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The most precious resource in a computer system is no longer its processor, memory, disk or network. Rather, it is a resource not subject to Moore's law: User Attention. Today's systems distract a user in many explicit and implicit ways, thereby reducing his effectiveness.

Project Aura will fundamentally rethink system design to address this problem. Aura's goal is to provide each user with an invisible halo of computing and information services that persists regardless of location. Meeting this goal will require effort at every level: from the hardware and network layers, through the operating system and middleware, to the user interface and applications.

Project Aura will design, implement, deploy, and evaluate a large-scale system demonstrating the concept of a “personal information aura” that spans wearable, handheld, desktop and infrastructure computers.

Here is an MPEG concept video (85MB) imagining an Aura world.