3 research outputs found
Services in pervasive computing environments : from design to delivery
The work presented in this thesis is based on the assumption that modern computer technologies are already potentially pervasive: CPUs are embedded in any sort of device; RAM and storage memory of a modern PDA is comparable to those of a ten years ago Unix workstation; Wi-Fi, GPRS, UMTS are leveraging the development of the wireless Internet. Nevertheless, computing is not pervasive because we do not have a clear conceptual model of the pervasive computer and we have not tools, methodologies, and middleware to write and to seamlessly deliver at once services over a multitude of heterogeneous devices and different delivery contexts. Our thesis addresses these issues starting from the analysis of forces in a pervasive computing environment: user mobility, user profile, user position, and device profile. The conceptual model, or metaphor, we use to drive our work is to consider the environment as surrounded by a multitude of services and objects and devices as the communicating gates between the real world and the virtual dimension of pervasive computing around us. Our thesis is thus built upon three main “pillars”. The first pillar is a domain-object-driven methodology which allows developer to abstract from low level details of the final delivery platform, and provides the user with the ability to access services in a multi-channel way. The rationale is that domain objects are self-contained pieces of software able to represent data and to compute functions and procedures. Our approach fills the gap between users and domain objects building an appropriate user interface which is both adapted to the domain object and to the end user device. As example, we present how to design, implement and deliver an electronic mail application over various platforms. The second pillar of this thesis analyzes in more details the forces that make direct object manipulation inadequate in a pervasive context. These forces are the user profile, the device profile, the context of use, and the combinatorial explosion of domain objects. From the analysis of the electronic mail application presented as example, we notice that according to the end user device, or according to particular circumstances during the access to the service (for instance if the user access the service by the interactive TV while he is having his breakfast) some functionalities are not compulsory and do not fit an adequate task sequence. So we decided to make task models explicit in the design of a service and to integrate the capability to automatically generate user interfaces for domain objects with the formal definition of task models adapted to the final delivery context. Finally, the third pillar of our thesis is about the lifecycle of services in a pervasive computing environment. Our solutions are based upon an existing framework, the Jini connection technology, and enrich this framework with new services and architectures for the deployment and discovery of services, for the user session management, and for the management of offline agents
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Constructionism through mobile interactive knowledge elicitation (MIKE) in human-computer interaction
Mobile computing holds significant as-yet unknown applications of interest in the field of Cyberscience (e-Science) methods. This thesis provides a diverse exploration into the advancement of HC1 theory through the development and testing of mobile cyberscience tools. This is done by synthesising new metrics from learning epistemologies, with the benefits that can be provided by mobile computing solutions.
This thesis aims to explore how mobile cyberscience can improve HCI knowledge elicitation (KE) methods. A review of the current state of the art in mobile computing and mobile HCI demonstrates that there is very little reported research in the direction of applying mobile computing to HCI theory (rather than the reverse which is demonstrated to be significantly considered in academia). This motivates a review of the current methods and cyberscience-based tools in the domain of KE in HCI, with several prototype mobile tool designs discussed. A review of candidate grounding theories in pedagogical epistemologies is then covered to build a theoretical foundation for this work. This facilitates the acquisition of a mobile-applicable investigation candidate, namely Constructionism theory, for software modelling in mobile computing methods in HCI KE. A framework for investigating constructionism is designed and presented, describing three key models that extend the domain of HCI KE theory. Through the design, implementation and testing (both expert and user testing) of several mobile computing tools for HCI KE, termed MIKE (Mobile Interactive Knowledge Elicitation) tools, these three key models of constructionism are explored through empirical research and are reported in this thesis as separate case studies.
Case study 1 investigates the use of inert constructionism through the use of card sorting. Case Study 2 investigates the use of semi-dynamic constructionism through the use of affinity diagramming. Case Study 3 investigates the use of dynamic constructionism, through the use of low fidelity paper prototyping. The findings from these case studies indicate that mobile cyberscience has a significant scope for application in the practice of current-day HCI methods, and that new qualitative measures in HCI can be acquired through mobile cyberscience tools.
There are three main contributions of this thesis that provide practitioners, educators and researchers in HCI with new knowledge. Firstly, the fields of mobile computing and mobile HCI are expanded with the empirically tested simulation of the techniques of card sorting, affinity diagramming and low-fidelity paper prototyping in HCI theory through mobile software. Secondly, a developed framework of constructionism theory successfully enhances the field of HCI KE, contributing to the growth of grounding theories in the field of HCI through the findings of three separately reported case studies. Lastly, cyberscience research for HCI has been given an expansion of research in the area of augmenting HCI with mobile computing. This is achieved through the user centred design, development and user testing of several mobile tools incorporating facilities unique to HCI practitioners, educators and researchers, leading to several related peer-reviewed publications
Interactions model and code generation for J2ME applications
Abstract. The Java2 Micro Edition platform can really be considered an emerging standard for new generation embedded software. This article introduces a practical methodology aimed to automatically generate a software prototype starting from an abstract description which defines the dialogue between the user and the application by means of a device independent and abstract description. We will show how an agenda application for cellular phones can be described by means of a visual language called PLANES and present how the personal agenda prototype is implemented by an appropriate generation tool.