ADLib: An Arduino Communication Framework for Ambient Displays

As computers become more and more a part of our everyday lives, the need to change the way in which people interact with them is also evolving. Ambient displays provide an effective way to move computers away from our main focus and into the periphery. ADLib is a small communication framework that aims to simplify the construction of ambient displays built using the Arduino prototyping platform. The ADLib framework provides an easy-to-use library for communicating with an Arduino, allowing the user to focus on the construction and development of the display. The framework consists of three main components: A protocol for encoding information to be sent from a host computer to the Arduino An Arduino library for receiving and parsing incoming data A desktop application for sending data to the Arduin

Dealing with Variability in Context-Aware Mobile Software

Mobile context-aware software pose a set of challenging requirements to developers as these applications exhibit novel features, such as handling varied sensing devices and dynamically adapting to the user’s context (e.g. his or her location), and evolve quickly according to technological advances. In this paper, we discuss how to handle variability both across different domains and during the evolution of a single application. We present a set of design structures for solving different problems related with mobility (such as location sensing, behaviour adaptation, etc.), together with the design rationale underlying them, and show how these sound micro-architectural constructs impact on variability. Our presentation is illustrated with case studies in different domains.Facultad de Informátic

Dealing with Variability in Context-Aware Mobile Software

Mobile context-aware software pose a set of challenging requirements to developers as these applications exhibit novel features, such as handling varied sensing devices and dynamically adapting to the user’s context (e.g. his or her location), and evolve quickly according to technological advances. In this paper, we discuss how to handle variability both across different domains and during the evolution of a single application. We present a set of design structures for solving different problems related with mobility (such as location sensing, behaviour adaptation, etc.), together with the design rationale underlying them, and show how these sound micro-architectural constructs impact on variability. Our presentation is illustrated with case studies in different domains.Facultad de Informátic

Architectural and Implementation Issues for a Context-Aware Hypermedia Platform

In this paper we present the rationale and the main components of a modular and extensible architecture for building and deploying mobile hypermedia software. Using some simple archetypical examples we show how to provide context-aware assistance to the mobile user, as he explores the physical world. We also show that this kind of software systems poses strong requirements on supporting software (such as Web browsers) and we explain how to provide a modular software substrate to support these requirements. This paper shows how to use some simple concepts to develop complex context-aware systems, which are evolvable and easy to extend.Facultad de InformáticaLaboratorio de Investigación y Formación en Informática Avanzada (LIFIA

User interface development and software environments : the Chiron-1 system

User interface development systems for software environments have to cope with the broad, extensible and dynamic character of such environments, must support internal and external integration, and should enable various software development strategies. The Chiron-1 system adapts and extends key ideas from current research in user interface development systems to address the particular demands of software environments. Important Chiron-1 concepts are: separation of concerns, dynamism, and open architecture. We discuss the requirements on such user interface development systems, present the Chiron-1 architecture and a scenario of its usage, detail the concepts it embodies, and report on its design and prototype implementation

Architectural and Implementation Issues for a Context-Aware Hypermedia Platform

In this paper we present the rationale and the main components of a modular and extensible architecture for building and deploying mobile hypermedia software. Using some simple archetypical examples we show how to provide context-aware assistance to the mobile user, as he explores the physical world. We also show that this kind of software systems poses strong requirements on supporting software (such as Web browsers) and we explain how to provide a modular software substrate to support these requirements. This paper shows how to use some simple concepts to develop complex context-aware systems, which are evolvable and easy to extend.Facultad de InformáticaLaboratorio de Investigación y Formación en Informática Avanzada (LIFIA

Smart Computing and Sensing Technologies for Animal Welfare: A Systematic Review

Animals play a profoundly important and intricate role in our lives today. Dogs have been human companions for thousands of years, but they now work closely with us to assist the disabled, and in combat and search and rescue situations. Farm animals are a critical part of the global food supply chain, and there is increasing consumer interest in organically fed and humanely raised livestock, and how it impacts our health and environmental footprint. Wild animals are threatened with extinction by human induced factors, and shrinking and compromised habitat. This review sets the goal to systematically survey the existing literature in smart computing and sensing technologies for domestic, farm and wild animal welfare. We use the notion of \emph{animal welfare} in broad terms, to review the technologies for assessing whether animals are healthy, free of pain and suffering, and also positively stimulated in their environment. Also the notion of \emph{smart computing and sensing} is used in broad terms, to refer to computing and sensing systems that are not isolated but interconnected with communication networks, and capable of remote data collection, processing, exchange and analysis. We review smart technologies for domestic animals, indoor and outdoor animal farming, as well as animals in the wild and zoos. The findings of this review are expected to motivate future research and contribute to data, information and communication management as well as policy for animal welfare