Ambient E-Service: Applications and Embracing Model

Abstract

Most of existing mobile services were designed based on the client/server architecture. Those mobile services neither paid much attention to mobile users’ interactions with their environments nor considered the collective efforts between the mobile users in a dynamic peer group. In this paper, the notion of ambient e-service is so defined as to identify a new scope of mobile e-service, which address dynamic collective efforts between mobile users (enabled by Mobile Peer-to-Peer technology), dynamic interactions with ambient environments (envisioned by Location-based service), the moment of value (empowered by wireless technologies), and low cost service provision. The notable features of ambient e-services are the exhilarated linkage based on social context and significantly rapid growth of connections. We also present an ambient e-service framework that characterizes ambient e-services with three dimensions (value stack, environment stack and technology stack), followed by several exemplars of ambient e-service applications. Moreover, we present the Ambient e-service Embracing Model (ASEM) that addresses the integrated consideration of trust, reputation and privacy required for fostering the growth of ambient e-services and steers the directions of future fruitful relevant research. The embracing model can also guide the government or service providers to implement the ambient e-service applications that satisfy customers’ unique needs under various circumstances. Keywords: mobile commerce, ambient e-service, mobile peer-to-peer, trust/reputation/privacy