1. Introduction

Pervasive computing, also known as Internet of Things, or Ubiquitous Computing, describes the emerging trend of seamlessly integrating computing into the everyday physical world. Examples of pervasive computing systems include: self-driving cars, smart homes, navigation systems for disabled people, and environmental monitoring systems. In this chapter, we will take a first glance at such systems and identify their properties and basic components. An essential feature of these systems is their context-awareness, meaning that they determine circumstances (time, location, ambient temperature, emotions, seismic activity, etc.). In order to extract this context, a pervasive computing system must sense signals from the environment and then process them. Consequently, based on the inferred context and an internal process model, the pervasive computing system takes intelligent decisions and acts upon the same environment. Context inferring, reasoning, and decision making are the tasks of a software agent, or controller. In many cases, more computer systems work together behind the scenes, exchanging information in a transparent way, in order to deliver a service to the user. To summarize, a generic pervasive computing system consists of sensors, actuators, software agents (controllers), and communication modules. Its core properties are context-awareness, implicit human–computer interaction, seamless networking, autonomy, and intelligence. The highest ideal of making computing naturally embedded in our lives cannot, however, be achieved by merely solving technical problems. Acceptance and trust of pervasive computing also requires solutions to legal, ethical and usability challenges.