A Smartphone-Based System for Outdoor Data Gathering Using a Wireless Beacon Network and GPS Data: From Cyber Spaces to Senseable Spaces

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and mobile devices are deeply influencing all facets of life, directly affecting the way people experience space and time. ICTs are also tools for supporting urban development, and they have also been adopted as equipment for furnishing public spaces. Hence, ICTs have created a new paradigm of hybrid space that can be defined as Senseable Spaces. Even if there are relevant cases where the adoption of ICT has made the use of public open spaces more “smart”, the interrelation and the recognition of added value need to be further developed. This is one of the motivations for the research presented in this paper. The main goal of the work reported here is the deployment of a system composed of three different connected elements (a real-world infrastructure, a data gathering system, and a data processing and analysis platform) for analysis of human behavior in the open space of Cardeto Park, in Ancona, Italy. For this purpose, and because of the complexity of this task, several actions have been carried out: the deployment of a complete real-world infrastructure in Cardeto Park, the implementation of an ad-hoc smartphone application for the gathering of participants’ data, and the development of a data pre-processing and analysis system for dealing with all the gathered data. A detailed description of these three aspects and the way in which they are connected to create a unique system is the main focus of this paper.This work has been supported by the Cost Action TU1306, called CYBERPARKS: Fostering knowledge about the relationship between Information and Communication Technologies and Public Spaces supported by strategies to improve their use and attractiveness, the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the ESPHIA project (ref. TIN2014-56042-JIN) and the TARSIUS project (ref. TIN2015-71564-C4-4-R), and the Basque Country Department of Education under the BLUE project (ref. PI-2016-0010). The authors would also like to thank the staff of UbiSive s.r.l. for the support in developing the application

The educational experiences of autistic children with and without extreme demand avoidance behaviours

Extreme demand avoidance (EDA) is increasingly described as part of the autism spectrum and is sometimes diagnosed as Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA). Yet little is known, about the educational experiences of children with and without EDA behaviours. Using an online survey collecting both quantitative and qualitative data, 211 parents reported on the school experiences of their autistic children. 57 parents had a child with an additional diagnosis of PDA (AUT-PDA); 91 had a child with no diagnosis of PDA but, according to parent report, displayed EDA behaviours (AUT-EDA); and 63 had a child with neither a PDA diagnosis nor EDA behaviours (AUT). Results demonstrated that there were few group differences in terms of the frequency of failed school placements and exclusions. However, children in the AUT-EDA/-PDA groups had higher levels of behaviour that challenges, which were particularly high in those with a PDA diagnosis. There were no significant differences in school exclusions, but the fact that these occurred across all groups is of concern. Qualitative results suggested overwhelmingly negative school experiences for all groups but especially the AUT-EDA and AUT-PDA groups. Parents attributed such experiences to misunderstanding of their children’s diagnoses and a lack of targeted support

Branded, Bombarded and Besieged: Advertising Exposure and the Average Consumer

This study explored the commonly accepted estimate that the average consumer is exposed to about 1500 advertisements a day. Through single-subject, naturalistic observation, the researcher quantified the number of advertisements a subject was consciously exposed to over a seven-day period. In addition, this study recorded the day of the week, time of day, media source and product or service of each advertising exposure. This study found that this subject was consciously aware of being exposed to 690 advertisements during the weeklong study — an average of 98.5 exposures a day. The study also revealed that exposure to advertising could occur nearly anytime or anyplace, but for this subject, exposure was virtually assured whenever media was consumed. Finally, this study showed that, without a large, national, longitudinal study, accurate generalizations concerning advertising exposure are not possible

(M)ad to see me?: Intelligent Advertisement Placement: Balancing User Annoyance and Advertising Effectiveness

