FoodWise: Food Waste Reduction and Behavior Change on Campus with Data Visualization and Gamification

Food waste presents a substantial challenge with significant environmental and economic ramifications, and its severity on campus environments is of particular concern. In response to this, we introduce FoodWise, a dual-component system tailored to inspire and incentivize campus communities to reduce food waste. The system consists of a data storytelling dashboard that graphically displays food waste information from university canteens, coupled with a mobile web application that encourages users to log their food waste reduction actions and rewards active participants for their efforts. Deployed during a two-week food-saving campaign at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in March 2023, FoodWise engaged over 200 participants from the university community, resulting in the logging of over 800 daily food-saving actions. Feedback collected post-campaign underscores the system's efficacy in elevating user consciousness about food waste and prompting behavioral shifts towards a more sustainable campus. This paper also provides insights for enhancing our system, contributing to a broader discourse on sustainable campus initiatives

Energy-efficient mobile Web computing

Next-generation Web services will be primarily accessed through mobile devices. However, mobile devices are low-performance and stringently energy-constrained. In my dissertation, I propose the design of a high-performance and energy-efficient mobile Web computing substrate. It is a hardware/software co-designed system that delivers satisfactory user quality-of-service (QoS) experience on a mobile energy budget. The key insight is that the traditional interfaces between different Web stacks need to be enhanced with new abstractions that express user QoS experience and that expose architectural-level complexities. On the basis of the enhanced interfaces, I propose synergistic cross-layer optimizations across the processor architecture, Web runtime, programming language, and application layers to maximize the whole system efficiency. The contributions made in this dissertation will likely have a long-term impact because the target application domain, the Web, is becoming a universal mobile development platform, and because our solutions target the fundamental computation layers of the Web domain.Electrical and Computer Engineerin

Assessment of the Public Value of Open Data in Ghana

With rising enthusiasm for Open Data (OD) globally, there has been an expanding requirement for research on the impact this movement has created. Ghana is consid-ered as one of the early Open Data adopters in Africa. The case of Ghana presents an interesting and a unique area of concentration due to the country’s long stand in de-mocracy. The practice of democracy, accountability and transparency has been the core of government development in Ghana since independence in 1957. The research pur-pose is to understand and examine the impact of Open Data from the context of Gha-na from the perspective of created public value. Existing studies in Open Data has focused on the supply-side. These studies have discussed issues relating to licensing, policies, power relationship between government stakeholders and the technological platforms of the phenomenon. Less is however, known of the impact Open Data on citizens and government of developing countries after about four years of embracing the initiative. The research question underlying this study is: What public value has Open Data created in Ghana? To answer this research question, the study adopts a post-positivist methodology and deductively adopts the public value framework as the theoretical lens. With reference to the public value framework the study posits that the major impact of open data in Ghana is related to intrinsic enhancements, steward-ship, quality of life, economic empowerment.With rising enthusiasm for Open Data (OD) globally, there has been an expanding requirement for research on the impact this movement has created. Ghana is consid-ered as one of the early Open Data adopters in Africa. The case of Ghana presents an interesting and a unique area of concentration due to the country’s long stand in de-mocracy. The practice of democracy, accountability and transparency has been the core of government development in Ghana since independence in 1957. The research pur-pose is to understand and examine the impact of Open Data from the context of Gha-na from the perspective of created public value. Existing studies in Open Data has focused on the supply-side. These studies have discussed issues relating to licensing, policies, power relationship between government stakeholders and the technological platforms of the phenomenon. Less is however, known of the impact Open Data on citizens and government of developing countries after about four years of embracing the initiative. The research question underlying this study is: What public value has Open Data created in Ghana? To answer this research question, the study adopts a post-positivist methodology and deductively adopts the public value framework as the theoretical lens. With reference to the public value framework the study posits that the major impact of open data in Ghana is related to intrinsic enhancements, steward-ship, quality of life, economic empowerment

Exploring the Futures of Mobiles for Social Development Using Ethnographic Futures Research

