Perspectives on Negative Research Results in Pervasive Computing

TL;DR

This paper discusses the importance of sharing negative research results in pervasive computing to foster progress, avoid repeated mistakes, and highlight new research challenges, based on insights from a dedicated workshop.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive discussion on the value, challenges, and perspectives of publishing negative results in pervasive computing research.

Findings

Sharing negative results prevents repeated mistakes.

Negative results reveal new research challenges.

Platforms for sharing negative results are essential for progress.

Abstract

Not all research leads to fruitful results; trying new ways or methods may surpass the state of the art, but sometimes the hypothesis is not proven or the improvement is insignificant. In a systems discipline like pervasive computing, there are many sources of errors, from hardware issues over communication channels to heterogeneous software environments. However, failure to succeed is not a failure to progress. It is essential to create platforms for sharing insights, experiences, and lessons learned when conducting research in pervasive computing so that the same mistakes are not repeated. And sometimes, a problem is a symptom of discovering new research challenges. Based on the collective input of the First International Workshop on Negative Results in Pervasive Computing (PerFail 2022), co-located with the 20th International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications (PerCom 2022), this paper presents a comprehensive discussion on perspectives on publishing negative results and lessons learned in pervasive computing.