Advertising is an unavoidable albeit a frustrating part of mobile interactions. Due to limited form factor, mobile advertisements often resort to intrusive strategies where they temporarily block the user's view in an attempt to increase effectiveness and force the user's attention. While such strategies contribute to advertising awareness and effectiveness, they do so at the cost of degrading the user's overall experience and can lead to frustration and annoyance. In this paper, we contribute by developing Perceptive Ads as an intelligent advertisement placement strategy that minimizes disruptions caused by ads while preserving their effectiveness. Our work is the first to simultaneously consider the needs of users, app developers, and advertisers. Ensuring the needs of all stakeholders are taken into account is essential for the adoption of advertising strategies as users (and indirectly developers) would reject strategies that are disruptive but effective, while advertisers would reject strategies that are non-disruptive but inefficient. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our technique through a user study with N = 16 participants and two representative examples of mobile apps that commonly integrate advertisements (a game and a news app). Results from the study demonstrate that our approach can improve perception towards advertisements by 43.75% without affecting application interactivity while at the same time increasing advertisement effectiveness by 37.5% compared to a state-of-the-art baseline.Peer reviewe

A simulation approach to assessing environmental risk of sound exposure to marine mammals

Intense underwater sounds caused by military sonar, seismic surveys, and pile driving can harm acoustically sensitive marine mammals. Many jurisdictions require such activities to undergo marine mammal impact assessments to guide mitigation. However, the ability to assess impacts in a rigorous, quantitative way is hindered by large knowledge gaps concerning hearing ability, sensitivity, and behavioral responses to noise exposure. We describe a simulation-based framework, called SAFESIMM (Statistical Algorithms For Estimating the Sonar Influence on Marine Megafauna), that can be used to calculate the numbers of agents (animals) likely to be affected by intense underwater sounds. We illustrate the simulation framework using two species that are likely to be affected by marine renewable energy developments in UK waters: gray seal (Halichoerus grypus) and harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). We investigate three sources of uncertainty: How sound energy is perceived by agents with differing hearing abilities; how agents move in response to noise (i.e., the strength and directionality of their evasive movements); and the way in which these responses may interact with longer term constraints on agent movement. The estimate of received sound exposure level (SEL) is influenced most strongly by the weighting function used to account for the specie's presumed hearing ability. Strongly directional movement away from the sound source can cause modest reductions (~5 dB) in SEL over the short term (periods of less than 10 days). Beyond 10 days, the way in which agents respond to noise exposure has little or no effect on SEL, unless their movements are constrained by natural boundaries. Most experimental studies of noise impacts have been short-term. However, data are needed on long-term effects because uncertainty about predicted SELs accumulates over time. Synthesis and applications. Simulation frameworks offer a powerful way to explore, understand, and estimate effects of cumulative sound exposure on marine mammals and to quantify associated levels of uncertainty. However, they can often require subjective decisions that have important consequences for management recommendations, and the basis for these decisions must be clearly described.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A Comparison of Social Skills Profiles in Intellectually Disabled Adults with and without ASD

Although there has been a recent increase in research directed toward autism spectrum disorders (ASD), the study of intellectually disabled adults with ASD has gone relatively neglected as efforts have focused largely on young children. Current diagnostic and assessment procedures were created for and validated on this latter group. Many intellectually disabled adults with ASD have not been diagnosed due to the novelty of such instruments and the overlap between symptoms of ASD and severe intellectual disability (ID). A new assessment instrument, the Autism Spectrum Disorders-Diagnostic Scale for Intellectually Disabled Adults (ASD-DA) has been shown to make this fine distinction. The items on this scale pertain to the three areas of impairment found in ASD: communication, socialization, and restricted behavior. Although social deficits associated with ASD have been extensively researched and believed by many to be the defining set of symptoms for the condition, very little is known about the nature of social impairment in adults with both ASD and ID. Distinctions were noted between those with ASD and controls, notably in the areas of positive social behaviors and nonverbal negative social behaviors. Those with autism displayed the greatest deficits in these areas. Implications of the results and directions for future research are discussed

