Managing big data experiments on smartphones

The explosive number of smartphones with ever growing sensing and computing capabilities have brought a paradigm shift to many traditional domains of the computing field. Re-programming smartphones and instrumenting them for application testing and data gathering at scale is currently a tedious and time-consuming process that poses significant logistical challenges. Next generation smartphone applications are expected to be much larger-scale and complex, demanding that these undergo evaluation and testing under different real-world datasets, devices and conditions. In this paper, we present an architecture for managing such large-scale data management experiments on real smartphones. We particularly present the building blocks of our architecture that encompassed smartphone sensor data collected by the crowd and organized in our big data repository. The given datasets can then be replayed on our testbed comprising of real and simulated smartphones accessible to developers through a web-based interface. We present the applicability of our architecture through a case study that involves the evaluation of individual components that are part of a complex indoor positioning system for smartphones, coined Anyplace, which we have developed over the years. The given study shows how our architecture allows us to derive novel insights into the performance of our algorithms and applications, by simplifying the management of large-scale data on smartphones

3DTouch: A wearable 3D input device with an optical sensor and a 9-DOF inertial measurement unit

We present 3DTouch, a novel 3D wearable input device worn on the fingertip for 3D manipulation tasks. 3DTouch is designed to fill the missing gap of a 3D input device that is self-contained, mobile, and universally working across various 3D platforms. This paper presents a low-cost solution to designing and implementing such a device. Our approach relies on relative positioning technique using an optical laser sensor and a 9-DOF inertial measurement unit. 3DTouch is self-contained, and designed to universally work on various 3D platforms. The device employs touch input for the benefits of passive haptic feedback, and movement stability. On the other hand, with touch interaction, 3DTouch is conceptually less fatiguing to use over many hours than 3D spatial input devices. We propose a set of 3D interaction techniques including selection, translation, and rotation using 3DTouch. An evaluation also demonstrates the device's tracking accuracy of 1.10 mm and 2.33 degrees for subtle touch interaction in 3D space. Modular solutions like 3DTouch opens up a whole new design space for interaction techniques to further develop on.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

SenseBelt:a belt-worn sensor to support cross-device interaction

Mobile interaction is shifting from a single device to simultaneous interaction with ensembles of devices such as phones, tablets, or watches. Spatially-aware cross-device interaction between mobile devices typically requires a fixed tracking infrastructure, which lim- its mobility. In this paper, we present SenseBelt – a sensing belt that enhances existing mobile interactions and enables low-cost, ad hoc sensing of cross-device gestures and interactions. SenseBelt enables proxemic interactions between people and their personal devices. SenseBelt also supports cross-device interaction be- tween personal devices and stationary devices, such as public displays. We discuss the design and implementation of SenseBelt together with possible applications. With an initial evaluation, we provide insights into the benefits and drawbacks of a belt-worn mediating sensor to support cross-device interactions