As new technologies such as mobile phones impact peoples’ daily lives, interest into their potential is also growing. In this research paper we aim to identify and explore how a particular research approach, in this instance, ethnographic futures research (EFR), can be utilized for future predictions of mobiles phones in social development activities in developing countries. The paper describes the process and offers reasoning for utilizing this approach. By undertaking this research, the benefits are that academics will learn of an approach that will allow the study of and understanding social development activities achieved by novel mobile applications. For practitioners, such research offers the potential of obtaining a rich, simple and clearer understanding of mobile application development. By obtaining such an understanding, regions around the globe can be targeted and diffusion strategies leading to increasing mobile phone users will occur. By applying EFR it is concluded that there is definitely a need for a different way of thinking about how mobile phone services should be created and deployed to marginalized communities to avoid the unsustainable models used for the initial tele‐center deployments over a decade ago

Experience Report on the Challenges and Opportunities in Securing Smartphones Against Zero-Click Attacks

Zero-click attacks require no user interaction and typically exploit zero-day (i.e., unpatched) vulnerabilities in instant chat applications (such as WhatsApp and iMessage) to gain root access to the victim's smartphone and exfiltrate sensitive data. In this paper, we report our experiences in attempting to secure smartphones against zero-click attacks. We approached the problem by first enumerating several properties we believed were necessary to prevent zero-click attacks against smartphones. Then, we created a security design that satisfies all the identified properties, and attempted to build it using off-the-shelf components. Our key idea was to shift the attack surface from the user's smartphone to a sandboxed virtual smartphone ecosystem where each chat application runs in isolation. Our performance and usability evaluations of the system we built highlighted several shortcomings and the fundamental challenges in securing modern smartphones against zero-click attacks. In this experience report, we discuss the lessons we learned, and share insights on the missing components necessary to achieve foolproof security against zero-click attacks for modern mobile devices

Using Augmented Reality and Internet of Things to improve accessibility of people with motor disabilities in the context of Smart Cities

Smart Cities need to be designed to allow the inclusion of all kinds of citizens. For instance, motor disabled people like wheelchair users may have problems to interact with the city. Internet of Things (IoT) technologies provide the tools to include all citizens in the Smart City context. For example, wheelchair users may not be able to reach items placed beyond their arm’s length, limiting their independence in everyday activities like shopping, or visiting libraries. We have developed a system that enables wheelchair users to interact with items placed beyond their arm’s length, with the help of Augmented Reality (AR) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies. Our proposed system is an interactive AR application that runs on different interfaces, allowing the user to digitally interact with the physical items on the shelf, thanks to an updated inventory provided by an RFID system. The resulting experience is close to being able to browse a shelf, clicking on it and obtaining information about the items it contains, allowing wheelchair users to shop independently, and providing autonomy in their everyday activities. Fourteen wheelchair users with different degrees of impairment have participated in the study and development of the system. The evaluation results show promising results towards more independence of wheelchair users, providing an opportunity for equality improvement.This work was partly funded by the Spanish Government through projects TIN2012-34965 PIGALL, TIN2011-27076-C03-02 CO-PRIVACY, TIN2014-57364-C2-2-R SMARTGLACIS, TEC2015-71303-R SINERGIA, and TSI-020602-2012-147 IRIS. The authors also acknowledge support from Obra Social “la Caixa” -ACUP through project 2011ACUP00261

Contributions to Web Accessibility: Device-tailored Evaluation, User-tailored Interface Generation and the Interplay with User Experience

