Semantic Interior Mapology: A Toolbox For Indoor Scene Description From Architectural Floor Plans

We introduce the Semantic Interior Mapology (SIM) toolbox for the conversion of a floor plan and its room contents (such as furnitures) to a vectorized form. The toolbox is composed of the Map Conversion toolkit and the Map Population toolkit. The Map Conversion toolkit allows one to quickly trace the layout of a floor plan, and to generate a GeoJSON file that can be rendered in 3D using web applications such as Mapbox. The Map Population toolkit takes the 3D scan of a room in the building (acquired from an RGB-D camera), and, through a semi-automatic process, populates individual objects of interest with a correct dimension and position in the GeoJSON representation of the building. SIM is easy to use and produces accurate results even in the case of complex building layouts.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figure

Quantifying User Reputation Scores, Data Trustworthiness, and User Incentives in Mobile Crowd-Sensing

Ubiquity of mobile devices with rich sensory capabilities has given rise to the mobile crowd-sensing (MCS) concept, in which a central authority (the platform) and its participants (mobile users) work collaboratively to acquire sensory data over a wide geographic area. Recent research in MCS highlights the following facts: 1) a utility metric can be defined for both the platform and the users, quantifying the value received by either side; 2) incentivizing the users to participate is a non-trivial challenge; 3) correctness and truthfulness of the acquired data must be verified, because the users might provide incorrect or inaccurate data, whether due to malicious intent or malfunctioning devices; and 4) an intricate relationship exists among platform utility, user utility, user reputation, and data trustworthiness, suggesting a co-quantification of these inter-related metrics. In this paper, we study two existing approaches that quantify crowd-sensed data trustworthiness, based on statistical and vote-based user reputation scores. We introduce a new metric - collaborative reputation scores - to expand this definition. Our simulation results show that collaborative reputation scores can provide an effective alternative to the previously proposed metrics and are able to extend crowd sensing to applications that are driven by a centralized as well as decentralized control

Task Allocation among Connected Devices: Requirements, Approaches and Challenges

Task allocation (TA) is essential when deploying application tasks to systems of connected devices with dissimilar and time-varying characteristics. The challenge of an efficient TA is to assign the tasks to the best devices, according to the context and task requirements. The main purpose of this paper is to study the different connotations of the concept of TA efficiency, and the key factors that most impact on it, so that relevant design guidelines can be defined. The paper first analyzes the domains of connected devices where TA has an important role, which brings to this classification: Internet of Things (IoT), Sensor and Actuator Networks (SAN), Multi-Robot Systems (MRS), Mobile Crowdsensing (MCS), and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). The paper then demonstrates that the impact of the key factors on the domains actually affects the design choices of the state-of-the-art TA solutions. It results that resource management has most significantly driven the design of TA algorithms in all domains, especially IoT and SAN. The fulfillment of coverage requirements is important for the definition of TA solutions in MCS and UAV. Quality of Information requirements are mostly included in MCS TA strategies, similar to the design of appropriate incentives. The paper also discusses the issues that need to be addressed by future research activities, i.e.: allowing interoperability of platforms in the implementation of TA functionalities; introducing appropriate trust evaluation algorithms; extending the list of tasks performed by objects; designing TA strategies where network service providers have a role in TA functionalities’ provisioning

Napredna (edge computing) softverska arhitektura za upravljanje resursima i unutrašnje pozicioniranje

