Mobile cloud contextual awareness with the cloud personal assistant

This paper presents our efforts to bridge the gap between mobile context awareness, and mobile cloud services, using the Cloud Personal Assistant (CPA). The CPA is a part of the Context Aware Mobile Cloud Services (CAMCS) middleware, which we continue to develop. Specifically, we discuss the development and evaluation of the Context Processor component of this middleware. This component collects context data from the mobile devices of users, which is then provided to the CPA of each user, for use with mobile cloud services. We discuss the architecture and implementation of the Context Processor, followed by the evaluation. We introduce context profiles for the CPA, which influence its operation by using different context types. As part of the evaluation, we present two experimental context-aware mobile cloud services to illustrate how the CPA works with user context, and related context profiles, to complete tasks for the user

Investigation into a best practice model for providing an integrated user experience with mobile cloud applications

Mobile Cloud Computing promises to overcome the physical limitations of mobile devices by executing demanding mobile applications on cloud infrastructure. In practice, implementing this paradigm is difficult; network disconnection often occurs, bandwidth may be limited, and a large power draw is required from the battery, resulting in a poor user experience. This thesis presents a mobile cloud middleware solution, Context Aware Mobile Cloud Services (CAMCS), which provides cloudbased services to mobile devices, in a disconnected fashion. An integrated user experience is delivered by designing for anticipated network disconnection, and low data transfer requirements. CAMCS achieves this by means of the Cloud Personal Assistant (CPA); each user of CAMCS is assigned their own CPA, which can complete user-assigned tasks, received as descriptions from the mobile device, by using existing cloud services. Service execution is personalised to the user's situation with contextual data, and task execution results are stored with the CPA until the user can connect with his/her mobile device to obtain the results. Requirements for an integrated user experience are outlined, along with the design and implementation of CAMCS. The operation of CAMCS and CPAs with cloud-based services is presented, specifically in terms of service description, discovery, and task execution. The use of contextual awareness to personalise service discovery and service consumption to the user's situation is also presented. Resource management by CAMCS is also studied, and compared with existing solutions. Additional application models that can be provided by CAMCS are also presented. Evaluation is performed with CAMCS deployed on the Amazon EC2 cloud. The resource usage of the CAMCS Client, running on Android-based mobile devices, is also evaluated. A user study with volunteers using CAMCS on their own mobile devices is also presented. Results show that CAMCS meets the requirements outlined for an integrated user experience

Virtual personal assistant

Abstract This report discusses ways in which new technology could be harnessed to create an intelligent Virtual Personal Assistant (VPA) with a focus on user-based information. It will look at examples of intelligent programs with natural language processing that are currently available, with different categories of support, and examine the potential usefulness of one specific piece of software as a VPA. This engages the ability to communicate socially through natural language processing, holding (and analysing) information within the context of the user. It is suggested that new technologies may soon make the idea of virtual personal assistants a reality. Experiments conducted on this system, combined with user testing, have provided evidence that a basic program with natural language processing algorithms in the form of a VPA, with basic natural language processing and the ability to function without the need for other type of human input (or programming) may already be viable

Context aware mobile cloud services: a user experience oriented middleware for mobile cloud computing

Existing research on implementing the mobile cloud computing paradigm is typically based on offloading demanding computation from mobile devices to cloud-based servers. A continuous, high quality connection to the cloud infrastructure is normally required, with frequent high-volume data transfer, which can have a detrimental impact on the user experience of the application or service. In this paper, the Context Aware Mobile Cloud Services (CAMCS) middleware is presented as a solution that can deliver an integrated user experience of the mobile cloud to users. Such an experience respects the resource limitations of the mobile device. This is achieved by the Cloud Personal Assistant (CPA), the user’s trusted representative within CAMCS, which completes user-assigned tasks using existing cloud-based services, with an asynchronous, disconnected approach. A thin client mobile application, the CAMCS Client, allows the mobile user to send descriptions of tasks to his/her CPA, and view task results saved at the CPA, when convenient. The design and implementation of the middleware is presented, along with results of experimental evaluation on Amazon EC2. The resource usage of the CAMCS client is also studied. Analysis shows that CAMCS delivers an integrated user experience of mobile cloud applications and services

Internet of robotic things : converging sensing/actuating, hypoconnectivity, artificial intelligence and IoT Platforms

The Internet of Things (IoT) concept is evolving rapidly and influencing newdevelopments in various application domains, such as the Internet of MobileThings (IoMT), Autonomous Internet of Things (A-IoT), Autonomous Systemof Things (ASoT), Internet of Autonomous Things (IoAT), Internetof Things Clouds (IoT-C) and the Internet of Robotic Things (IoRT) etc.that are progressing/advancing by using IoT technology. The IoT influencerepresents new development and deployment challenges in different areassuch as seamless platform integration, context based cognitive network integration,new mobile sensor/actuator network paradigms, things identification(addressing, naming in IoT) and dynamic things discoverability and manyothers. The IoRT represents new convergence challenges and their need to be addressed, in one side the programmability and the communication ofmultiple heterogeneous mobile/autonomous/robotic things for cooperating,their coordination, configuration, exchange of information, security, safetyand protection. Developments in IoT heterogeneous parallel processing/communication and dynamic systems based on parallelism and concurrencyrequire new ideas for integrating the intelligent “devices”, collaborativerobots (COBOTS), into IoT applications. Dynamic maintainability, selfhealing,self-repair of resources, changing resource state, (re-) configurationand context based IoT systems for service implementation and integrationwith IoT network service composition are of paramount importance whennew “cognitive devices” are becoming active participants in IoT applications.This chapter aims to be an overview of the IoRT concept, technologies,architectures and applications and to provide a comprehensive coverage offuture challenges, developments and applications

Smart Directional Fan

Room fans are typically stationary devices that circulate air around an area (e.g. a room), often through propulsion of air caused by radial rotation of angled fan blades, with the intent of cooling the area and/or occupants of the area. Many room fans are capable of oscillating, or changing the orientation of the fan, often along a linear range of motion in a “sweeping” pattern. While this configuration can effectively circulate air around a substantial portion of an area, it can fail to account for any people in the area. For instance, if a person is moving around the area, the fan can fail to follow the person

Smart Thermally Controlled Bedding

Thermally controlled bedding refers to an article of bedding (e.g. a blanket, pillowcase, comforter, mattress, pillow, etc.) that can be controllably heated and/or cooled, such as to a set intensity or temperature. One or more Internet of Things (IoT) devices can be in communication with the thermally controlled bedding to provide efficient climate control for a user

IoT Device for Vehicle Analytics and Smart Actions

It can be desirable to monitor and/or collect a historical record of vehicle health and/or usage. For instance, the data can be used for fleet management, tax records, improving mapping systems, or other important uses. An IoT-connected device is disclosed herein that can connect to an analytic port in a vehicle, such as an OBD-II port, and provide smart capabilities for the vehicle

Active Refrigerator

It can be desirable to alert a user to expired or spoiled food. For instance, consumption of spoiled food can negatively impact a user’s health. A refrigerator with active capabilities is disclosed herein that can detect a presence of spoiled food and alert a user to the presence of spoiled food