The Communication of the Future

New telecommunication technologies make it possible: In the near future people will be able to access the Internet
from everywhere. No matter which mobile device one may choose, whether a Web Pad, cellular phone, CarPC, or intelligent house automation, tomorrow’s communication will
look different. The Internet will be ubiquitous and it will accompany us, in compliance with our desires, at every
turn. Yet how will we organize ourselves in the midst of this variety of equipment and data? Who will manage
our flow of information? With the Digital Companion the Fraunhofer ISST has created a solution which enables the leap forward into a new area of communication technology: An
application that meets the individual information and communication demands of its users at any place and time. The Digital Companion pilots its user through the data flood of a mobile Internet, it accompanies him or her in
every sphere of living, thereby providing
at any time exactly those data the user needs at that moment. The Digital Companion is aware of the user’s
demands and supplies solely those information that belong to areas of the user’s interest. It does not make any difference which end device the user eventually employs
for using the Digital Companion, a cellular phone, Web Pad, or a PC. With the Digital Companion, a user is welcomed
absolutely reliably with her personal settings on every display and is provided with information in an integrated
manner that is in line with the user’s demand.

Contexts - Personalized Services in
Every Sphere of Life


A provision of individuals with information in line with demand mainly rests upon personalization of applications
and the definition of message filters. These means alone cannot, however, live up to a person’s diverse spheres of
life. The information demand at work, for instance, strongly differs from that during leisure time. For an information supply that meets users’ demands, the
Fraunhofer ISST makes use of »contexts «. Contexts are situational demand profiles that accompany a user through
the day. Completely as requested, the Digital Companion is able to detect the context of its user via sensors and recommend information and applications suitable for the particular situation. A typical morning with the Digital
Companion would look like this: Mr. K. has set up the contexts »uprising«, »breakfast«, and »work«. At 6.30
a.m., Mr. K.’s Digital Companion determinates the context »uprising« and rings him out of sleep via his Web Pad. On the basis of the forecast traffic density, the traffic information service w@keUp had calculated 6.30 a.m. as the optimal time for the wake-up call. After entering the kitchen, Mr. K. sets the context »breakfast« on his Digital Companion. From the @ptus news service
Mr. K. now receives news concerning topics he is interested in. Meanwhile, his leisure time planner informs him that the new movie by Spielberg is now being shown in his favourite cinema. When Mr. K. enters his office
after his commutation to work, his Digital Companion automatically switches into the context »work«. It notifies him about the important appointments and
tasks of the day.

Ubiquitous Availability

Apart from the possibility to define own contexts, the application enables its users to access information from any
desired end device at any time.
• The Digital Companion is therefore not tied to devices, but only to persons. Whichever end device a person uses, she can always rely upon finding her personal settings on its user interface again.
• There are smooth transitions between the user interfaces that permit a simultaneous access to two end devices: It will, for example, be possible to input voice on the phone
and at the same time watch the spoken text being displayed on the screen of a Web Pad.

Tasks Instead of Applications

Already today, users are confronted with a hardly manageable multitude of applications, end devices, and sources of information when they want to perform
an activity. This is a trend that will even intensify within the next years. The Digital Companion paves the way
out of this flood of options. The applications and information offered are, for instance, prioritized and presented pursuant to the user’s particular context.

Fraunhofer Institute for
Software and Systems Engineering ISST