In this paper we present a novel approach to the design of ubiquitous computing environments based on an ultra low-cost implementation of standard distributed object middlewares suitable for networked hardware and software components of the system. We prove the feasibility of our approach with a set of prototypes supporting basic interoperability with CORBA and ZeroC ICE. In some cases, the resulting embedded prototypes are two orders of magnitude smaller than previous implementations of small objects. They are suitable for embedding into the smallest microcontrollers in the market, or in the tiniest embedded Java virtual machines, or even in a low-end FPGA.