A Software Framework for Augmentative and Alternative Communication

By combining context awareness and analytical based relevance computing software, the proposed Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) framework aims provide a foundation to create communication systems to dramatically increase the words available to AAC users. The framework will allow the lexicon available to the user to be dynamically updated by varying sources and to promote words based on contextual relevance. This level of customization enables the development of highly customizable AAC devices that evolve with use to become more personal while also broadening the expressiveness of the user. In order to maximize the efficient creation of conversation for AAC users, the framework provides a lexicon with the ability to obtain words from multiple sources which are then organized according to relevance in a situational context

A Software Framework for Augmentative and Alternative Communication

By combining context awareness and analytical based relevance computing software, the proposed Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) framework aims provide a foundation to create communication systems to dramatically increase the words available to AAC users. The framework will allow the lexicon available to the user to be dynamically updated by varying sources and to promote words based on contextual relevance. This level of customization enables the development of highly customizable AAC devices that evolve with use to become more personal while also broadening the expressiveness of the user. In order to maximize the efficient creation of conversation for AAC users, the framework provides a lexicon with the ability to obtain words from multiple sources which are then organized according to relevance in a situational context

Human centric situational awareness

Context awareness is an approach that has been receiving increasing focus in the past years. A context aware device can understand surrounding conditions and adapt its behavior accordingly to meet user demands. Mobile handheld devices offer a motivating platform for context aware applications as a result of their rapidly growing set of features and sensing abilities. This research aims at building a situational awareness model that utilizes multimodal sensor data provided through the various sensing capabilities available on a wide range of current handheld smart phones. The model will make use of seven different virtual and physical sensors commonly available on mobile devices, to gather a large set of parameters that identify the occurrence of a situation for one of five predefined context scenarios: In meeting, Driving, in party, In Theatre and Sleeping. As means of gathering the wisdom of the crowd and in an effort to reach a habitat sensitive awareness model, a survey was conducted to understand the user perception of each context situation. The data collected was used to build the inference engine of a prototype context awareness system utilizing context weights introduced in [39] and the confidence metric in [26] with some variation as a means for reasoning. The developed prototype\u27s results were benchmarked against two existing context awareness platforms Darwin Phones [17] and Smart Profile [11], where the prototype was able to acquire 5% and 7.6% higher accuracy levels than the two systems respectively while performing tasks of higher complexity. The detailed results and evaluation are highlighted further in section 6.4

Cloud computing and context-awareness: A study of the adapted user experience

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Today, mobile technology is part of everyday life and activities and the mobile ecosystems are blossoming, with smartphones and tablets being the major growth drivers. The mobile phones are no longer just another device, we rely on their capabilities in work and in private. We look to our mobile phones for timely and updated information and we rely on this being provided any time of any day at any place. Nevertheless, no matter how much you trust and love your mobile phone the quality of the information and the user experience is directly associated with the sources and presentation of information. In this perspective, our activities, interactions and preferences help shape the quality of service, content and products we use. Context-aware systems use such information about end-users as input mechanisms for producing applications based on mobile, location, social, cloud and customized content services. This represents new possibilities for extracting aggregated user-centric information and includes novel sources for context-aware applications. Accordingly, a Design Research based approach has been taken to further investigate the creation, presentation and tailoring of user-centric information. Through user evaluated experiments findings show how multi-dimensional context-aware information can be used to create adaptive solutions tailoring the user experience to the users’ needs. Research findings in this work; highlight possible architectures for integration of cloud computing services in a heterogeneous mobile environment in future context-aware solutions. When it comes to combining context-aware results from local computations with those of cloud based services, the results provide findings that give users tailored and adapted experiences based on the collective efforts of the two

