Ubiquitous and pervasive computing is something that might sound new, but this is a term coined more than two decades ago. Ubicomp (the acronym for Ubiquitous computing) has become a bit of a sensation lately due to the advent of mobile and the coming revolution of internet of things (or everything). Ubicomp is bringing people together from all kinds of diverse areas of computing like distributed computing, mobile computing, pervasive computing. To see what kind of work is being done in Ubicomp, checkout the papers presented recently in Sessions of Ubicomp 2013.

Jasper project, the star of this post, can also be classified as a Ubicomp project. Visit Jasper to get a better introduction to it. From our persective, the more interesting thing with this project is that it makes developing applications with a Siri or Google Now like interface possible for open source developers. New apps(modules) can be developed using the fine API that Jasper exposes for creation of new modules.

In Jasper Modules Pack, we are trying to build new modules for Jasper. We hope that by working on these modules we will have a better understanding of Ubicomp and also understand what works best on user interfaces like Jasper.

In addition to working on these ideas by ourselves, we are hoping to involve students into this effort. Students who are still pursuing their courses in CS/IT fields can bring a fresh bout of creativity to our efforts. So, in order to get them, involved we have this student program. Here is the facebook post announcing the start of our program.

POSTER

We are happy to announce the start of our student program in project Jasper Modules Pack (JMP). In this program we are collaborating with students interested in ubiquitous and pervasive computing (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubiquitous_computing) to develop modules for Jasper Project. The modules will be developed by students, in collaboration with a mentor and fellow students.

You ask what is Jasper? Jasper is, a distant cousin of JARVIS( of Iron Man fame) , a pervasive computing device like Siri or Google Now. It is extendable and one can build custom modules to run on top of it.

For more details about our program see http://nextcraft.github.io/projects/JMP/ and for further details on Jasper visit http://jasperproject.github.io/.

If you wish to work with us as a hobbyist hacker (right now we cannot compensate in money), you are most welcome to come and apply with your idea on the Google Form available at JMP project site.

If you feel interested in developing a module with our guidance, please enter your application here.