Security in Pervasive Applications: A Survey

We survey some critical issues arising in pervasive applications, in particular the interplay between context-awareness and security. We shall outline the techniques adapted for guaranteeing applications to securely behave in the digital environment they are part of

Eversion, Ecology, Touch, and Rain: A Post-Pc Rhetoric

The post-PC era of computing offers digital rhetors an opportunity to innovate their inventional approaches. The new era is one in which an ecology of networked, distributed, sensor-based devices amplify our perceptions of self and world by changing the ecological relations that define our connections to our techno-social environments. By extending Casey Boyle’s posthuman practice of rhetorical invention to the new computational era, rhetoricians can develop digital interactive projects that move participants by amplifying the choric bases of their perceptions of self and world

Internet of Props. A performative ontology and design framework for the internet of things.

Full version: Access restricted permanently due to 3rd party copyright restrictions. Restriction set on 21/06/2017 by SC, Graduate SchoolFull version: Access restricted permanently due to 3rd party copyright restrictions. Restriction set on 21/06/17 by SC, Graduate SchoolAccess restricted permanently due to 3rd party copyright restrictions. Restriction set on 21/06/17 SC, GrSchSet in the relatively new and fast developing field of investigation known as Internet of Things (IoT), this research starts by looking at the lack of critical and conceptual reflection on the area. With a main research question that challenges the underlying concepts of the IoT, the study develops a performative design framework to critique the field of investigation. The main corpus consists of: 1. speculative inquiry into the ontological dualisms of ‘objects’ and ‘things’ and the emerging social dimension of humans and non-humans; 2. the identification of an ontological-performative model based on the idea of Props; 3. the entanglement of theory and practice to construct a performative design framework, called the Internet of Props, which includes: an enabling platform (Smarter Planet Lab) and a set of design strategies (Transactional Props) to demonstrate and evaluate this model and framework; 4. a combined-evaluation conversational analysis methodology that assesses the performativity of the setting and the Props, through linguistic and socio-behavioural studies. Inspired by the concepts of ontological theatre, the entanglement of humans and non-humans, and the Internet of People; the IoT is imagined and performed in a theory-driven, practice-based investigation of the Internet of Props, which aims to bring new theoretical and practical knowledge for the future of the IoT

SmartWheels: Detecting urban features for wheelchair users’ navigation

People with mobility impairments have heterogeneous needs and abilities while moving in an urban environment and hence they require personalized navigation instructions. Providing these instructions requires the knowledge of urban features like curb ramps, steps or other obstacles along the way. Since these urban features are not available from maps and change in time, crowdsourcing this information from end-users is a scalable and promising solution. However, it is inconvenient for wheelchair users to input data while on the move. Hence, an automatic crowdsourcing mechanism is needed. In this contribution we present SmartWheels, a solution to detect urban features by analyzing inertial sensors data produced by wheelchair movements. Activity recognition techniques are used to process the sensors data stream. SmartWheels is evaluated on data collected from 17 real wheelchair users navigating in a controlled environment (10 users) and in-the-wild (7 users). Experimental results show that SmartWheels is a viable solution to detect urban features, in particular by applying specific strategies based on the confidence assigned to predictions by the classifier

Proceedings of the International Workshop on EuroPLOT Persuasive Technology for Learning, Education and Teaching (IWEPLET 2013)

"This book contains the proceedings of the International Workshop on EuroPLOT Persuasive Technology for Learning, Education and Teaching (IWEPLET) 2013 which was held on 16.-17.September 2013 in Paphos (Cyprus) in conjunction with the EC-TEL conference. The workshop and hence the proceedings are divided in two parts: on Day 1 the EuroPLOT project and its results are introduced, with papers about the specific case studies and their evaluation. On Day 2, peer-reviewed papers are presented which address specific topics and issues going beyond the EuroPLOT scope. This workshop is one of the deliverables (D 2.6) of the EuroPLOT project, which has been funded from November 2010 – October 2013 by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Commission through the Lifelong Learning Programme (LLL) by grant #511633. The purpose of this project was to develop and evaluate Persuasive Learning Objects and Technologies (PLOTS), based on ideas of BJ Fogg. The purpose of this workshop is to summarize the findings obtained during this project and disseminate them to an interested audience. Furthermore, it shall foster discussions about the future of persuasive technology and design in the context of learning, education and teaching. The international community working in this area of research is relatively small. Nevertheless, we have received a number of high-quality submissions which went through a peer-review process before being selected for presentation and publication. We hope that the information found in this book is useful to the reader and that more interest in this novel approach of persuasive design for teaching/education/learning is stimulated. We are very grateful to the organisers of EC-TEL 2013 for allowing to host IWEPLET 2013 within their organisational facilities which helped us a lot in preparing this event. I am also very grateful to everyone in the EuroPLOT team for collaborating so effectively in these three years towards creating excellent outputs, and for being such a nice group with a very positive spirit also beyond work. And finally I would like to thank the EACEA for providing the financial resources for the EuroPLOT project and for being very helpful when needed. This funding made it possible to organise the IWEPLET workshop without charging a fee from the participants.

Digital technologies and 4D customized design: challenging conventions with responsive design

Digital design tools are rapidly changing and blurring the boundaries between design disciplines. By extension, the relationship between humans and products is also changing, to the point where opportunities are emerging for products that can co-evolve with their human users over time. This chapter highlights how these ‘4D products' respond to the vision laid out three decades ago for ubiquitous computing, and have the potential to enhance human experiences by creating more seamless human-centered relationships with technology. These developments are examined in context with broader shifts in sociocultural and environmental concerns, as well as similar developments being researched in Responsive Architecture, 4D printing and systems designed to empower individuals during the design process through interactive, parametric model platforms. Technology is fundamentally changing the way designers create physical products, and new understandings are needed to positively guide these changes.Arts, Education & Law Group, Queensland College of ArtNo Full Tex