diff --git a/src/Adapt.jl b/src/Adapt.jl
index b70a545..1294972 100644
--- a/src/Adapt.jl
+++ b/src/Adapt.jl
@@ -52,4 +52,7 @@ include("arrays.jl")
 # helpers
 include("macro.jl")
 
+# compute devices
+include("computedevs.jl")
+
 end # module
diff --git a/src/computedevs.jl b/src/computedevs.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6bd55cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/computedevs.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+# adaptors for converting abstract arrays to Base.Array
+
+
+"""
+    abstract type AbstractComputeUnit
+
+Supertype for arbitrary computing devices (CPU, GPU, etc.).
+
+`adapt(dev::AbstractComputeUnit, x)` adapts `x` for `dev`.
+
+`Sys.total_memory(dev)` and `Sys.free_memory(dev)` return the total and free
+memory on the device.
+"""
+abstract type AbstractComputeUnit end
+export AbstractComputeUnit
+
+
+"""
+    struct ComputingDeviceIndependent
+
+`get_compute_unit(x) === ComputingDeviceIndependent()` indicates
+that `x` is not tied to a specific computing device. This typically
+means that x is a statically allocated object.
+"""
+struct ComputingDeviceIndependent end
+export ComputingDeviceIndependent
+
+
+"""
+    UnknownComputeUnitOf(x)
+
+`get_compute_unit(x) === ComputingDeviceIndependent()` indicates
+that the computing device for `x` cannot be determined.
+"""
+struct UnknownComputeUnitOf{T}
+    x::T
+end
+
+
+"""
+    struct MixedComputeSystem <: AbstractComputeUnit
+
+A (possibly heterogenous) system of multiple compute units.
+"""
+struct MixedComputeSystem <: AbstractComputeUnit end
+export MixedComputeSystem
+
+
+"""
+    struct CPUDevice <: AbstractComputeUnit
+
+`CPUDevice()` is the default CPU device.
+"""
+struct CPUDevice <: AbstractComputeUnit end
+export CPUDevice
+
+adapt_storage(::CPUDevice, x) = adapt_storage(Array, x)
+
+Sys.total_memory(::CPUDevice) = Sys.total_memory()
+Sys.free_memory(::CPUDevice) = Sys.free_memory()
+
+
+"""
+    abstract type AbstractComputeAccelerator <: AbstractComputeUnit
+
+Supertype for GPU computing devices.
+"""
+abstract type AbstractComputeAccelerator <: AbstractComputeUnit end
+export AbstractComputeAccelerator
+
+
+"""
+    abstract type AbstractGPUDevice <: AbstractComputeAccelerator
+
+Supertype for GPU computing devices.
+"""
+abstract type AbstractGPUDevice <: AbstractComputeAccelerator end
+export AbstractGPUDevice
+
+
+merge_compute_units() = ComputingDeviceIndependent()
+
+@inline function merge_compute_units(a, b, c, ds::Vararg{Any,N}) where N
+    a_b = merge_compute_units(a,b)
+    return merge_compute_units(a_b, c, ds...)
+end
+
+@inline merge_compute_units(a::UnknownComputeUnitOf, b::UnknownComputeUnitOf) = a
+@inline merge_compute_units(a::UnknownComputeUnitOf, b::Any) = a
+@inline merge_compute_units(a::Any, b::UnknownComputeUnitOf) = b
+
+@inline function merge_compute_units(a, b)
+    return (a === b) ? a : compute_unit_mergeresult(
+        compute_unit_mergerule(a, b),
+        compute_unit_mergerule(b, a),
+    )
+end
+
+struct NoCUnitMergeRule end
+
+@inline compute_unit_mergerule(a::Any, b::Any) = NoCUnitMergeRule()
+@inline compute_unit_mergerule(a::UnknownComputeUnitOf, b::Any) = a
+@inline compute_unit_mergerule(a::UnknownComputeUnitOf, b::UnknownComputeUnitOf) = a
+@inline compute_unit_mergerule(a::ComputingDeviceIndependent, b::Any) = b
+
+@inline compute_unit_mergeresult(a_b::NoCUnitMergeRule, b_a::NoCUnitMergeRule) = MixedComputeSystem()
+@inline compute_unit_mergeresult(a_b, b_a::NoCUnitMergeRule) = a_b
+@inline compute_unit_mergeresult(a_b::NoCUnitMergeRule, b_a) = b_a
+@inline compute_unit_mergeresult(a_b, b_a) = a_b === b_a ? a_b : MixedComputeSystem()
+
+
+"""
+    get_compute_unit(x)::Union{
+        AbstractComputeUnit,
+        ComputingDeviceIndependent,
+        UnknownComputeUnitOf
+    }
+
+Get the computing device backing object `x`.
+
+Don't specialize `get_compute_unit`, specialize
+[`Adapt.get_compute_unit_impl`](@ref) instead.
+"""
+get_compute_unit(x) = get_compute_unit_impl(Union{}, x)
+export get_compute_unit
+
+
+"""
+    get_compute_unit_impl(::Type{TypeHistory}, x)::AbstractComputeUnit
+
+See [`get_compute_unit_impl`](@ref).
+
+Specializations that directly resolve the compute unit based on `x` can
+ignore `TypeHistory`:
+
+```julia
+Adapt.get_compute_unit_impl(@nospecialize(TypeHistory::Type), x::SomeType) = ...
+```
+"""
+function get_compute_unit_impl end
+
+
+@inline get_compute_unit_impl(@nospecialize(TypeHistory::Type), ::Array) = CPUDevice()
+
+# Guard against object reference loops:
+@inline get_compute_unit_impl(::Type{TypeHistory}, x::T) where {TypeHistory,T<:TypeHistory} = begin
+    UnknownComputeUnitOf(x) 
+end
+
+@generated function get_compute_unit_impl(::Type{TypeHistory}, x) where TypeHistory
+    if isbitstype(x)
+        :(ComputingDeviceIndependent())
+    else
+        NewTypeHistory = Union{TypeHistory, x}
+        impl = :(begin dev_0 = ComputingDeviceIndependent() end)
+        append!(impl.args, [:($(Symbol(:dev_, i)) = merge_compute_units(get_compute_unit_impl($NewTypeHistory, getfield(x, $i)), $(Symbol(:dev_, i-1)))) for i in 1:fieldcount(x)])
+        push!(impl.args, :(return $(Symbol(:dev_, fieldcount(x)))))
+        impl
+    end
+end