The UBI (UrBan Interactions) Research Program studies urban computing, i.e. the interaction of urban space, computing technology and people.

MediaTeam Oulu research group at the department of Electrical and Information Engineering of the University of Oulu is coordinating a multidisciplinary research program on ubiquitous computing called the UBI program.

The aim of the UBI program is to build, in collaboration with the City of Oulu, a concrete prototype of a ubiquitous Oulu. In order to do this, new information technology such as large public displays, computers and multiform sensor network will be installed in downtown Oulu.

A ubiquitous city is an intelligent environment in which the information technology in the city space, devices carried by users with them and different kinds of data systems merge physical, virtual and social space into a seamless entity. The aim of a ubiquitous city is to offer better services to it's inhabitants and make the city a more comfortable living and residential environment.

Information technology enables the offering of new kinds of interactive services that citizens can, for example, use with their own mobile devices. One method that has been used in creation of new services is scenario-based design. The researchers of the UBI-program have written numerous stories on different kinds of everyday life situations in ubiquitous Oulu.

Later on, the chosen services will be included in the first broad UBI pilot, to be held in the summer of 2009. The services can be tested by anyone in a genuine usage environment in downtown Oulu.