From Personal Memories to Sharable Memories

The exchange of personal experiences is a way of supporting decision making and interpersonal communication. In this article, we discuss how augmented personal memories could be exploited in order to support such a sharing. We start with a brief summary of a system implementing an augmented memory for a single user. Then, we exploit results from interviews to define an example scenario involving sharable memories. This scenario serves as background for a discussion of various questions related to sharing memories and potential approaches to their solution. We especially focus on the selection of relevant experiences and sharing partners, sharing methods, and the configuration of those sharing methods by means of reflection

A Conceptual Framework for Mobile Learning

Several technology projects have been launched to explore the opportunities that mobile technologies bring about when tackling issues of democratic participation and social inclusion through mobile learning. Mobile devices are cheaper than for instance a PC, and their affordance, usability and accessibility are such that they can potentially complement or even replace traditional computer technology. The importance of communication and collaboration features of mobile technologies has been stressed in the framework of ICT-mediated learning. In this paper, a theoretical framework for mobile learning and e-inclusion is developed for people outside the conventional education system. The framework draws upon the fields of pedagogy (constructivist learning in particular), mobile learning objects and sociology.Mobile Learning, Digital Divide, Constructivist Pedagogy, Forms Of Capital

A Consolidated View of Context for Intelligent Systems

This paper's main objective is to consolidate the knowledge on context in the realm of intelligent systems, systems that are aware of their context and can adapt their behavior accordingly. We provide an overview and analysis of 36 context models that are heterogeneous and scattered throughout multiple fields of research. In our analysis, we identify five shared context categories: social context, location, time, physical context, and user context. In addition, we compare the context models with the context elements considered in the discourse on intelligent systems and find that the models do not properly represent the identified set of 3,741 unique context elements. As a result, we propose a consolidation of the findings from the 36 context models and the 3,741 unique context elements. The analysis reveals that there is a long tail of context categories that are considered only sporadically in context models. However, particularly these context elements in the long tail may be necessary for improving intelligent systems' context awareness

Developing Unobtrusive Mobile Interactions: a Model Driven Engineering approach

In Ubiquitous computing environments, people are surrounded by a lot of embedded services. With the inclusion of pervasive technologies such as sensors or GPS receivers, mobile devices turn into an effective communication tool between users and the services embedded in their environment. All these services compete for the attentional resources of the user. Thus, it is essential to consider the degree in which each service intrudes the user mind when services are designed. In order to prevent service behavior from becoming overwhelming, this work, based on Model Driven Engineering foundations, is devoted to develop services according to user needs. In this thesis, we provide a systematic method for the development of mobile services that can be adapted in terms of obtrusiveness. That is, services can be developed to provide their functionality at different obtrusiveness levels by minimizing the duplication of efforts. For the system specification, a modeling language is defined to cope with the particular requirements of the context-aware user interface domain. From this specification, following a sequence of well-defined steps, a software solution is obtained.Gil Pascual, M. (2010). Developing Unobtrusive Mobile Interactions: a Model Driven Engineering approach. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/12745Archivo delegad

A Cross-National Comparison of Corporate Web-Site Communications; An Examination of the Services Sector

Despite the trend toward increased marketing in the electronic medium, there is still a lack of comprehensive research. Especially noteworthy is the lack of research on equivalence of electronic information across both industries and national boundaries. The literature is replete with findings from studies surrounding consumer and B2B goods advertising promoted through print and TV mediums however, this study suggests that previous findings and methods may not be directly transferrable to service advertisers in an electronic medium. The specific design characteristics inherent with the web medium combined with the inherent limitations surrounding cultural indices suggest that new methods and measures are required. This study proposes that a newly developed one-dimensional construct that incorporates socioeconomic, media, and technology variables can be applied to better evaluate differences in web-based information content. It is suggested that this new indicator can support a clearer and more systematic procedure for use in cross-national communication studies than previously used method

A Cross-National Comparison of Corporate Web-Site Communications; An Examination of the Services Sector

Despite the trend toward increased marketing in the electronic medium, there is still a lack of comprehensive research. Especially noteworthy is the lack of research on equivalence of electronic information across both industries and national boundaries. The literature is replete with findings from studies surrounding consumer and B2B goods advertising promoted through print and TV mediums however, this study suggests that previous findings and methods may not be directly transferrable to service advertisers in an electronic medium. The specific design characteristics inherent with the web medium combined with the inherent limitations surrounding cultural indices suggest that new methods and measures are required. This study proposes that a newly developed one-dimensional construct that incorporates socioeconomic, media, and technology variables can be applied to better evaluate differences in web-based information content. It is suggested that this new indicator can support a clearer and more systematic procedure for use in cross-national communication studies than previously used method

A Cross-National Comparison of Corporate Web-Site Communications; An Examination of the Services Sector

Despite the trend toward increased marketing in the electronic medium, there is still a lack of comprehensive research. Especially noteworthy is the lack of research on equivalence of electronic information across both industries and national boundaries. The literature is replete with findings from studies surrounding consumer and B2B goods advertising promoted through print and TV mediums however, this study suggests that previous findings and methods may not be directly transferrable to service advertisers in an electronic medium. The specific design characteristics inherent with the web medium combined with the inherent limitations surrounding cultural indices suggest that new methods and measures are required. This study proposes that a newly developed one-dimensional construct that incorporates socioeconomic, media, and technology variables can be applied to better evaluate differences in web-based information content. It is suggested that this new indicator can support a clearer and more systematic procedure for use in cross-national communication studies than previously used method

User-Centered Context-Aware Mobile Applications―The Next Generation of Personal Mobile Computing

Context-aware mobile applications are systems that can sense clues about the situational environment and enable appropriate mechanisms of interaction between end users and systems, making mobile devices more intelligent, adaptive, and personalized. In order to better understand such systems and the potentials and barriers of their development and practical use, this paper provides a state-of-the-art overview of this emerging field. Unlike previous literature reviews that mainly focus on technological aspects of such systems, we examine this field mainly from application and research methodology perspectives. We will present major types of current context-aware mobile applications, and discuss research methodologies used in existing studies and their limitations, and highlight potential future research