The Evidence Hub: harnessing the collective intelligence of communities to build evidence-based knowledge

Conventional document and discussion websites provide users with no help in assessing the quality or quantity of evidence behind any given idea. Besides, the very meaning of what evidence is may not be unequivocally defined within a community, and may require deep understanding, common ground and debate. An Evidence Hub is a tool to pool the community collective intelligence on what is evidence for an idea. It provides an infrastructure for debating and building evidence-based knowledge and practice. An Evidence Hub is best thought of as a filter onto other websites — a map that distills the most important issues, ideas and evidence from the noise by making clear why ideas and web resources may be worth further investigation. This paper describes the Evidence Hub concept and rationale, the breath of user engagement and the evolution of specific features, derived from our work with different community groups in the healthcare and educational sector

Datamining for Web-Enabled Electronic Business Applications

Web-Enabled Electronic Business is generating massive amount of data on customer purchases, browsing patterns, usage times and preferences at an increasing rate. Data mining techniques can be applied to all the data being collected for obtaining useful information. This chapter attempts to present issues associated with data mining for web-enabled electronic-business

BIG DATA IN MARKETING & RETAILING

Data is increasingly being created, stored, analyzed, and applied. Big Data is becoming an everyday phrase that appears in popular media and people’s daily conversations. This paper provides a framework to define Big Data from technical and business perspectives, to present its enormous value in different fields, to share its applications in marketing and retailing, market segmentation, targeting and positioning as well in developing marketing mix. We also provide some real life industry examples, to shed light on the challenges in harnessing the potential of Big Data, and to discuss its future. Big Data will separate the winners from the losers in the business field in the future. The leading companies in the Big Data field, such as Google, Amazon, and Wal-Mart, will continue to build their competitive advantage, both in marketing and other areas, by acting on the insights developed from Big Data analysis

Usable privacy and security in smart homes

Ubiquitous computing devices increasingly dominate our everyday lives, including our most private places: our homes. Homes that are equipped with interconnected, context-aware computing devices, are considered “smart” homes. To provide their functionality and features, these devices are typically equipped with sensors and, thus, are capable of collecting, storing, and processing sensitive user data, such as presence in the home. At the same time, these devices are prone to novel threats, making our homes vulnerable by opening them for attackers from outside, but also from within the home. For instance, remote attackers who digitally gain access to presence data can plan for physical burglary. Attackers who are physically present with access to devices could access associated (sensitive) user data and exploit it for further cyberattacks. As such, users’ privacy and security are at risk in their homes. Even worse, many users are unaware of this and/or have limited means to take action. This raises the need to think about usable mechanisms that can support users in protecting their smart home setups. The design of such mechanisms, however, is challenging due to the variety and heterogeneity of devices available on the consumer market and the complex interplay of user roles within this context. This thesis contributes to usable privacy and security research in the context of smart homes by a) understanding users’ privacy perceptions and requirements for usable mechanisms and b) investigating concepts and prototypes for privacy and security mechanisms. Hereby, the focus is on two specific target groups, that are inhabitants and guests of smart homes. In particular, this thesis targets their awareness of potential privacy and security risks, enables them to take control over their personal privacy and security, and illustrates considerations for usable authentication mechanisms. This thesis provides valuable insights to help researchers and practitioners in designing and evaluating privacy and security mechanisms for future smart devices and homes, particularly targeting awareness, control, and authentication, as well as various roles.Computer und andere „intelligente“, vernetzte Geräte sind allgegenwärtig und machen auch vor unserem privatesten Zufluchtsort keinen Halt: unserem Zuhause. Ein „intelligentes Heim“ verspricht viele Vorteile und nützliche Funktionen. Um diese zu erfüllen, sind die Geräte mit diversen Sensoren ausgestattet – sie können also in unserem Zuhause sensitive Daten sammeln, speichern und verarbeiten (bspw. Anwesenheit). Gleichzeitig sind die Geräte anfällig für (neuartige) Cyberangriffe, gefährden somit unser Zuhause und öffnen es für potenzielle – interne sowie externe – Angreifer. Beispielsweise könnten Angreifer, die digital Zugriff auf sensitive Daten wie Präsenz erhalten, einen physischen Überfall in Abwesenheit der Hausbewohner planen. Angreifer, die physischen Zugriff auf ein Gerät erhalten, könnten auf assoziierte Daten und Accounts zugreifen und diese für weitere Cyberangriffe ausnutzen. Damit werden die Privatsphäre und Sicherheit der Nutzenden in deren eigenem Zuhause gefährdet. Erschwerend kommt hinzu, dass viele Nutzenden sich dessen nicht bewusst sind und/oder nur limitierte Möglichkeiten haben, effiziente Gegenmaßnahmen zu ergreifen. Dies macht es unabdingbar, über benutzbare Mechanismen nachzudenken, die Nutzende beim Schutz ihres intelligenten Zuhauses unterstützen. Die Umsetzung solcher Mechanismen ist allerdings eine große Herausforderung. Das liegt unter anderem an der großen Vielfalt erhältlicher Geräte von verschiedensten Herstellern, was das Finden einer einheitlichen Lösung erschwert. Darüber hinaus interagieren im Heimkontext meist mehrere Nutzende in verschieden Rollen (bspw. Bewohner und Gäste), was die Gestaltung von Mechanismen zusätzlich erschwert. Diese Doktorarbeit trägt dazu bei, benutzbare Privatsphäre- und Sicherheitsmechanismen im Kontext des „intelligenten Zuhauses“ zu entwickeln. Insbesondere werden a) die Wahrnehmung von Privatsphäre sowie Anforderungen an potenzielle Mechanismen untersucht, sowie b) Konzepte und Prototypen für Privatsphäre- und Sicherheitsmechanismen vorgestellt. Der Fokus liegt hierbei auf zwei Zielgruppen, den Bewohnern sowie den Gästen eines intelligenten Zuhauses. Insbesondere werden in dieser Arbeit deren Bewusstsein für potenzielle Privatsphäre- und Sicherheits-Risiken adressiert, ihnen Kontrolle über ihre persönliche Privatsphäre und Sicherheit ermöglicht, sowie Möglichkeiten für benutzbare Authentifizierungsmechanismen für beide Zielgruppen aufgezeigt. Die Ergebnisse dieser Doktorarbeit legen den Grundstein für zukünftige Entwicklung und Evaluierung von benutzbaren Privatsphäre und Sicherheitsmechanismen im intelligenten Zuhause

