The Phone with a Brain
From: Financial Times - 11/19/2003 - page 11
By: Deborah Gardiner

Carnegie Institute of Technology (CIT) researchers have created a prototype
context-aware cell phone called SenSay, which combines a global positioning
system, sensors, and a personal digital assistant to gather information about
the user, his location, and his current activity so that calls can be
forwarded or connected appropriately. For instance, if the user is having
lunch, SenSay notes this from the location system and a "to-do" list
indicating a lunch appointment; the phone then disables its ringing feature
and automatically sets itself to vibrate. By checking the location, the to-do
list, and user schedule, the device can decide to send all calls to voice
mail--but if the caller stresses urgency, the system will text the caller to
call back in a few minutes, and then vibrate and provide a text message to
the user about the expected call. Callers can also use SenSay to access the
user's calendar and determine if the user is running behind. SenSay's sensory
array includes an accelerometer to read motion, a temperature and heat flux
sensor, a microphone, a light sensor, and galvanic skin response sensors.
"The time it takes to hand off or receive vital information is greatly
reduced [with SenSay]," boasts Asim Smailagic of Carnegie Mellon University's
Institute for Complex Engineered Systems. Issues that need to be addressed
before SenSay is ready for commercialization include integration and storage
problems, as well as ease-of-use and the product's incompatibility with
conventional fixed-line phone users. CIT expects to commercialize SenSay in
two years in partnership with Intel, while technology analysts think the
device will be a niche product favored by CEOs, travelers, and military
officers. 

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