Applications of Context-Aware Systems in Enterprise Environments

In bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and corporate-owned, personally enabled (COPE) scenarios, employees’ devices store both enterprise and personal data, and have the ability to remotely access a secure enterprise network. While mobile devices enable users to access such resources in a pervasive manner, it also increases the risk of breaches for sensitive enterprise data as users may access the resources under insecure circumstances. That is, access authorizations may depend on the context in which the resources are accessed. In both scenarios, it is vital that the security of accessible enterprise content is preserved. In this work, we explore the use of contextual information to influence access control decisions within context-aware systems to ensure the security of sensitive enterprise data. We propose several context-aware systems that rely on a system of sensors in order to automatically adapt access to resources based on the security of users’ contexts. We investigate various types of mobile devices with varying embedded sensors, and leverage these technologies to extract contextual information from the environment. As a direct consequence, the technologies utilized determine the types of contextual access control policies that the context-aware systems are able to support and enforce. Specifically, the work proposes the use of devices pervaded in enterprise environments such as smartphones or WiFi access points to authenticate user positional information within indoor environments as well as user identities

Multimodal Content Delivery for Geo-services

This thesis describes a body of work carried out over several research projects in the area of multimodal interaction for location-based services. Research in this area has progressed from using simulated mobile environments to demonstrate the visual modality, to the ubiquitous delivery of rich media using multimodal interfaces (geo- services). To effectively deliver these services, research focused on innovative solutions to real-world problems in a number of disciplines including geo-location, mobile spatial interaction, location-based services, rich media interfaces and auditory user interfaces. My original contributions to knowledge are made in the areas of multimodal interaction underpinned by advances in geo-location technology and supported by the proliferation of mobile device technology into modern life. Accurate positioning is a known problem for location-based services, contributions in the area of mobile positioning demonstrate a hybrid positioning technology for mobile devices that uses terrestrial beacons to trilaterate position. Information overload is an active concern for location-based applications that struggle to manage large amounts of data, contributions in the area of egocentric visibility that filter data based on field-of-view demonstrate novel forms of multimodal input. One of the more pertinent characteristics of these applications is the delivery or output modality employed (auditory, visual or tactile). Further contributions in the area of multimodal content delivery are made, where multiple modalities are used to deliver information using graphical user interfaces, tactile interfaces and more notably auditory user interfaces. It is demonstrated how a combination of these interfaces can be used to synergistically deliver context sensitive rich media to users - in a responsive way - based on usage scenarios that consider the affordance of the device, the geographical position and bearing of the device and also the location of the device

BlueEyes: assistive technology for visually impaired and blind people - a bluetooth

This report is presented to draw one solution “people to people” (P2P) through the mobile technology that promotes the change in the field of sustainability in relation to the Application system. The HCI interaction field, as the basis for the study of this project, is defined as a multidisciplinary field of knowledge, focusing on the design of computer technology and, in particular, on the interaction between humans and computers. For the development of this project it was necessary enough research information on the technologies that will be needed to create an application mobile. All this research and design belongs to just one of the various stages of this project that has the base of operations at ESEC

BlueEyes: assistive technology for visually impaired and blind people - a bluetooth

This report is presented to draw one solution “people to people” (P2P) through the mobile technology that promotes the change in the field of sustainability in relation to the Application system. The HCI interaction field, as the basis for the study of this project, is defined as a multidisciplinary field of knowledge, focusing on the design of computer technology and, in particular, on the interaction between humans and computers. For the development of this project it was necessary enough research information on the technologies that will be needed to create an application mobile. All this research and design belongs to just one of the various stages of this project that has the base of operations at ESEC

