AmbieSense: a system and reference architecture for personalised and context-sensitive information services for mobile users

The purpose of AmbieSense is to provide personalised, context-sensitive information to the mobile user. It is about augmenting digital information to physical objects, rooms, and areas. The aim is to provide relevant information to the right user and situation. Digital content is distributed from the surroundings and onto your mobile phone. An ambient information environment is provided by a combination of context tag technology, a software platform to manage and deliver the information, and personal computing devices to which the information is served. This paper describes how the AmbieSense reference architecture has been defined and used in order to deliver information to the mobile citizen at the right time, place and situation. Information is provided via specialist content providers. The application area addresses the information needs of travellers and tourists

Content retrieval and mobile users: An outdoor investigation of an ambient travel guide

People's information needs change as they encounter new situations. The need for an ambient information environment becomes more evident in the case of the mobile traveller where situated information access is one of the main challenges. The motivation for this work has been to provide relevant information to the right situation and user in an ambient manner. Our way to solve this is to deliver personalised and context-aware information to the mobile user. To this end we have developed a platform, and prototype applications for travellers, and tourists. The system integrates our own tag technology with information from content service providers covering both general travel guide and local information. The development methodology is user-centred, iterative, and progressive in nature. It combines information retrieval (IR) test and evaluation techniques with iterative and user-centred development techniques at the test and evaluation phase. Combining the two disciplines gives us the ability to test and evaluate both the information aspects and the interaction aspects of any information system in parallel. Another advantage would be that one can develop content and software in parallel. This paper focuses on the IR test and evaluation framework that has been used in conjunction with the user-centred development. We emphasize the importance of performing IR test and evaluation for mobile systems in terms of users’ situations and tasks. The paper presents the results of some of the findings from a preliminary user test in an outdoor scenario. The test took place in a popular tourist destination in Spain

Building an Multi-Agent Whisky Recommender System

MAS (Multi-Agent Systems), classifiers and other AI (Artificial Intelligence) techniques are increasingly becoming more common. The capability to handle complex and advanced problems by MAS was explored in this thesis. An MAS duty-free shopping recommender system was built for this purpose. The MAS system was part of a larger system built by the AmbieSense project. In addition, the AmbieSense project had built a prototype that was tested at Oslo Airport (OSL) Gardermoen. As a test case, the duty-free shopping system was set to classify and recommend whiskies. The system incorporated several AI techniques such as agents, ontology, knowledge base and classifiers. The MAS was built using the JADE-LEAP framework, and Protégé was used for constructing the knowledge base. Various tests were performed for testing the system. Firstly, the agent communication was monitored using a Sniffer Agent. Secondly, the system’s ability to run on mobile devices was tested on a PDA and various mobile phones. Thirdly, the MAS abilities compared to a ‘normal’ computer program were tested by replacing agents at run-time, using several JADE platforms, and by the experience gathered during development and the use of the developed system. Lastly, the recommendation was cross-validated against Dr. Wishart’s whisky classification. Weka was employed as a tool for testing different features and classifiers. Different classification algorithms are explained such as NNR (Nearest-Neighbour Rule), Bayesian, CBR (Case-Based Reasoning), cluster analysis and self-organizing feature maps. Two classification algorithms were tested; NNR and Bayesian. Features were tested using feature evaluation algorithms; information gain and ReliefF. The accuracy of the classification was tested using 10 fold cross-validation. The testing showed that it is possible to make an MAS handling complex and advanced problems. It has also been shown that an MAS have some benefits in the areas of reliability, extensibility, computational efficiency and maintainability when compared to a ‘normal’ program. The error rate produced by the classifier was 56%; a figure which is too high for a recommendation system. Improvements could probably be achieved by finding better features or by selecting a different classifier. The system developed does not necessarily have to be used for duty-free shopping but could also be used for any shopping items

Eine Analyse der Literatur zur Referenzmodellierung im Geschäftsprozessmanagement unter Berücksichtigung quantitativer Methoden