Interactive AR-based tool for gamification of smart touristic places

Augmented Reality is a computer-generated image technology that transcends the user’sview of the real world, thereby providing complex vision, it adds to the real world digitalelements depending where the user is looking and how he is interacting with the realworld.One of the main goal is to produce an AR app in ”Biblioteca Museu Victor Balaguer”, atouristic site based in Vilanova i La Geltru (Barcelona,Spain). An AR application has beenbuilt using Android studio and Unity3D platforms evaluated and tested in the Museumgoing through many 3D modules, videos and images rendered and augmented in the realworld of the museum.Unity, which is the main platform used to build this AR app has different levels of renderingsover the real world. It varies from photos to videos rendered upon the real environmentpassing through 3D modules and animations and 360 degree scenes.AR applications canbe built on many devices other than a mobile phone. In this report we will see an implemen-tation of another application on Magic Leap glasses using the Lumin platform integratedwith Unity 3D. The output of the same Lumin application was visualized using the Oculusdevices to test the result in a virtual reality world.In this report we will take a look on some current state-of-the-art in AR, describing thework performed in many other touristic places all around the world passing by enlighteningthe main differences between their project and the project explained in this document. Al-though the AR field has entered into medical, visualization, military and other technologicalprograms, we will only touch the tourism part of the field. As any other touristic project, thisapp aims to encourage the touristic domain in some places that are not alive like it shouldbe, which will end by turning back more money and benefits than these sites were earningbefore. For that we implemented a plan and a business canvas model that explains howthese applications will make these changes.The results shows that the combination of many framework together can lead to a newkind of AR gamification. The interaction between the user and the AR environment isaccomplished from one side and between users from another. The mobile game appdescribes the site of ́Biblioteca Museu Victor Balaguer ́adding some fun for the users inthe way of interacting with the real world of the Museum. This app is already programmedand tested on the field. The last stage of our game show an app developed on MagicLeap One that contributes and transmits Point clouds from one site of the Mediterraneanto another, providing the user the ability to see and talk with another user at the same tim

Inviwo -- A Visualization System with Usage Abstraction Levels

The complexity of today's visualization applications demands specific visualization systems tailored for the development of these applications. Frequently, such systems utilize levels of abstraction to improve the application development process, for instance by providing a data flow network editor. Unfortunately, these abstractions result in several issues, which need to be circumvented through an abstraction-centered system design. Often, a high level of abstraction hides low level details, which makes it difficult to directly access the underlying computing platform, which would be important to achieve an optimal performance. Therefore, we propose a layer structure developed for modern and sustainable visualization systems allowing developers to interact with all contained abstraction levels. We refer to this interaction capabilities as usage abstraction levels, since we target application developers with various levels of experience. We formulate the requirements for such a system, derive the desired architecture, and present how the concepts have been exemplary realized within the Inviwo visualization system. Furthermore, we address several specific challenges that arise during the realization of such a layered architecture, such as communication between different computing platforms, performance centered encapsulation, as well as layer-independent development by supporting cross layer documentation and debugging capabilities

Efficient e-Marketing in Tourism through a Novel Customer Relationship Management Model

This paper proposes an efficient customerrelationship management model based on technologicalconvergence of emerging next generation networks, such asinteractive digital television and network multimedia systems.The proposed research approach is exploited in tourism sectorfor effective destination management, enabling for personalizede-marketing strategies and facilitating marketers to accomplishoptimum marketing data analysis. The proposed researchapproach is evaluated for its applicability and usefulness byinterviewing a sample of Destination Marketing Organizationmanagers. The findings of this research provide useful practicalimplications

Joint analysis of stressors and ecosystem services to enhance restoration effectiveness

With increasing pressure placed on natural systems by growing human populations, both scientists and resource managers need a better understanding of the relationships between cumulative stress from human activities and valued ecosystem services. Societies often seek to mitigate threats to these services through large-scale, costly restoration projects, such as the over one billion dollar Great Lakes Restoration Initiative currently underway. To help inform these efforts, we merged high-resolution spatial analyses of environmental stressors with mapping of ecosystem services for all five Great Lakes. Cumulative ecosystem stress is highest in near-shore habitats, but also extends offshore in Lakes Erie, Ontario, and Michigan. Variation in cumulative stress is driven largely by spatial concordance among multiple stressors, indicating the importance of considering all stressors when planning restoration activities. In addition, highly stressed areas reflect numerous different combinations of stressors rather than a single suite of problems, suggesting that a detailed understanding of the stressors needing alleviation could improve restoration planning. We also find that many important areas for fisheries and recreation are subject to high stress, indicating that ecosystem degradation could be threatening key services. Current restoration efforts have targeted high-stress sites almost exclusively, but generally without knowledge of the full range of stressors affecting these locations or differences among sites in service provisioning. Our results demonstrate that joint spatial analysis of stressors and ecosystem services can provide a critical foundation for maximizing social and ecological benefits from restoration investments. www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1213841110/-/DCSupplementa