Pervasive computing approaches to environmental sustainability

The agricultural industry has designed and implemented a decision-support system for monitoring crops using pervasive computing technologies such as wireless sensor and actuator networks. The experimental evaluation was based on the technology acceptance model (TAM), gathering the users' perceptions about usefulness, ease of use, and intention. The sensor and actuator technology through the Phidgets rapid prototyping framework engaged them in building mockups, and invited them to critique prototypes of several designs. The system uses glowing LEDs embedded in hand-sized wire sculptures to evoke fireflies along the walls and stair railings. The experiment focuses on learning user preferences about lighting and air conditioning to plan actions that an automated smart-environment system should perform to satisfy these preferences. The system can self-assemble into organized structures in which the sensor behave as biological entities on the basis of their local environments.Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham UniversitySelex Communications (Italy) coor dinates the WINSOC project. Other partners include the University of Rome “La Sapienza” (Italy), the Ecole Poly- technique Fédérale de Lausanne (Swit zerland), Intracom Telecom (Greece), the Commissariat per l’Energie Atom- ique-LETI (France), the Czech Center for Science and Society (Czech Repub lic), Dune (Italy), Universitat Politèc-nica de Catalunya (Spain), the Indian Space Organization (India), Amrita University (India), and the science and technology consultancy firm Sapienza Studies (Spain)