Students Visit the Institute for Pervasive Computing

6th Graders Take a Peek at Tomorrow's IT World

12 July 2007

On July 10 a 6^th grade of a primary school in Zurich was introduced to the mysterious world of information technology by members of the Institute for Pervasive Computing. The visit was part of a project collaboration with the Department for Organization and Informatics of the city of Zurich.

by Katja Abrahams

Talking toothbrushes, shopping assistants integrated in the label of a new blazer, sensitive shirts, which ask the washing machine to handle them with care: the introductory lecture by Prof. Friedemann Mattern gave the12-year-olds an overview of the spectacular developments of the past years; computer processors and sensors growing smaller and cheaper by the year enable the wireless communication of "intelligent" everyday objects.

Fascinating IT Demos Hands-On

The demonstrations by PhD students Matthias Lampe and Ruedi Arnold following the lecture gave the kids an opportunity to experience research projects developed at the institute first hand: by using the bar code scanner integrated into a camera cell phone they could make sure that neither the Pringles nor the chocolate balls that were offered contained allergens they are sensitive to, an other project made a cell phone into a remote control for browsing an interactive Google Earth map. After trying the interactive "Jass" table the 6^th graders were spellbound by the Playmobil knight's castle even thought they claimed to be way too old for such things. However, we are not talking about any old toy here: the figurines in the castle contain "smart tags" such that dragons can be made to hiss and ghosts can be made to howl. As a didactic side effect the Playmobil noble knights will share information on life in medieval times.

The program was rounded off by a lecture with lots of demos, presented by Mario Botsch of the Computer Graphics Lab. Graphic effects such as warping cows, cutting up bunnies and flinging around snakes made the kids laugh. They did however ask highly professional questions for their age, e.g. is it possible to download the program for free or does it run on a Mac as well.

Creative and Critical 12 Year Olds

The closing Q&A session with Prof. Mattern made it clear that IT is something today's kids take for granted, however, there are critical opinions. „A world in which everything is controlled and where freedom no longer exists because sensor so-and-so says one isn't getting enough exercise or has forgotten to put on the bike helmet is not for me“ one of the 6^th graders says.

The technology experts of the Kartaus school will soon have an other opportunity to share their view on tomorrows IT with Prof. Mattern. In September the city of Zurich will hold a conference where perspectives and visions of children will be taken into account - and Prof. Mattern is one of the speakers. According to Annette Kielholz, communications manager of the Department for Organization and Informatics of the city of Zurich and initiator of the project, students put together a PowerPoint presentation containing a veritable "fountain of ideas", projects like navigator glasses for the blind or a film in the perspective of a louse.