Towards the internet of agents: an analysis of the internet of things from the intelligence and autonomy perspective

Recently, the scientific community has demonstrated a special interest in the process related to the integration of the agent-oriented technology with Internet of Things (IoT) platforms. Then, it arises a novel approach named Internet of Agents (IoA) as an alternative to add an intelligence and autonomy component for IoT devices and networks. This paper presents an analysis of the main benefits derived from the use of the IoA approach, based on a practical point of view regarding the necessities that humans demand in their daily life and work, which can be solved by IoT networks modeled as IoA infrastructures. It has been presented 24 study cases of the IoA approach at different domains ––smart industry, smart city and smart health wellbeing–– in order to define the scope of these proposals in terms of intelligence and autonomy in contrast to their corresponding generic IoT applications.En los últimos años, la comunidad científica ha mostrado un interés especial en torno al proceso de integración de la tecnología orientada a agentes sobre plataformas de Internet de las Cosas (IoT, por sus siglas en inglés). Surge así, un nuevo enfoque denominado Internet de los Agentes (IoA, por sus siglas en inglés) como una alternativa para añadir un componente de inteligencia y autonomía sobre los dispositivos y redes de IoT. El presente trabajo muestra un análisis de los principales beneficios derivados del uso del enfoque del IoA, visto desde las actuales necesidades que el ser humano demanda en su trabajo y vida cotidiana, las cuales pueden ser resueltas por redes de IoT modeladas como infraestructuras de IoA. Se plantea un total de 24 casos prácticos de aplicaciones de IoA en diferentes dominios ––industria, ciudad, y salud y bienestar inteligente–– a fin de determinar el alcance de dichas aplicaciones en términos de inteligencia y autonomía respecto a sus correspondientes aplicaciones genéricas de IoT.This study was founded by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (SENESCYT)

HABITAT: An IoT Solution for Independent Elderly

In this work, a flexible and extensive digital platform for Smart Homes is presented, exploiting the most advanced technologies of the Internet of Things, such as Radio Frequency Identification, wearable electronics, Wireless Sensor Networks, and Artificial Intelligence. Thus, the main novelty of the paper is the system-level description of the platform flexibility allowing the interoperability of different smart devices. This research was developed within the framework of the operative project HABITAT (Home Assistance Based on the Internet of Things for the Autonomy of Everybody), aiming at developing smart devices to support elderly people both in their own houses and in retirement homes, and embedding them in everyday life objects, thus reducing the expenses for healthcare due to the lower need for personal assistance, and providing a better life quality to the elderly users

HABITAT: An IoT solution for independent elderly

In this work, a flexible and extensive digital platform for Smart Homes is presented, exploiting the most advanced technologies of the Internet of Things, such as Radio Frequency Identification, wearable electronics, Wireless Sensor Networks, and Artificial Intelligence. Thus, the main novelty of the paper is the system-level description of the platform flexibility allowing the interoperability of different smart devices. This research was developed within the framework of the operative project HABITAT (Home Assistance Based on the Internet of Things for the Autonomy of Everybody), aiming at developing smart devices to support elderly people both in their own houses and in retirement homes, and embedding them in everyday life objects, thus reducing the expenses for healthcare due to the lower need for personal assistance, and providing a better life quality to the elderly users.In this work, a flexible and extensive digital platform for Smart Homes is presented, exploiting the most advanced technologies of the Internet of Things, such as Radio Frequency Identification, wearable electronics, Wireless Sensor Networks, and Artificial Intelligence. Thus, the main novelty of the paper is the system-level description of the platform flexibility allowing the interoperability of different smart devices. This research was developed within the framework of the operative project HABITAT (Home Assistance Based on the Internet of Things for the Autonomy of Everybody), aiming at developing smart devices to support elderly people both in their own houses and in retirement homes, and embedding them in everyday life objects, thus reducing the expenses for healthcare due to the lower need for personal assistance, and providing a better life quality to the elderly users

Reisikäitumise uurimine mobiiltelefonidel põhinevate andmetega: pikaajalisest andmestikust tulenevad uued teadmised inimeste ruumikasutusest

