Ambient intelligence

No symposium of this size can be organized without the help of many dedicated persons. EUSAI was organized by Philips Research in close cooperation with the ITEA Ambience project. Many people were involved in this joint effort and we are greatly indebted to them for their valuable contribution to the organization of EUSAI. Special thanks in this respect go to Ad de Beer for taking care of the local arrangements and to Maurice Groten for guaranteeing the financial budget. EUSAI has succeeded in bringing together a wealth of information on the research progress in ambient intelligence, and we are confident that these proceedings will contribute to the realization of the truly great concept that ambient intelligence provides. Eindhoven, Emile Aarts August 2003 Rene Collier Evert van Loenen Boris de Ruyter Le nouveau poème électronique On the occasion of the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels, Le Corbusier designed for the Philips company a pavilion (see photograph below) that was later referred to as the neglected building by Le Corbusier, since it was dismantled after the fair. In his visually compelling book, Treib [1996] brought this object back to life, and positioned it as an ephemeral structure that exhibited a landmark multimedia production. The nearly two million visitors to the pavilion were exposed to a media show rather than to the typical display of consumer products.