149 p.AbstractThe Web has an incredible importance in our modern society and for many people it has become a fundamental part of their lives. It enables us to Access a huge amount of information, and use a wide range of services related to diverse areas of our daily activities, which has the potential of making our lives easier. Its ubiquitous nature and advances in mobile devices have led to the possibility of accessing the Web any time and from anywhere. This has numerous and obvious advantages, but at the same time it poses challenges related to the Universal Design (UD), as websites need to adapt to the existing diversity of users, devices and interaction contexts. For instance, to ensure the accessibility of a website, in addition to the human diversity, the features of the existing computing devices with access to the Internet, as well as features of the environment where the interaction will occur have to be considered. Similarly, this information can be used when checking the accessibility of websites, so that evaluations are closer to what users are really experiencing when accessing the websites.In this thesis a device tailored web accessibility evaluation framework and an automated web-based user tailored interface generator are presented. The evaluation framework deals with device specific information. Empiricaldata showed that more accurate and reliable accessibility reports are obtained in comparison to performing evaluations that do not consider device specific information. The interface generator takes into consideration information about users and their interaction context, in order to adapt web based user interfaces. From the conducted case study it was concluded that the automatically generated user tailored user interfaces were fully operable.These two tools can be of great help for web developers to create and maintain accessible content for a wide range of users and interaction contexts. Accessible and adapted user interfaces do not necessarily provide users with an enhanced experience though. With the aim of investigating how accessible user interfaces influence the experience of users and understanding if accessibility is related to a better user experience, a user testing was conducted. In order to investigate this relationship, data from 11 participants was elicited about their subjective accessibility perceptions and their user experience with four websites with different levels of accessibility. Results showed that participants¿ user experience and their perceived web accessibility are closely related. In addition, web accessibility is correlated to three attributes (typical - original, conservative - innovative, lame - exciting) of the hedonic quality stimulation dimension of the user experience. These findings provide the web community with additional knowledge about the interactions between the user experience and web accessibility. LaburpenaWeb-ak izugarrizko garrantzia dauka gure gaur egungo gizartean, eta persona askorentzat beraien bizitzan funtsezkoa bihurtu da. Web-ak informazio kantitate handirako atzipena eta eguneroko ekintzekin erlazionatutako zerbitzu anitz erabiltzea ahalbidetzen du, beraz gure bizitza errazteko ahalmena dauka. Bere nonahiko izaerak eta gailu mugikorretan gertatu diren aurrerakuntzek,Web-a edozein momentutan eta edozein lekuan atzitzeko aukera eragin dute. Honek abantai anitz ditu, baina aldi berean Diseinu Unibertsalarekin zerikusia duten erronkak sortzen ditu. Adibidez, webgune baten irisgarritasuna ziurtatzeko, pertsonen aniztasunaz gain, Interneterako atzipena duten dispositiboen eta elkarrekintza gertatzen den inguruaren ezaugarriak hartu behar dira kontuan. Informazio hori ere erabili daiteke web guneen irisgarritasuna ebaluatzeko, era honetan ebaluazioek, erabiltzaileak web gunea atzitzerakoan duten esperientzarekin antza gehiago izango dute.Tesi honetan, web irisgarritasuna dispositibo mugikorren arabera ebaluatzen duen tresna bat eta erabiltzailei egokitzen diren Web-ean oinarritutako interfazeak automatikoki sortzen dituen sistema bat aurkezten dira. Ebaluazio tresnak dispositibo mugikorren ezaugarrien informazio espezifikoa erabiltzen du. Datu enpirikoen arabera, irisgarritasun ebaluazio txostenak zehatzagoak eta fidagarriagoak dira dispositibo mugikorren inguruko informazio espezifikoa erabiltzen bada irisgarritasun ebaluazioetan. Interfazeak sortzen dituen sistemak, erabiltzaileen eta elkarrekintza gertatzen den