Panel on future challenges in modeling methodology

This panel paper presents the views of six researchers and practitioners of simulation modeling. Collectively we attempt to address a range of key future challenges to modeling methodology. It is hoped that the views of this paper, and the presentations made by the panelists at the 2004 Winter Simulation Conference will raise awareness and stimulate further discussion on the future of modeling methodology in areas such as modeling problems in business applications, human factors and geographically dispersed networks; rapid model development and maintenance; legacy modeling approaches; markup languages; virtual interactive process design and simulation; standards; and Grid computing

Usability evaluation of a virtual museum interface

The Augmented Representation of Cultural Objects (ARCO) system provides software and interface tools to museum curators to develop virtual museum exhibitions, as well as a virtual environment for museum visitors over the World Wide Web or in informative kiosks. The main purpose of the system is to offer an enhanced educative and entertaining experience to virtual museum visitors. In order to assess the usability of the system, two approaches have been employed: a questionnaire based survey and a Cognitive Walkthrough session. Both approaches employed expert evaluators, such as domain experts and usability experts. The result of this study shows a fair performance of the followed approach, as regards the consumed time, financial and other resources, as a great deal of usability problems has been uncovered and many aspects of the system have been investigated. The knowledge gathered aims at creating a conceptual framework for diagnose usability problems in systems in the area of Virtual Cultural Heritage

An Adaptive User Interface Framework for eHealth Services based on UIML

New sensory technologies and smaller, more capable mobile devices open opportunities for pervasive computing in the healthcare sector. Patients as well as medical professionals are, from a information and communication technology (ICT) point of view, better equipped than ever before. Despite this, many hospitals and other healthcare service providers have yet to exploit the potential unleashed by these technologies. In this paper, we present a framework for adaptive user interfaces for home care and smart hospital services. The framework uses the current context to provide healthcare professionals or patients with simpler, more efficient user interfaces. In a home care environment, user interface adaption is needed to tailor user interfaces to patients needs and impairments. In a smart hospital, user interface adaption considers medical professionals’ preferences and priorities. In addition, by using context to make input suggestions simplifies the input and limits the scope for errors. Our frameworks uses a modelbased approach and includes the current context in the interface generation process

An MDE-based framework to support the development of Mixed Interactive Systems

International audienceIn the domain of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), recent advances in sensors, communication technologies, miniaturization and computing capabilities have led to new and advanced forms of interaction. Among them, Mixed Interactive Systems (MIS), form a class of interactive systems that comprises augmented reality, tangible interfaces and ambient computing; MIS aim to take advantage of physical and digital worlds to promote a more transparent integration of interactive systems with the user's environment. Due to the constant change of technologies and the multiplicity of these interaction forms, specific development approaches have been developed. As a result, numerous taxonomies, frameworks, API and models have emerged, each one covering a specific and limited aspect of the development of MIS. To support a coherent use of these multiple development resources and contribute to the increasing popularity of MIS, we have developed a framework based on Model-Driven Engineering. The goal is to take advantage of Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) standards, methodology and tools to support the manipulation of complementary Domain Specific Languages (DSL), to organize and link the use of different design and implementation resources, and to ensure a rationalized implementation based on design choices. In this paper, we first summarize existing uses of MDE in HCI before focusing on five major benefits MDE can provide in a MIS development context. We then detail which MDE tools and resources support these benefits and thus form the pillars of the success of an MDE-based MIS development approach. Based on this analysis, we introduce our framework, called Guide-Me, and illustrate its use through a case study. This framework includes two design models. Model transformations are also included to link one model to another; as a result the frameworks coverage extends from the earliest design step to a software component-based prototyping platform. A toolset based on Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) that supports the use of the framework is also presented. We finally assess our MDE-based development process for MIS based on the five major MDE benefits for MIS

Can GUI implementation markup languages be used for modelling?

The current diversity of available devices and form factors increases the need for model-based techniques to support adapting applications from one device to another.Most work on user interface modelling is built around declarative markup languages. Markup languages play a relevant role, not only in the modelling of user interfaces, but also in their implementation. However, the languages used by each community (modellers/ developers) have, to a great extent evolved separately. This means that the step from concrete model to final interface becomes needlessly complicated, requiring either compilers or interpreters to bridge this gap. In this paper we compare a modelling language (UsiXML) with several markup implementation languages. We analyse if it is feasible to use the implementation languages as modelling languages.(undefined

Survey of Technologies for Web Application Development

Web-based application developers face a dizzying array of platforms, languages, frameworks and technical artifacts to choose from. We survey, classify, and compare technologies supporting Web application development. The classification is based on (1) foundational technologies; (2)integration with other information sources; and (3) dynamic content generation. We further survey and classify software engineering techniques and tools that have been adopted from traditional programming into Web programming. We conclude that, although the infrastructure problems of the Web have largely been solved, the cacophony of technologies for Web-based applications reflects the lack of a solid model tailored for this domain.Comment: 43 page

New Version of the AGRIS Web Portal – Overcoming the Digital Divide by Providing Rural Areas with Relevant Information

The present paper brings the outcomes of the second stage of a complex AGRIS web portal upgrade (technological, functional, content and design upgrade) called Agris 5.0. The Agris 5.0 version is recently being tested and will be launched in January 2012 on http://www.agris.cz. Agris 5.0 is built and runs on Microsoft technologies (MS Windows Server 2008, MS IIS 7 web server, MS SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Edition, SP2) using the Model-View-Controller (MVC) SW architectural pattern version 3, .NET framework 4, programming language C#, Razor template system, XML and XHTML 1.1 markup languages, CSS 2.1 styles and JavaScript encoding with the jQuery framework. From the user point of view, the Agris portal usability and availability meeting international standards were the utmost priority of the present upgrade.Agris, portal, MVC, digital divide, agrarian sector, rural areas, information resource., Agribusiness, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, GA, IN,