Sociability and Mobility Concepts for the Connected Home

The functionality offered by interconnected devices in a networked home will be drastically increased by the possibilities of always-on broadband Internet. This broadband connection can enhance the communication among family members and friends. It can also make it easy to share content and activities such as watching a movie together or listen to the same music while having a videophone chat. While using all these functions people want to be able to move freely through their home. The advance of portable devices fulfils this need for mobility. These portable devices can be used either in isolation or in co-operation with the stationary devices in the house. Two novel interaction concepts are described that support sociability and mobility for people inhabiting the connected home.