Moving recommender systems from on-line commerce to retail stores

The increasing diversity of consumers' demand, as documented by the debate on the long tail of the distribution of sales volume across products, represents a challenge for retail stores. Recommender systems offer a tool to cope with this challenge. The recent developments in information technology and ubiquitous computing makes it feasible to move recommender systems from the on-line commerce, where they are widely used, to retail stores. In this paper, we aim to bridge the management literature and the computer science literature by analysing a number of issues that arise when applying recommender systems to retail stores: these range from the format of the stores that would benefit most from recommender systems to the impact of coverage and control of recommender systems on customer loyalty and competition among retail store

Augmented Tourist Information Poster Projects in an English Language Learning Class

This paper documents the process of a group of English language learners working on a projectbasedtourism course to create enhanced information posters for tourists with augmented reality (AR);an emerging and disruptive form of interactive technology used across a variety of applications andindustries. The paper first provides a definition of AR, before exploring AR’s applications to tourismresources and language learning contexts. The paper then describes the classroom procedure ofcreating augmented tourist information posters, before reflecting on the outcomes of the posterprojects

Digital Twins for Industry 4.0 in the 6G Era

Having the Fifth Generation (5G) mobile communication system recently rolled out in many countries, the wireless community is now setting its eyes on the next era of Sixth Generation (6G). Inheriting from 5G its focus on industrial use cases, 6G is envisaged to become the infrastructural backbone of future intelligent industry. Especially, a combination of 6G and the emerging technologies of Digital Twins (DT) will give impetus to the next evolution of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) systems. This article provides a survey in the research area of 6G-empowered industrial DT system. With a novel vision of 6G industrial DT ecosystem, this survey discusses the ambitions and potential applications of industrial DT in the 6G era, identifying the emerging challenges as well as the key enabling technologies. The introduced ecosystem is supposed to bridge the gaps between humans, machines, and the data infrastructure, and therewith enable numerous novel application scenarios.Comment: Accepted for publication in IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technolog

A cloud-based collaborative virtual learning environment for the higher education institutions in the Sultanate of Oman.

Advances in cloud computing have made it possible for collaborative environments to be developed for educational services. However, some HEIs are still using traditional VLE tools which receive minimal utilisation by users mostly for uploading and downloading course materials. This study focuses on challenges and concerns that limit or even prohibit the use of a cloud-based collaborative virtual learning environment (CBCVLE). More specifically, this study considers the influences of Omani culture upon utilisation of CBCVLEs. A mixed methods research approach is adopted which includes a preliminary study, a questionnaire-based survey, and a set of interviews. The issues are identified by reviewing the related literature and the surveys and grouping them under five headings: (1) ICT infrastructure and services, (2) operational environment, (3) user’s experience and expectations, (4) factors affecting the use and acceptance, and (5) cultural influences. The findings indicate lack of sufficient ICT infrastructure and services, as well as insufficient financial resources in some higher education institutions for establishing their own ICT infrastructures. Moreover, the findings highlight users’ experience as an important influence for utilisation of CBCVLEs. Regarding the operational environment, a wide range of concerns and challenges are identified by participants in the surveys. A number of issues are found to have an effect on the use of VLE tools and collaborative environments. Factors affecting the use and acceptance of a CBCVLE are also identified and classified as motivators or deterrents. Most importantly, cultural influences are found to be critical and vital for the use of CBCVLE. Family, religion, language, customs and traditions and gender can have a critical effect on users’ participation in collaborative projects. The study’s findings contribute to a better understanding and promotion of high utilisation and acceptance of CBCVLEs. A novel framework is proposed which incorporates key elements and their relationships associated with a cloud-based collaborative environment. The framework aims to mitigate issues and factors influencing low utilisation and the acceptance of CBCVLEs

Central monitoring system for ambient assisted living

Smart homes for aged care enable the elderly to stay in their own homes longer. By means of various types of ambient and wearable sensors information is gathered on people living in smart homes for aged care. This information is then processed to determine the activities of daily living (ADL) and provide vital information to carers. Many examples of smart homes for aged care can be found in literature, however, little or no evidence can be found with respect to interoperability of various sensors and devices along with associated functions. One key element with respect to interoperability is the central monitoring system in a smart home. This thesis analyses and presents key functions and requirements of a central monitoring system. The outcomes of this thesis may benefit developers of smart homes for aged care

A model personal energy meter

Every day each of us consumes a significant amount of energy, both directly through transport, heating and use of appliances, and indirectly from our needs for the production of food, manufacture of goods and provision of services. This dissertation investigates a personal energy meter which can record and apportion an individual's energy usage in order to supply baseline information and incentives for reducing our environmental impact. If the energy costs of large shared resources are split evenly without regard for individual consumption each person minimises his own losses by taking advantage of others. Context awareness offers the potential to change this balance and apportion energy costs to those who cause them to be incurred. This dissertation explores how sensor systems installed in many buildings today can be used to apportion energy consumption between users, including an evaluation of a range of strategies in a case study and elaboration of the overriding principles that are generally applicable. It also shows how second-order estimators combined with location data can provide a proxy for fine-grained sensing. A key ingredient for apportionment mechanisms is data on energy usage. This may come from metering devices or buildings directly, or from profiling devices and using secondary indicators to infer their power state. A mechanism for profiling devices to determine the energy costs of specific activities, particularly applicable to shared programmable devices is presented which can make this process simpler and more accurate. By combining crowdsourced building-inventory information and a simple building energy model it is possible to estimate an individual's energy use disaggregated by device class with very little direct sensing. Contextual information provides crucial cues for apportioning the use and energy costs of resources, and one of the most valuable sources from which to infer context is location. A key ingredient for a personal energy meter is a low cost, low infrastructure location system that can be deployed on a truly global scale. This dissertation presents a description and evaluation of the new concept of inquiry-free Bluetooth tracking that has the potential to offer indoor location information with significantly less infrastructure and calibration than other systems. Finally, a suitable architecture for a personal energy meter on a global scale is demonstrated using a mobile phone application to aggregate energy feeds based on the case studies and technologies developed