Im Geschäftsprozessmanagement nimmt die Referenzmodellierung bei der Gestaltung von Geschäftsprozessen eine große Bedeutung ein, da auf bereits existierende Modelle zurückgegriffen werden kann. So kann Zeit für die Entwicklung der Prozesse eingespart und von bereits etabliertem Wissen profitiert werden. Die vorliegende Masterarbeit analysiert die Literatur im Bereich der Referenzmodellierung im Geschäftsprozessmanagement unter Berücksichtigung quantitativer Methoden. Es werden insbesondere die Forschungsrichtungen bzw. Themenbereiche, Entwicklungen und der aktuelle Stand der Literatur in diesem Bereich ermittelt. Zunächst werden deutsch- und englischsprachige Artikel nach bestimmten Kriterien ausgewählt. Anschließend folgt eine quantitativ orientierte Analyse der Literatur. Dabei kommt die Latente Semantische Analyse zum Einsatz, mit deren Hilfe Themenbereiche ermittelt werden und die einzelnen Beiträge den ermittelten Themenbereichen zugeordnet werden können. Darüber hinaus wird die Entwicklung der Anzahl der Artikel in den Themenbereichen im Zeitverlauf betrachtet und auf Unterschiede zwischen der deutsch- und englischsprachigen Literatur eingegangen. In der darauf folgenden qualitativ orientierten Analyse werden die Artikel der einzelnen Themenbereiche inhaltlich analysiert und der aktuelle Stand der Forschung dargestellt. Nicht zuletzt werden die Ergebnisse der qualitativen Analyse in Bezug zu den Ergebnissen der quantitativen Analyse gesetzt

Technological framework for ubiquitous interactions using context–aware mobile devices

This report presents research and development of dedicated system architecture, designed to enable its users to interact with each other as well as to access information on Points of Interest that exist in their immediate environment. This is accomplished through managing personal preferences and contextual information in a distributed manner and in real-time. The advantage of this system architecture is that it uses mobile devices, heterogeneous sensors and a selection of user interface paradigms to produce a sociotechnical framework to enhance the perception of the environment and promote intuitive interactions. The thrust of the work has been on software development and component integration. Iterative prototyping was adopted as a development method in order to effectively implement the users’ feedback and establish a platform for collaboration that closely meets the requirements and aids their decision-making process. The requirement acquisition was followed by the system-modelling phase in order to produce a robust software prototype. The implementation includes component-based development and extensive use of design patterns over native programming. Conclusively, the software product has become the means to evaluate differences in the use of mixed reality technologies in a ubiquitous scenario. The prototype can query a number of context sources such as sensors, or details of the personal profile, to acquire relevant data. The data (and metadata) is stored in opensource structures, so that they are accessible at every layer of the system architecture and at any time. By proactively processing the acquired context, the system can assist the users in their tasks (e.g. navigation) without explicit input – e.g. by simply creating a gesture with the device. However, advanced interaction with the application via the user interface is available for requests that are more complex. Representations of the real world objects, their spatial relations and other captured features of interest are visualised on scalable interfaces, ranging from 2D to 3D models and from photorealism to stylised clues and symbols. Two principal modes of operation have been implemented; one, using geo-referenced virtual reality models of the environment, updated in real time, and second, using the overlay of descriptive annotations and graphics on the video images of the surroundings, captured by a video camera. The latter is referred to as augmented reality. The continuous feed of the device position and orientation data, from the GPS receiver and the digital compass, into the application, makes the framework fit for use in unknown environments and therefore suitable for ubiquitous operation. This is one of the novelties of the proposed framework, because it enables a whole range of social, peer-to-peer interactions to take place. The scenarios of how the system could be employed to pursue these remote interactions and collaborative efforts on mobile devices are addressed in the context of urban navigation. The conceptual design and implementation of the novel location and orientation based algorithm for mobile AR are presented in detail. The system is, however, multifaceted and capable of supporting peer-to-peer exchange of information in a pervasive fashion, usable in various contexts. The modalities of these interactions are explored and laid out in several scenarios, but particularly in the context of user adoption. Two evaluation tasks took place. The preliminary evaluation examined certain aspects that influence user interaction while being immersed in a virtual environment, whereas the second summative evaluation compared the utility and certain usability aspects of the AR and VR interfaces