Labscape: A Progress Report

1. Labscape: A Progress Report FDIS ’02 Thanks: DARPA, NSF, Intel Research, NIH

2. What I Said in '00 Breaking down barriers through standard representations and experiment capture

3. What I did in '00 • Investigated sensor technologies  • Investigated advanced interaction modalities  • Studied what biologists do and what they need  • 1 out of 3 ain't bad!

4. + Key Observation Abstract, but informal Physically complex, diverse.

5. select store/retrieve combine incubate dispense detect Labscape TodayA Ubiquitous Laboratory Assistant • Giant graph w/ globally unique nodes • Specialization through inheritance, hierarchy, annotation. • Material, control, and data flow

6. Metrics First 10 minutes of an experiment Activity Analysis Thrash Interleave 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Minutes

7. Deployment at CSI

8. Research Results • Design lessons [IEEE Pervasive, 9/02] • Systems Issues [Pervasive’02] • Evaluation [Consolvo, Ubicomp’02] • H.S. Education application

9. Design Lesson: UI before AI Take 1: summer ‘00 • Sensor driven • Plan recognition • Emphasize flexibility summer ‘02 • Flexibility • Usability • Proactivity (w/ Asst. Cog.) Flexibility Take 2: summer ‘01 • UI driven • Plan representation • Distributed/Robust/Reliable Relative Utility

10. Design Lesson: Values Matter • Exploratorium (HP CoolTown) • Kids and lay people doing science experiments • Value is in the experience • Interface became implicit at expense of functionality, quality • UW Immunology Lab (Labscape) • Professionals doing biology experiments • Value is in the results • Interface became explicit (the physical platform may disappear!)

11. Design Lesson: The Rubicon • Users should not have to “cross the Rubicon”. The true essence of invisible computing. • Our design goal: 100% task focus. All interactions with Labscape result in domain benefits to the user. • Automatic persistence (no explicit file I/O, etc) • Tolerate disconnection • Dynamic reconfiguration • Robust • Available (like gas, water) • Responsive • Distributed

12. System Architecture Asynchronous communicating components

13. one.world Runtime Env. [Grimm] • Change • Discovery (late binding) • Asynchrony and notification • Migration • Checkpointing • Composition • Remote events • Environments (interposition) • Sharing • Tuple Store • Events over Standard IO Node A Node B environment Tuple Store Component = collection of event handlers. No threads (except AWT), open connections, etc. Environment: a padded cell for components

14. tag version tag user ack one.world discovery multicast update node validate ack Exploiting one.world environments Client Device B Server

15. Result • Stable • Fast response (all local speeds except DB query) • Migration strategy evolving. Built-in mechanisms not good enough… • Disconnection/standalone OK. May have conflict resolution problems, but usually single writer! • Dynamic reconfiguration yes. Location sensing, no. • Replication works. Multiple users w/ different views of same model stay in synch • Instrument interfaces are a huge problem. Just have file system snooper now. • Seems scalable and evolvable (maintainable)

16. Evaluation • Goal: Do no harm! • Assess impact on key aspects of user ubiquitous computing user experience • Does it increase interleaving of information utilization with physical activity? • Does it decrease thrashing associated with lack of readily available information? • Does it make new things possible?

17. Characterization: PCR

18. Thrash

19. Interleaving

20. Ballard HS Experiment Concept: Integrate Theory and Practice Does it improve learning? Are requirements different?

21. Staining with EtBr Binds to DNA and fluoresces under UV light Unexpected result? Forgot to load DNA - no bands Forgot forward/reverse primers - no bands Too short running time - Results not definitive Too high DNA concentration - a big bar (smudge) Student 1 • Staining with EtBr • Allows pictures to be made of the gels • Unexpected result? • Pipetting error • Thermalcycler busted • No DNA • Ran the gel too long

22. Student 3 • Incubating at 100C - thoroughly breaks the chelex so it'll attach onto all DNA cells • dNTPs – I don't know what it stands for • EtBr –used to stain the gel to keep all data on the gel Incubating at 100C - breaks open the cells to release the DNA dNTPs – This is the most important reagent, because it creates all the guanine, thymine, As and Cs for the DNA strand EtBr - sticks onto the DNA and helps the analyzer see the results with UV light

23. Interview • Less magic • Less text to read!? • Better conceptual integration

24. Deployment • CSI • Marginal regular use • Immunex  Amgen • User study phase. • Ballard High (Seattle Public Schools) • Successful pilot study completed • Lisa Jenschke, director of educational outreach for CSI • Summer push: editing, math/control, usability, import/export, etc. DARPA NSF NIH Intel MSR