Sistema de geo-localização referencial para pessoas com perdas cognitivas

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia BiomédicaA tecnologia tem revelado avanços significativos ao longo dos anos. Porém os desenvolvimentos não se focaram apenas na área da computação, expandido-se para outras áreas como a saúde, permitindo o desenvolvimento de novas técnicas de diagnóstico ou o aperfeiçoamento das existentes. Desta forma a qualidade de vida e os cuidados de saúde disponibilizados pelas instituições às pessoas foram melhorados. No entanto, estes progressos não permitem a total supressão de patologias, existindo algumas sem uma cura efetiva como é o caso das perdas cognitivas. O diagnóstico de perdas cognitivas pode potenciar algumas modificações na vida do paciente como, por exemplo, a presença de uma pessoa prestadora de cuidados, provocando a perda de independência do doente. De forma a diminuir a invasão de privacidade, vários investigadores desenvolveram projetos para permitir a orientação destas pessoas, porém exigiam algum esforço mental que pontualmente se poderia tornar demasiado complexo. O projeto desenvolvido pretende orientar as pessoas com perdas cognitivas, permitindo que estas tenham uma vida mais independente. Por outro lado, a pessoa prestadora de cuidados pode desenvolver outro tipo de atividade sem descurar o tipo de serviço que presta através de aplicações que lhe permitem conhecer a posição atual da pessoa a seu cargo. Com este projeto pretende-se que a pessoa com perdas cognitivas tenha uma maior independência tanto em trajetos comuns como em percursos de lazer. Este grau de independência é possível através da utilização de uma aplicação informática para dispositivos móveis que permite a seleção de diversos pontos de interesse e posterior orientação até estes. Este projeto utiliza conceitos de realidade aumentada e sinal GPS para aquisição da localização atual, indicando o caminho através de símbolos simples. Numa outra aplicação para dispositivos móveis o percurso pode ser visualizado em tempo real possibilitando uma constante monitorização da pessoa com perdas cognitivas. No caso de ocorrer alguma eventualidade é possível consultar os últimos pontos frequentados por esta.The technology has shown significant progress over the years. This progress was not exclusive to computers, expanding to other areas such as Health. The use of technology in this field enabled the development of new diagnostic technics or the enhancement of existing ones. Thus the life quality and healthcare provided by institutions to the people were also improved. However, all the progress has not suppressed diseases. There are a few that do not have an effective cure such as cognitive disabilities. When a patient is diagnosed with cognitive disabilities his life quality may suffer some changes. One of the major alterations is the presence of a caregiver. Thus, the patient incurs in a decrease of its independence. In order to reduce this privacy invasion, researchers have developed several projects to enable the orientation of these people, but some of these projects may require some mental effort that sometimes could become very complex. The developed project intends to guide people with cognitive disabilities in a simplistic way, allowing them to become more independent. Moreover, the caregiver may develop another type of activity without neglecting the type of service provided due to the applications that let him/her know the current position of the person with cognitive disabilities. With this project it is intended to provide a greater independence to the person with cognitive disabilities in common paths and leisure travels. This improvement in the independence of the person is achieved through an application for mobile devices that allows the selection of several points of interest and further orientation. This project uses concepts of augmented reality and the GPS signal to get the user current location. Through simple symbols the path is indicated. In another application for mobile devices the route can be viewed in real time enabling a constant monitoring of the person with cognitive disabilities. This application also provides the caregiver the visualization of the last points frequented by the person with cognitive disabilities

Cloud computing and context-awareness : a study of the adapted user experience

Today, mobile technology is part of everyday life and activities and the mobile ecosystems are blossoming, with smartphones and tablets being the major growth drivers. The mobile phones are no longer just another device, we rely on their capabilities in work and in private. We look to our mobile phones for timely and updated information and we rely on this being provided any time of any day at any place. Nevertheless, no matter how much you trust and love your mobile phone the quality of the information and the user experience is directly associated with the sources and presentation of information. In this perspective, our activities, interactions and preferences help shape the quality of service, content and products we use. Context-aware systems use such information about end-users as input mechanisms for producing applications based on mobile, location, social, cloud and customized content services. This represents new possibilities for extracting aggregated user-centric information and includes novel sources for context-aware applications. Accordingly, a Design Research based approach has been taken to further investigate the creation, presentation and tailoring of user-centric information. Through user evaluated experiments findings show how multi-dimensional context-aware information can be used to create adaptive solutions tailoring the user experience to the users’ needs. Research findings in this work; highlight possible architectures for integration of cloud computing services in a heterogeneous mobile environment in future context-aware solutions. When it comes to combining context-aware results from local computations with those of cloud based services, the results provide findings that give users tailored and adapted experiences based on the collective efforts of the two.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Inferring Social and Internal Context Using a Mobile Phone

This dissertation is composed of research studies that contribute to three research areas including social context-aware computing, internal context-aware computing, and human behavioral data mining. In social context-aware computing, four studies are conducted. First, mobile phone user calling behavioral patterns are characterized in forms of randomness level where relationships among them are then identified. Next, a study is conducted to investigate the relationship between the calling behavior and organizational groups. Third, a method is presented to quantitatively define mobile social closeness and social groups, which are then used to identify social group sizes and scaling ratio. Last, based on the mobile social grouping framework, the significant role of social ties in communication patterns is revealed. In internal context-aware computing, two studies are conducted where the notions of internal context are intention and situation. For intentional context, the goal is to sense the intention of the user in placing calls. A model is thus presented for predicting future calls envisaged as a call predicted list (CPL), which makes use of call history to build a probabilistic model of calling behavior. As an incoming call predictor, CPL is a list of numbers/contacts that are the most likely to be the callers within the next hour(s), which is useful for scheduling and daily planning. As an outgoing call predictor, CPL is generated as a list of numbers/contacts that are the most likely to be dialed when the user attempts to make an outgoing call (e.g., by flipping open or unlocking the phone). This feature helps save time from having to search through a lengthy phone book. For situational context, a model is presented for sensing the user's situation (e.g., in a library, driving a car, etc.) based on embedded sensors. The sensed context is then used to switch the phone into a suitable alert mode accordingly (e.g., vibrate mode while in a library, handsfree mode while driving, etc.). Inferring (social and internal) context introduces a challenging research problem in human behavioral data mining. Context is determined by the current state of mind (internal), relationship (social), and surroundings (physical). Thus, the current state of context is important and can be derived from the recent behavior and pattern. In data mining research area, therefore, two frameworks are developed for detecting recent patterns, where one is a model-driven approach and the other is a data-driven approach