Consider this scenario: You walk into a building and a sensor identifies you through your mobile phone. You then receive a welcoming text telling you when lunch will be served, or perhaps a health warning based on allergy information you’ve stored in your profile. Maybe you’ll be flagged as a security threat. How is that possible? This O’Reilly report explores ambient computing—hands-free, 247 wireless connectivity to hardware, data, and IT systems.Enabling that scenario requires a lot of work behind the scenes to determine network connectivity, device security, and personal privacy. With an ambient-computing technology stack already in the works, resolving those issues is only a matter of time.