In Part I, this thesis aims to shed light on IoT and edge com-puting systems and accompanying computing and architectural paradigms, their definition, areas of application, and common use-cases, as well as operational, business, economical, social challenges and benefits. It illustrates modern needs and requests in building IoT systems and current State-of-The-Art (SoTA) approaches to designing them. Additionally, it discusses the security and privacy topics of IoT and edge computing systems. It also encompasses research, design, and implementation of an MQTT-based Resource Management Framework for Edge Com-puting systems that handle: resource management, failover detection and handover administration, logical and physical workload balancing and protection, and monitoring of physical and logical system resources designed for a real-world IoT platform. The thesis offers insights into modern requests for such frameworks, current SoTA approaches, and offer a solution in the form of a software framework, with minimal implementation and communication overhead. In Part II, the thesis elaborates on IPS, their definition, deploy-ment types, commonly used positioning techniques, areas of application, and common use-cases, as well as operational, business, economic, social challenges, and benefits. It specifically discusses designing IPS for the typical IoT infrastructure. It offers insights to modern IPS requests, current SoTA in solving them, and under-line original approaches from this thesis. It elaborates on the research, design and authors’ implementation of an IPS for the IoT – Bluetooth LowEnergyMicrolocation Asset Tracking (BLEMAT), including its software engines (collections of software components) for: indoor positioning, occupancy detection, visualization, pattern discovery and prediction, geofencing, movement pattern detection, visualization, discovery and prediction, social dynamics analysis, and indoor floor plan layout detection.Deo I teze ima je za cilj da rasvetli IoT i edge computing računarske sisteme i prateće računarske paradigme softverskih arhitektura, njihovu definiciju, područja primene i slučajeve uobičajene upotrebe, kao i operativne, poslovne, ekonomske, i socijalne izazove i koristi. Teza ilustruje savremene potrebe i zahtevi u izgradnji IoT sistema i najsavremeniji pristupi u njihovom dizajniranju. Raspravlja se o temama bezbednosti i privatnosti u IoT i edge computing računarskim sistemima. Kao još jedan glavni zadatak, teza je obuhvata istraživanje, dizajn i implementaciju softverske arhitekture za upravljanje resursima zasnovanim na MQTT komunikacionom protokolu za edge computing računarske sisteme koja se bavi: upravljanjem resursima, detekcijom prestanka rada upravljačkih algoritama i administracijom primopredaje tj. transporta upravljačkih algoritama, i logičkim i fizičkim balansiranjem i zaštitom radnog opterećenja sistema. Diskutuju se savremeni zahtevi za takve softverske arhitekture, trenutni pristupi. Na kraju, prikazuje se rešenje sa minimalnim troškovima implementacije i  komunikacije. Deo II teze ima za cilj da objasni sisteme za unutrašnje pozicioniranje, njihovu definiciju, vrste primene, najčešće korišćene tehnike pozicioniranja, područja primene i uobičajene slučajeve upotrebe, kao i operativne, poslovne, ekonomske, i socijalne izazove i koristi. Posebno se diskutuje o dizajniranju ovakvih sistema za tipičnu IoT infrastrukturu. Nudi se uvid u savremene zahteve sisteme za unutrašnje pozicioniranje, trenutne pristupe u rešavanju istih, i naglašeni su originalni pristupe iz ove teze. Dalje je fokus na istraživanju, dizajniranju i implementaciji sistema za unutrašnje pozicioniranje (BLEMAT), uključujući njegove softverske podsisteme (kolekcije softverskih komponenti) za: pozicioniranje u zatvorenom prostoru, detekciju zauzeća prostorija, vizualizaciju, otkrivanje i predviđanje obrazaca kretanja, geofencing, vizualizaciju i analizu društvene dinamike i detekciju rasporeda prostorija unutrašnjeg prostora