inguruneko informazioa erabiltzen du. Burututako ikerketa kasu baten emaitzen arabera, sistemak sortutako erabiltzaileei egokitutako interfazeak guztiz funtzionalak zirela ondorioztatu zen.Bi tresna hauek, eduki irisgarria mantentzeko eta sortzeko oso lagungarriak izan daitezke web garaitzaileentzat. Batez ere erabiltzaile anitz eta elkarrekintza ingurune desberdin ugari existitzen direla kontuan izanda. Interface irisgarri eta egokituek ordea, ez dute beti erabiltzaileen esperientzia hobetzen. Interfaze irisgarriek erabiltzaileen esperientzian duen eragina ikertzeko, eta ea irisgarritasuna erabiltzaileen esperientziaren hobekuntzarekin erlazionatuta dagoen ulertzeko, erabiltzaile proba bat burutu zen. Hamaika erabiltzaileen irisgarritasun pertzepzioa eta erabiltzaile esperentzia aztertu ziren lau web gune ezberdinen inguruan, gune bakoitzak irisgarritasun maila ezberdin bat zuelarik. Emaitzen arabera, erabiltzaileen esperientzia eta irisgarritasun pertzepzioa oso lotuta daude. Gainera web irisgarritasuna, erabiltzaile esperientziaren hiru atributuekin (antigoaleko - original, atzerakoi - berritzaile, aspergarri - interesgarri) erlazionatuta dagoela ikusi zen. Emaitza hauek, web irisgarritasunaren eta erabiltzaile esperientziaren arteko erlazioari buruzko ezagutza gehitzen du web komunitatera. ResumenLa Web tiene una importancia increíble en nuestra sociedad moderna, y para muchas personas se ha convertido en una parte fundamental de sus vidas. Nos posibilita el acceso a una gran cantidad de información, y el uso de un gran abanico de servicios relacionados con diversas áreas de nuestras actividades diarias, lo que tiene el potencial de hacernos la vida más fácil. Su naturaleza ubicua y los avances en los dispositivos móviles han posibilitado el acceso a la Web en cualquier momento y desde cualquier sitio. Esto tiene numerosas y obvias ventajas, pero a su vez plantea retos en relación al Diseño Universal, debido a que los sitios web tienen que estar adaptados a diversos dispositivos y contextos de interacción. Para asegurar la accesibilidad de un sitio web, además de la diversidad humana, hay que tener en cuenta también las características de los dispositivos con acceso a Internet, incluso las del entorno donde ocurre la interacción. De forma similar, esa información se puede usar al evaluar la accesibilidad de los sitios web, de manera que las evaluaciones estén más cerca de lo que los usuarios experimentan al acceder a un sitio web.En esta tesis se presenta una herramienta para evaluar la accesibilidad web a medida de los dispositivos móviles, y un sistema para la generación automática de interfaces web adaptadas al usuario. La herramienta de evaluación automática maneja información específica de dispositivos móviles. Los datos empíricos demuestran que se obtienen informes más precisos y fiables en comparación a realizar evaluaciones donde no se tiene en cuenta información específica de los dispositivos. El sistema generador de interfaces maneja información relativa a los usuarios y su contexto de interacción. Mediante el caso de estudio llevado a cabo, se concluyó que las interfaces generadas automáticamente adaptadas a los usuarios eran completamente operables.Éstas dos herramientas pueden ser de gran ayuda para los desarrolladores web para la creación y mantenimiento del contenido accesible teniendo en cuenta un amplio rango de usuarios y contextos de interacción. Sin embargo, las interfaces accesibles y adaptadas no necesariamente proporcionan una experiencia de usuario mejorada. Con el objetivo de investigar como influyen las interfaces accesibles en la experiencia de los usuarios, y entender si la accesibilidad esta relacionada con una mejora en la experiencia de usuario, se realizó una prueba de usuario. Para investigar esta relación, se analizaron datos de los 11 participantes sobre sus percepciones de accesibilidad y su experiencia de usuario con cuatro sitios web con diferentes niveles de accesibilidad. Los resultados demuestran que la experiencia de usuario y la accesibilidad percibida de los participantes están estrechamente relacionadas. Además, la accesibilidad web está correlacionada con tres atributos (típica - original, conservadora - innovadora, aburrida - interesante) de la cualidad hedónica de la experiencia de usuario. Estos resultados aportan a la comunidad web conocimiento adicional sobre la interacción entre la experiencia de usuario y la accesibilidad web