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What is Context-aware computing?

We get asked this a lot, so the time seemed right to get down to basics and explain in simple terms exactly what it is.

In essence it means that software applications gather as much information about the user and their surroundings as possible, then apply this intelligently to personalise and deliver relevant information without the user having to click through screens to get at it.

The way our well-heeled friends at Gartner put it is “the concept of leveraging information about the end user to improve the quality of the interaction. Emerging context-enriched services will use location, presence, social attributes, and other environmental information to anticipate an end user’s immediate needs, offering more-sophisticated, situation-aware and usable functions.”

Why now?

The idea of mobile context-aware computing has been around and researched for years now. However, it hasn’t been until recently that it became a viable technology to be considered by businesses.

Think of the growing dependence on the internet, which allows information to be sent back and forth across the globe like a veritable Ping Pong match.

Think of the emergence of WiFi, 3G and WiMax technologies, to name but a few, which allow people to maintain constant access to office systems, social networks and email while on the go.

Finally, and most recently, the trend towards smart phones such as the iPhone and the new crop of Google Android based phones, which put ever more computing into the pockets of its users.

This type of connectivity, mobility and mobile computing power make it possible to start offering sophisticated applications which can infer what information the user is likely to need based on their surroundings.

In the next post we’ll be discussing how businesses can apply this type of technology and why they should care about it in the first place.