Smart Outdoors: a proposal for a public park in Campo de Ourique

Assistive technology-based innovation is a promising idea that aims to achieve and improve the well-being of humans. Currently, the focus of technology has changed, seeking to serve specific populations, especially the elderly, reducing the barriers they face on a daily basis when conducting outdoor activities. Most research carried out in an assisted environment is concentrated mainly in private spaces, such as homes, nursing homes and others. This research aims to propose design solutions based on the concept of an assisted environment on a city scale. By doing so, the elderly population can experience and live in collective and public environments (specifically in a public park) independently. In this context, interviews with specialists and observation studies were developed to understand the problems and needs of this specific population. Interviews were targeted to obtain insight from experts regarding the use of technology to solve the elderly’s problems in cities. However, the results did not give adequate insight to use within the study. Next, observations were also carried out in a public park in Campo Ourique, Lisbon to acquire insight from the field to observe/witness the problems of the elderly from a first-person point of view. The observation results showed the difficulties that the population in question faced. Consequently, design solution ideas were proposed to design a smart public park which might overcome the problems that were found in the literature and in the user observations. During the observations, it was seen that the elderly population is very active and highly values an outdoor space to spend time. In this sense, the design proposal could improve and facilitate the lives of the elderly, seeking as much as possible to reduce the barriers that were both observed and reported by experts throughout the interviews. Due to COVID-19, the study had limited access to the users and an evaluation phase could not be done. However, as a future work, user studies will continue to discover more about the elderly’s problems and eventually the scenarios and proposed solutions will be evaluated by them. Furthermore, applicability, usability and feasibility of the proposed ideas will be tested by more users (i.e., experts, stakeholders).A inovação baseada em tecnologia assistiva ainda é uma ideia promissora que visa alcançar e melhorar o bem-estar dos humanos. Atualmente, o foco da tecnologia mudou, buscando atender populações específicas, principalmente os idosos, reduzindo as barreiras que eles enfrentam no dia a dia na realização de atividades ao ar livre. A maioria das pesquisas realizadas em ambiente assistido concentra-se principalmente em espaços privados, como residências, asilos e outros. A pesquisa tem como objetivo propor soluções de design baseadas no conceito de ambiente assistido à escala da cidade, onde a população idosa pode vivenciar e viver os ambientes coletivos e públicos (especificamente num parque público) de forma independente. Nesse sentido, foram desenvolvidas entrevistas com especialistas e estudos de observação para entender os problemas e necessidades dessa população específica. As entrevistas foram direcionadas para obter insights de especialistas sobre o uso de tecnologia para resolver os problemas dos idosos nas cidades. No entanto, os resultados não forneceram percepções adequadas para serem usadas no estudo. Em seguida, foram também realizadas observações num parque público do Campo D’Ourique, em Lisboa, para obter insights do campo para observar / testemunhar os problemas dos idosos do ponto de vista da primeira pessoa. Os resultados da observação evidenciaram as dificuldades enfrentadas pela população em questão. Consequentemente, ideias de soluções de design foram propostas para projetar um parque público inteligente que pudesse superar os problemas que foram encontrados na literatura e nas observações do usuário. Durante as observações, percebeu-se que a população idosa é muito ativa e valoriza muito um espaço ao ar livre para passar o tempo. Nesse sentido, a proposta do projeto poderia melhorar e facilitar a vida dos idosos, buscando ao máximo reduzir as barreiras que foram observadas e relatadas pelos especialistas ao longo das entrevistas. Devido ao COVID-19, o estudo limitou-se ao acesso aos usuários e não foi possível realizar a fase de avaliação. No entanto, como um trabalho futuro, os estudos de usuários continuarão a descobrir mais sobre os problemas dos idosos e, eventualmente, os cenários e as soluções propostas serão avaliados por eles. Além disso, a aplicabilidade, usabilidade e viabilidade das ideias propostas serão testadas por mais usuários (ou seja, especialistas, partes interessadas)

Proceedings of Abstracts 12th International Conference on Air Quality Science and Application

© 2020 The Author(s). This an open access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Final Published versio

Urban Informatics

This open access book is the first to systematically introduce the principles of urban informatics and its application to every aspect of the city that involves its functioning, control, management, and future planning. It introduces new models and tools being developed to understand and implement these technologies that enable cities to function more efficiently – to become ‘smart’ and ‘sustainable’. The smart city has quickly emerged as computers have become ever smaller to the point where they can be embedded into the very fabric of the city, as well as being central to new ways in which the population can communicate and act. When cities are wired in this way, they have the potential to become sentient and responsive, generating massive streams of ‘big’ data in real time as well as providing immense opportunities for extracting new forms of urban data through crowdsourcing. This book offers a comprehensive review of the methods that form the core of urban informatics from various kinds of urban remote sensing to new approaches to machine learning and statistical modelling. It provides a detailed technical introduction to the wide array of tools information scientists need to develop the key urban analytics that are fundamental to learning about the smart city, and it outlines ways in which these tools can be used to inform design and policy so that cities can become more efficient with a greater concern for environment and equity