The Distributed User Modeling Shell System (DUMSS): A Conceptual Framework for Eliciting User Models

With the advances in communication technology, large volumes of information can transfer across continents within a fraction of a second. Nevertheless, computer users still suffer from unpleasant situations when they interact with systems and are required to adapt to systems rather than the other way round. User modeling aims to overcome this problem by enabling computer systems to interact with users according to the users’ models, i.e., goals, knowledge, and preferences of users. Although, user modeling has shown invaluable benefits, methods of capturing user information to build precise and useful user models are still in their early states. This paper proposes a new approach for gathering user information by pooling the information from different systems. This concept, entitled Distributed User Modeling (DUM) is based on a method in which sensors built into each system contribute specific user information to the pooling. Having multiple sources of user information increases the possibility that a system can generate reliable user models. A general model of DUM is presented in this paper. The conceptual framework of the Distributed Fuzzy Object-Oriented User Modeling System (DFOOUMS) that uses DUM as its basis structure is also presented

Providing Service-based Personalization in an Adaptive Hypermedia System

Adaptive hypermedia is one of the most popular approaches of personalized information access. When the field started to emerge, the expectation was that soon nearly all published hypermedia content could be adapted to the needs, preferences, and abilities of its users. However, after a decade and a half, the gap between the amount of total hypermedia content available and the amount of content available in a personalized way is still quite large.In this work we are proposing a novel way of speeding the development of new adaptive hypermedia systems. The gist of the approach is to extract the adaptation functionality out of the adaptive hypermedia system, encapsulate it into a standalone system, and offer adaptation as a service to the client applications. Such a standalone adaptation provider reduces the development of adaptation functionality to configuration and compliance and as a result creates new adaptive systems faster and helps serve larger user populations with adaptively accessible content.To empirically prove the viability of our approach, we developed PERSEUS - server of adaptation functionalities. First, we confirmed that the conceptual design of PERSEUS supports realization of a several of the widely used adaptive hypermedia techniques. Second, to demonstrate that the extracted adaptation does not create a significant computational bottleneck, we conducted a series of performance tests. The results show that PERSEUS is capable of providing a basis for implementing computationally challenging adaptation procedures and compares well with alternative, not-encapsulated adaptation solutions. As a result, even on modest hardware, large user populations can be served content adapted by PERSEUS

The hybrid model, and adaptive educational hypermedia frameworks

The amount of information on the web is characterised by being enormous, as is the number of users with different goals and interests. User models have been utilized by adaptive hypermedia systems generally and adaptive educational hypermedia systems (AEHS) particularly to personalize the amount of information they have with respect to each individual's knowledge, background and goals. As a result of the research described herein, a user model called the Hybrid Model has been developed. This model is both generic and abstract, and it extends other models used by AEHS by measuring users' knowledge levels with respect to different knowledge domains simultaneously by utilising well known techniques in the world of user modelling, specifically the Overlay model (which has been modified) and the Stereotype model. Therefore, using the Hybrid Model, AEHS will not be restricted to a single knowledge domain at anyone time. Thus, by implementing the Hybrid model, those systems can manage users' knowledge globally with respect to the deployed knowledge domains. The model has been implemented experimentally in an educational hypermedia system called WHURLE (Web-based Hierarchal Universal Reactive Learning Environment) to verify its aim - managing users' knowledge globally. Moreover, this implementation has been tested successfully through a user trial as an adaptive revision guide for a Biological Anthropology Course. Furthermore, the infrastructure of the WHURLE system has been modified to embrace the objective of the Hybrid Model. This has led to a novel design that provides the system with the capability of utilising different user models easily without affecting any of its component modules

ReSCon '12, Research Student Conference: Book of Abstracts

The fifth SED Research Student Conference (ReSCon2012) was hosted over three days, 18-20 June 2012, in the Hamilton Centre at Brunel University. The conference consisted of 130 oral and 70 poster presentations, based on the high quality and diverse research being conducted within the School of Engineering and Design by postgraduate research students. The conference is held annually, and ReSCon plays a key role in contributing to research and innovations within the School

Uma técnica de recuperação adaptativa de obras em bibliotecas digitais baseada no perfil do usuário

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência da Computação.As bibliotecas digitais oferecem um modo eficiente de busca ao acervo graças à indexação de seu conteúdo. Apesar disto, caso o acervo seja grande, mecanismos tradicionais de busca podem não ser eficientes em recuperar informação mais pertinente às necessidades do usuário. O conceito de Hiperdocumento Adaptativo pode ser adicionado às bibliotecas digitais de modo a considerar o interesse do usuário na busca de informações, representando as suas necessidades de informação através de uma estrutura bem definida, denominada de perfil. Esta Dissertação tem como proposta aplicar os conceitos de hiperdocumento adaptativo às bibliotecas digitais, para que o resultado das consultas sejam apresentados de maneira organizada levando em conta o perfil do usuário da biblioteca, visando facilitar a identificação dos documentos relevantes no conjunto de documentos da Biblioteca. É realizado o agrupamento dos documentos recuperados, atendendo os critérios de busca em níveis de relevância e em cada nível os documentos são ordenados segundo um critério. Tanto o critério de agrupamento quanto o de ordenação são definidos baseados no perfil do usuário. Como base para a implementação da proposta é utilizada a Biblioteca Digital de Literatura Brasileira e Catarinense (LBC), desenvolvida no contexto do projeto CNPq SIDIE (Sistema de Disponibilização de Informações para o Ensino)