Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an apparatus, method and system involving running at least one virtual machine on a portable computing device, wherein the virtual machine is operable to communicate with and control at least one device associated with at least one personal environment of a user of the portable computing device e.g. a motor vehicle, a house, an office or the body of the user of the portable computing device. By providing virtual machines dedicated to the control system of specific devices and physical hardware access, security is provided by preventing e.g. hacking and/or malware from entering the virtual machines.

Abstract: A method of enabling multiple different operating systems to run concurrently on the same RISC (e.g. ARM) computer, comprising selecting a first operating system to have a relatively high priority (the realtime operating system, such as C5); selecting at least one secondary operating system to have a relatively lower priority (the general purpose operating system, such as Linux); providing a common program (a hardware resource dispatcher similar to a nanokernel) arranged to switch between said operating systems under predetermined conditions; and providing modifications to said first and second operating systems to allow them to be controlled by said common program.