Untitled EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The technical issues relating to the actual implementation and thus realisation of Ambient Intelligence (AmI) environments are immense, and in most cases tangible solutions to technical related problems are still yet to be found. This situation leads to some interesting points of debate on technical, legal and wider societal levels. Firstly we have to consider where these AmI enabling technologies will evolve from. ‘Emerging Technologies’ has become a term which considers the convergence of areas such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, cognitive science, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Such technologies which stem from this idea of domain fusion can be considered appropriate in the fabric of an AmI environment, meaning that AmI may actually be an application area made possible through this new emerging technology phenomenon.

Here we present a non-exhaustive range of ‘emerging’ technologies, stemming from fundamental sensor technology for AmI spaces which will enable the data capture from which new ‘profile’ information can be inferred, to enabling technology, i.e. technology which will serve in the underpinning infrastructure to provide the networking and processing capabilities necessary in the envisaged future scenarios of augmented living. Because, in large, these technologies are not at a mature stage in their development, we discuss the theoretical workings and point to how they may indeed find application in AmI spaces. 

The development of such technologies clearly has the potential for wide ramifications in our everyday lives, and in fact while the technology is sill in its development phase is an ideal time to debate their likely impact. Indeed, because of the fast development in technology and the unstoppable experimentation in society itself, the traditional mechanisms of law – that work via policy makers or legal politicians – typically only intervene at the moment a particular technology with all its short-term advantages at a micro-level has been put in the market. As such, the intervention with regard to the possible negative impact on a long term macro-level, should, in order to be effective, not be purely legal at a post-production level but should also take place in an earlier stage. Thus, this can only be achieved by actions that go beyond law alone. ‘Infoethics’ is the application of ethical principles with regard to the development and use of information and communication technologies and here, in the context of the technologies presented, we investigate one part of this broad field: the role of fundamental rights for emerging technologies.

Additionally within this deliverable, we offer a forum for an initial inter-disciplinary discussion based on the complex issue of this technology evolution in its wider socio-cultural context. Technology mirrors social and cultural values, if only because technology developers do not operate in a vacuum, but in the broader social and cultural context. By offering one anthropological viewpoint of this dependency and inviting replies from researchers within both the technical and legal domains, we hope to further stimulate discussion on this broader topic. 

In essence, this deliverable is less about firm answers to specific questions - indeed to a large extent it would be too presumptuous to do so. Instead it aims to inform the reader on how emerging technologies may find application in AmI, and to stimulate further discussion on both the specific and broader issues that such development entails. This deliverable is seen as an initial investigation into areas less explored by FIDIS from which further and more specific work may derive, for example D12.6 ‘Study on ICT implants’.