Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") is a post-desktop model of human-computer interaction in which information processing has been thoroughly integrated into everyday objects and activities. As opposed to the desktop paradigm, in which a single user consciously engages a single device for a specialized purpose, someone "using" ubiquitous computing engages many computational devices and systems simultaneously, in the course of ordinary activities, and may not necessarily even be aware that they are doing so.

There are a variety of terms in use to describe this paradigm, many of which are associated with a particular institution or perspective. Some of these are general ("pervasive computing," "ambient intelligence," and more recently, "everyware," ), while others primarily concern the objects involved ("physical computing," the "Internet of things,", "haptic computing," and "things that think".)