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Kaasaja ühiskonda iseloomustab inimeste järjest suurenev mobiilsus. Inimeste liikuvus on edukuse ja innovatsiooni aluseks, aga sellega kaasnevad ka transpordi- ja keskkonnaprobleemid. Seetõttu on inimeste reisikäitumise uurimine ühiskonnale väga oluline teema. Seni on inimese reisikäitumist uuritud põhjalikult küsitlusuuringute ja reisipäevikute alusel, kuid hõlmates vaid lühiajalist uurimisperioodi (1–3 päeva). Mobiilsuse kasvule lisaks muutuvad reisikäitumise mustrid varasemast keerukamateks ja aeg-ruumiliselt paindlikumateks, mistõttu on järjest olulisem uurida reisikäitumist pikematel perioodidel. Üks võimalus inimeste liikumist pikemalt uurida on kasutada mobiilpositsioneerimist, mis võimaldab koguda kuluefektiivselt inimese digitaalset jäljerida pika ajaperioodi kohta. Käesolev doktoritöö selgitab, kuidas mobiiltelefonide andmed aitavad paremini aru saada inimese reisikäitumisest. Esiteks pakub doktoritöö välja kontseptsiooni inimese ruumilise käitumise tuvastamiseks mobiilitelefonide kõnelogiandmete põhjal ja metoodika selle mõõtmiseks. Teiseks täiendab doktoritöö praeguseid teadmiseid inimese reisikäitumisest, hinnates inimese ruumikasutuse parameetreid (tegevuskohtade arv ja tegevusruumi ulatus) ning nende varieeruvust igapäevase, kuise ja aastase ajaperioodi lõikes. Tulemused näitavad, et inimese tegevusruumi parameetrid sõltuvad eelkõige inimese enda valikutest, väliskeskkonna (sh sesoonsus) mõju varieeruvusele on vähene. Selgitati välja ka mobiilpositsioneerimise andmete eripärast tulenevad metodoloogilised kitsakohad, mida on oluline arvestada valimi koostamisel ja ruumikasutuse mõõtmisel. Kolmandaks teostati doktoritöös kolm juhtumiuuringut, et tõestada arendatud metoodika rakendamise kasulikkust erinevate ühiskonnanähtuste uurimisel. Tuvastati, et metoodikaga saab usaldusväärselt hinnata (riigi) rahvastiku paiknemist omavalitsuse tasandil. Samuti selgitati välja, kes põhjustavad tipptunni liikluse teatud teelõigul, hinnates seal liikuvate inimeste koosseisu ja liikumiste geograafilist jagunemist. Viimasena uuriti segregatsiooni uudsel, inimese tegevusruumi põhisel lähenemisel ning tuvastati, et kahe keelegrupi vahel on selged erisused reisikäitumise ruumilises mõõtmes. Autor väidab doktoritöö tulemuste põhjal, et (i) mobiiltelefonide kõnelogiandmed on väärtuslik täiendus traditsioonilisele inimese reisikäitumise ruumilise mõõtme uurimisele; (ii) arendatud metoodika pakub uusi teadmisi inimese reisikäitumise kohta tulenevalt võimalusest uurida senisest pikemaid vaatlusperioode; (iii) väljatöötatud metoodika võimaldab saada täiendavaid teadmisi ühiskonnaprotsessidest, mida traditsiooniliste andmekogumismeetoditega on keeruline tuvastada.Contemporary society is characterised by the constant increase of mobility. Although individual mobilities can be seen as a new form of capital and the premise for innovation, this has also a negative impact on surrounding environment and social structures. Hence, human travel behaviour research is essential for understanding a myriad of different societal issues. To date, human travel behaviour has been thoroughly examined using activity-travel diaries predominantly based on short period of time (up to three days). The need to understand travel behaviour from a longitudinal (monthly, yearly) perspective has increased due to the overall increase of individual mobility, together with the increase of the complexity of human travel behaviour and its flexibility in space and time. Mobile phone based data are perceived to be one promising means to cost-effectively assess human movements and its variability in the prolonged perspective. This dissertation ascertains how mobile phone based data can help us understand human travel behaviour. Therefore, three aims are the subject of this dissertation. First, it conceptualises the identification of spatial characteristics of human travel behaviour using mobile phone based data and proposes the methodology to measure it. Second, it extends the existing knowledge of human travel behaviour by complementary evidence from daily, monthly and yearly perspectives. Results suggest that intrapersonal variability in monthly spatial behaviour is predominantly explained by individual factors whereas the seasonal effect remains weak. In addition, some methodological weaknesses were found due to peculiarities of mobile phone based data that must be acknowledged while using the data in human travel behaviour studies. Third, this dissertation demonstrates three case studies on how the proposed methodology can be implemented to provide valuable knowledge on social processes and phenomena. The findings suggest that the proposed methodology can be applied to reveal the distribution of the population at the municipality level and to assess short-term population mobility, to reveal the composition of road users in a given road section and to estimate the distribution of traffic flows in the transportation network, and to delve into the phenomenon of segregation by assessing person based activity space segregation. Based on the findings, this dissertation argues that (i) the call detail records of mobile phone users are a valuable addition to traditional data collection methods for revealing the spatial characteristics of human travel behaviour; (ii) the proposed methodology enables us to provide new insights on human travel behaviour in the prolonged perspective; and (iii) the proposed methodology is suitable for providing complementary knowledge to better understand social phenomena that is difficult to examine otherwise