MOG - A smart mobile system for interactive museum visits

In this work we propose an integrated system to manage and enhance the museums visiting experience for the general public, providing a more comfortable, intelligent and interactive way to visit multiple museums without the need for several mobile applications, whilst giving a tool to museum curators that allows them to easily manage and extend the content displayed to each individual visitor. For that purpose, our approach was to develop a single mobile application, a module to an open-source Content Management System (CMS), namely Drupal 8, and incorporate location information inferred by the capture of BLE's signals (beacons). The proposed prototype features an Android application that will be used by the visitors where they can access the available information about several museums, and combined with BLE's, will display information about the museum and spaces of the museum where the visitor is (or is planning to visit). This application gives the option to choose from several languages that are provided and managed by each museum.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Location based services with personal area network for community and tourism applications

The Infopoint Explorer is an outdoor wireless personal area network for location-based services that allows users to access locality information interactively using mobile computing devices such as PDAs and smartphones. The Infopoint explorer was used to study the limitations imposed by inexpensive and popular wireless technologies such as Bluetooth for outdoor location-based services. The Infopoint Explorer functioned as a multimedia guidebook that allowed access to location-specific information using wireless Infopoints. The Infopoints detect and attempt to transfer multimedia content to nearby mobile computing devices using Bluetooth connectivity. An adaptive Bluetooth Inquiry Access Code algorithm was developed to reduce the time taken for the Infopoint to detect nearby devices. The Infopoint was deployed for a four-month trial

An intelligent system for interactive visits in smart places

In this work, we designed and developed a prototype as an integrated system to provide visitors or users of complex buildings, such as museums, hospitals, shopping malls, amongst others, relevant information in an interactive and comfortable way while keeping it simple and affordable for the building managers. To achieve this, a mobile application was developed that allows its users to access information from several Smart Places, in a single mobile application. This application has a generic and common interface to be used by different types of Smart Places and provides multi-language information, to the end-users, that can be defined and translated by each Smart Place. To make this possible, the prototype architecture was designed providing the Smart Places independence since they have their own database and can manage their information. Furthermore, the system uses an Indoor Location and Tracking System taking advantage of BLE devices and Bluetooth capabilities of mobile devices to provide the relevant and interactive information based on the end-user location within the Smart Place. This prototype is also composed of an open-source Content Management System (based on Drupal 8), that allows the system operators to upload and manage the information provided to the end-users. Since the design and construction of most modern buildings go through a BIM process, our Content Management System provides a way to upload information extracted from BIM tools through CSV files. The resulting system is affordable for Smart Places while being comfortable and interactive for the users.Neste trabalho, foi desenhado e desenvolvido um protótipo sendo um sistema integrado de forma a proporcionar aos visitantes ou utilizadores de edifícios complexos, tais como museus, hospitais, centros comerciais, entre outros, informação relevante de forma interactive e confortável, mantendo-o simples e acessível para os gestores de edifícios. Para tal, foi desenvolvida uma aplicação móvel que permite aos seus utilizadores aceder à informação de vários Smart Places, numa única aplicação. Esta tem uma interface genérica e comum para ser utilizada por diferentes tipos de Smart Places e disponibiliza informação multilingue, aos utilizadores, podendo ser definida e traduzida por cada Smart Place. Para que isto seja possível, a arquitetura do protótipo foi desenhada de forma a garantir a independência dos Smart Places, uma vez que estes têm a sua própria base de dados e podem gerir a sua informação. Além disso, o sistema utiliza um Indoor Location and Tracking System, aproveitando os dispositivos BLE e os recursos Bluetooth dos dispositivos móveis, para fornecer as informações relevantes e interativas baseadas na localização do utilizador dentro do Smart Place. Este protótipo também é composto por um Content Management System de código aberto (baseado no Drupal 8), que permite aos operadores do sistema carregar e gerir as informações fornecidas aos utilizadores finais. Como o planeamento e construção dos edifícios mais modernos passam por um processo de BIM, o Content Management System permite carregar informações extraídas de ferramentas BIM através de ficheiros CSV. O sistema resultante é acessível para Smart Places mantendo-se confortável e interativo para os utilizadores