Edistysaskeleita liikkeentunnistuksessa mobiililaitteilla

Motion sensing is one of the most important sensing capabilities of mobile devices, enabling monitoring physical movement of the device and associating the observed motion with predefined activities and physical phenomena. The present thesis is divided into three parts covering different facets of motion sensing techniques. In the first part of this thesis, we present techniques to identify the gravity component within three-dimensional accelerometer measurements. Our technique is particularly effective in the presence of sustained linear acceleration events. Using the estimated gravity component, we also demonstrate how the sensor measurements can be transformed into descriptive motion representations, able to convey information about sustained linear accelerations. To quantify sustained linear acceleration, we propose a set of novel peak features, designed to characterize movement during mechanized transportation. Using the gravity estimation technique and peak features, we proceed to present an accelerometer-based transportation mode detection system able to distinguish between fine-grained automotive modalities. In the second part of the thesis, we present a novel sensor-assisted method, crowd replication, for quantifying usage of a public space. As a key technical contribution within crowd replication, we describe construction and use of pedestrian motion models to accurately track detailed motion information. Fusing the pedestrian models with a positioning system and annotations about visual observations, we generate enriched trajectories able to accurately quantify usage of public spaces. Finally in the third part of the thesis, we present two exemplary mobile applications leveraging motion information. As the first application, we present a persuasive mobile application that uses transportation mode detection to promote sustainable transportation habits. The second application is a collaborative speech monitoring system, where motion information is used to monitor changes in physical configuration of the participating devices.Liikkeen havainnointi ja analysointi ovat keskeisimpiä kontekstitietoisten mobiililaitteiden ominaisuuksia. Tässä väitöskirjassa tarkastellaan kolmea eri liiketunnistuksen osa-aluetta. Väitöskirjan ensimmäinen osa käsittelee liiketunnistuksen menetelmiä erityisesti liikenteen ja ajoneuvojen saralla. Väitöskirja esittelee uusia menetelmiä gravitaatiokomponentin arviointiin tilanteissa, joissa laitteeseen kohdistuu pitkäkestoista lineaarista kiihtyvyyttä. Gravitaatiokomponentin tarkka arvio mahdollistaa ajoneuvon liikkeen erottelun muista laitteeseen kohdistuvista voimista. Menetelmän potentiaalin havainnollistamiseksi työssä esitellään kiihtyvyysanturipohjainen kulkumuototunnistusjärjestelmä, joka perustuu eri kulkumuotojen erotteluun näiden kiihtyvyysprofiilien perusteella. Väitöskirjan toinen osa keskittyy tapoihin mitata ja analysoida julkisten tilojen käyttöä liikkeentunnistuksen avulla. Työssä esitellään menetelmä, jolla kohdealueen käyttöä voidaan arvioida yhdistelemällä suoraa havainnointia ja mobiililaitteilla suoritettua havainnointia. Tämän esitellyn ihmisjoukkojen toisintamiseen (crowd replication) perustuvan menetelmän keskeisin tekninen kontribuutio on liikeantureihin perustuva liikkeenmallinnusmenetelmä, joka mahdollistaa käyttäjän tarkan askelten ja kävelyrytmin tunnistamisen. Yhdistämällä liikemallin tuottama tieto paikannusmenetelmään ja tutkijan omiin havaintoihin väitöskirjassa osoitetaan, kuinka käyttäjän osalta saadaan tallennettua tarkat tiedot hänen aktiviteeteistään ja liikeradoistaan sekä tilan että ajan suhteen. Väitöskirjan kolmannessa ja viimeisessä osassa esitellään kaksi esimerkkisovellusta liikkeentunnistuksen käytöstä mobiililaitteissa. Ensimmäinen näistä sovelluksista pyrkii edistämään ja tukemaan käyttäjää kohti kestäviä liikkumistapoja. Sovelluksen keskeisenä komponenttina toimii automaattinen kulkumuototunnistus, joka seuraa käyttäjän liikkumistottumuksia ja näistä koituvaa hiilidioksidijalanjälkeä. Toinen esiteltävä sovellus on mobiililaitepohjainen, yhteisöllinen puheentunnistus, jossa liikkeentunnistusta käytetään seuraamaan mobiililaiteryhmän fyysisen kokoonpanon pysyvyyttä