.edu
3.	www.ait.mit.edu