What do you think of when you hear the phrase, “ambient computing”? It doesn’t conjure up a sleek device you can hold or wear, nor an ingenious app you can download. Ambient computing—or ambient intelligence, a term used synonymously—is more abstract: it’s a condition, a state of the art. It describes a computing era that is unfolding around us, as technology continues its staggeringly rapid evolution. To understand it, focus not on the word “computing” but on “ambient.” Think of ambient lighting. Ambient music. An ambient element is tuned to your immediate environment, adapted to enhance a particular mood or activity.