thout tying themselves to PROJECT OXYGEN a central control panel. Home patient monitoring is another potential Oxygen application. Project Oxygen will also allow people to collaborate with each other in new and innovative ways. The H21, for example, will enable users to record and save highlights from meetings and speeches for future access. Videoconfer- encing could become commonplace as E21 systems are installed in a growing number of homes and workplaces. H21s would allow users to join a video- conference from almost anywhere, such as an airport departure lounge or from the backseat of a car. Oxygen's built-in speech and facial recognition tech- nology will automatically identify conference participants and track each member's contributions to the proceedings. Finally, Oxygen's impressive access capabilities will allow users to create their own custom knowledge bases. Like today's Web portals, only much more comprehensive and easier to use, Oxygen-powered knowledge bases will provide in-depth information on a particular topic or series of topics. Acces- sible by voice, and including multimedia content, a knowledge base will be able to collect material automatically, directed with basic commands from its operator. People will also be able to access knowledge bases operated by friends, business associates, and organizations worldwide. MIT researchers are also developing an advanced software technology that will organize informa- tion not only by structure, but by meaning. 2.6.5 Hurdles Although few can argue with Project Oxygen's ultimate objective of creating a pervasive, natural computing, and communications environment, developing the underlying technology will be a remarkable achievement requiring plenty of hard work and numerous technological breakthroughs. The process will also require corporate hardware and software developers to closely cooperate on designs and standards, a process that doesn't come naturally to die-hard competitors. The first hurdle in bringing Oxygen to fruition lies in creating hard- 