Integração de localização baseada em movimento na aplicação móvel EduPARK

More and more, mobile applications require precise localization solutions in a variety of environments. Although GPS is widely used as localization solution, it may present some accuracy problems in special conditions such as unfavorable weather or spaces with multiple obstructions such as public parks. For these scenarios, alternative solutions to GPS are of extreme relevance and are widely studied recently. This dissertation studies the case of EduPARK application, which is an augmented reality application that is implemented in the Infante D. Pedro park in Aveiro. Due to the poor accuracy of GPS in this park, the implementation of positioning and marker-less augmented reality functionalities presents difficulties. Existing relevant systems are analyzed, and an architecture based on pedestrian dead reckoning is proposed. The corresponding implementation is presented, which consists of a positioning solution using the sensors available in the smartphones, a step detection algorithm, a distance traveled estimator, an orientation estimator and a position estimator. For the validation of this solution, functionalities were implemented in the EduPARK application for testing purposes and usability tests performed. The results obtained show that the proposed solution can be an alternative to provide accurate positioning within the Infante D. Pedro park, thus enabling the implementation of functionalities of geocaching and marker-less augmented reality.Cada vez mais, as aplicações móveis requerem soluções de localização precisa nos mais variados ambientes. Apesar de o GPS ser amplamente usado como solução para localização, pode apresentar alguns problemas de precisão em condições especiais, como mau tempo, ou espaços com várias obstruções, como parques públicos. Para estes casos, soluções alternativas ao GPS são de extrema relevância e veem sendo desenvolvidas. A presente dissertação estuda o caso do projeto EduPARK, que é uma aplicação móvel de realidade aumentada para o parque Infante D. Pedro em Aveiro. Devido à fraca precisão do GPS nesse parque, a implementação de funcionalidades baseadas no posionamento e de realidade aumentada sem marcadores apresenta dificuldades. São analisados sistemas relevantes existentes e é proposta uma arquitetura baseada em localização de pedestres. Em seguida é apresentada a correspondente implementação, que consiste numa solução de posicionamento usando os sensores disponiveis nos smartphones, um algoritmo de deteção de passos, um estimador de distância percorrida, um estimador de orientação e um estimador de posicionamento. Para a validação desta solução, foram implementadas funcionalidades na aplicação EduPARK para fins de teste, e realizados testes com utilizadores e testes de usabilidade. Os resultados obtidos demostram que a solução proposta pode ser uma alternativa para a localização no interior do parque Infante D. Pedro, viabilizando desta forma a implementação de funcionalidades baseadas no posicionamento e de realidade aumenta sem marcadores.EduPARK é um projeto financiado por Fundos FEDER através do Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização - COMPETE 2020 e por Fundos Nacionais através da FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia no âmbito do projeto POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016542.Mestrado em Engenharia Informátic

Spatially Localised Immersive Contemporary and Historic Photo Presentation on Mobile Devices in Augmented Reality

These days, taking a photo is the most common way of capturing a moment. Some of these photos captured in the moment are never to be seen again. Others are almost immediately shared with the world. Yet, the context of the captured moment can only be shared to a limited extent. The continuous improvement of mobile devices has not only led to higher resolution cameras and, thus, visually more appealing pictures but also to a broader and more precise range of accompanying sensor metadata. Positional and bearing information can provide context for photos and is thus an integral aspect of the captured moment. However, it is commonly only used to sort photos by time and possibly group by place. Such more precise sensor metadata, combined with the increased computing power of mobile devices, can enable more and more powerful Augmented Reality (AR) capabilities, especially for communicating the context of a captured photo. Users can thereby witness the captured moment in its real location and also experience its spatial contextualization. With the help of a suitable data augmentation, such context-preserving presentation can be extended even to non-digitally born content, including historical images. This offers new immersive ways to experience the cultural history of one's current location. In this paper, we present an approach for location-based image presentation in AR on mobile devices. With this approach, users can experience captured moments in their physical context. We demonstrate the power of this approach based on a prototype implementation and evaluate it in a user study

Quality assessment technique for ubiquitous software and middleware

The new paradigm of computing or information systems is ubiquitous computing systems. The technology-oriented issues of ubiquitous computing systems have made researchers pay much attention to the feasibility study of the technologies rather than building quality assurance indices or guidelines. In this context, measuring quality is the key to developing high-quality ubiquitous computing products. For this reason, various quality models have been defined, adopted and enhanced over the years, for example, the need for one recognised standard quality model (ISO/IEC 9126) is the result of a consensus for a software quality model on three levels: characteristics, sub-characteristics, and metrics. However, it is very much unlikely that this scheme will be directly applicable to ubiquitous computing environments which are considerably different to conventional software, trailing a big concern which is being given to reformulate existing methods, and especially to elaborate new assessment techniques for ubiquitous computing environments. This paper selects appropriate quality characteristics for the ubiquitous computing environment, which can be used as the quality target for both ubiquitous computing product evaluation processes ad development processes. Further, each of the quality characteristics has been expanded with evaluation questions and metrics, in some cases with measures. In addition, this quality model has been applied to the industrial setting of the ubiquitous computing environment. These have revealed that while the approach was sound, there are some parts to be more developed in the future