Intelligent environments: a manifesto

We explain basic features of an emerging area called Intelligent Environments. We give a short overview on how it has developed, what is the current state of the art and what are the challenges laying ahead. The aim of the article is to make aware the Computer Science community of this new development, the differences with previous dominant paradigms and the opportunities that this area offers to the scientific community and society

DIGITAL APPLICATIONS IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND EXCAVATION TRAINING: THE DELTA COURSE

Despite the fact that over the last two decades there has been a considerable increase in the adoption of digital applications in archaeological excavations, the application of digital educational tools in the excavation training of Archaeology, students has not made commensurate progress. As a consequence, it is still difficult to integrate in Archaeology curricula the physical space of an archaeological excavation with that of the university classroom. The impact of the limited use of digital educational tools became even more apparent during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which created serious problems in conducting face-to-face excavation training in both the classroom and the excavation site. Within this context, the integration of these two physical spaces through the digital “space” of online training is the main objective of project DELTA (Digital Excavation through Learning and Training in Archaeology), a transnational project funded in the context of Erasmus+/KA2 EU programme. Through the DELTA project, students of Archaeology will be able to improve their subject knowledge and develop digital and 21st century skills. This paper presents the results of the first phase of the DELTA project, during which we conducted extensive desk and field research aiming at recording the existing situation in the three countries regarding: (1) the use of digital applications in archaeological excavations, (2) current courses on excavation practices, methods and techniques and (3) the use of digital educational tools in such courses. By analysing the results from Internet search and a survey using online questionnaires, we present (a) the most recent trends in the university curricula of Archaeology, (b) the current level of digital skills and expertise of students and professionals and (c) the needs and expectations of students and professors regarding the use of digital applications in excavation and Archaeology education. The results of this research were particularly revealing, especially when comparing the situation between the three countries, but also when contrasting the existing digital skills and the aspirations of the various categories of responders (e.g. educational level, current position etc.). This research provided us with the necessary evidence for the design and development of a blended training course that combines the use of an online platform with face to face and on-site learning in a joint excavation; the ADDIE model was adapted in the course design. In addition, the online piloting of the course allowed participating Universities to discuss the level of integration of digital applications in Archaeology education and make suggestions for future actions, particularly within the context of the recent pandemic and the problems it created in students’ excavation training.Nonostante il fatto che negli ultimi due decenni ci sia stato un notevole aumento nell'adozione di applicazioni digitali negli scavi archeologici, l'applicazione di strumenti didattici digitali nella formazione degli studenti di Archeologia non ha fatto progressi commisurati. Di conseguenza, è ancora difficile integrare nei curricula di Archeologia lo spazio fisico di uno scavo archeologico con quello dell'aula universitaria. L'impatto dell'uso limitato degli strumenti didattici digitali è diventato ancora più evidente durante la recente pandemia COVID-19, che ha creato seri problemi nel condurre la formazione di scavo faccia a faccia sia in aula che sul sito di scavo. In questo contesto, l'integrazione di questi due spazi fisici attraverso lo "spazio" digitale della formazione online è l'obiettivo principale del progetto DELTA (Digital Excavation through Learning and Training in Archaeology), un progetto transnazionale finanziato nel contesto del programma europeo Erasmus+/KA2. Attraverso il progetto DELTA, gli studenti di Archeologia saranno in grado di migliorare la loro conoscenza della materia e sviluppare competenze digitali e del 21° secolo. Questo documento presenta i risultati della prima fase del progetto DELTA, durante la quale abbiamo condotto un'ampia ricerca a tavolino e sul campo con l'obiettivo di registrare la situazione esistente nei tre paesi per quanto riguarda: (1) l'uso di applicazioni digitali negli scavi archeologici, (2) i corsi attuali su pratiche, metodi e tecniche di scavo e (3) l'uso di strumenti didattici digitali in tali corsi. Analizzando i risultati di una ricerca su Internet e di un'indagine tramite questionari online, presentiamo (a) le tendenze più recenti nei curricula universitari di Archeologia, (b) l'attuale livello di abilità e competenze digitali di studenti e professionisti e (c) le esigenze e le aspettative di studenti e professori riguardo all'uso di applicazioni digitali nello scavo e nella formazione in Archeologia. I risultati di questa ricerca sono stati particolarmente rivelatori, soprattutto quando si confronta la situazione tra i tre paesi, ma anche quando si contrappongono le competenze digitali esistenti e le aspirazioni delle varie categorie di intervistati (ad esempio il livello di istruzione, la posizione attuale ecc.) Questa ricerca ci ha fornito le prove necessarie per la progettazione e lo sviluppo di un corso di formazione misto che combina l'uso di una piattaforma online con l'apprendimento faccia a faccia e sul posto in uno scavo congiunto; il modello ADDIE è stato adattato nella progettazione del corso. Inoltre, il pilotaggio online del corso ha permesso alle Università partecipanti di discutere il livello di integrazione delle applicazioni digitali nella formazione in Archeologia e di dare suggerimenti per azioni future, in particolare nel contesto della recente pandemia e dei problemi che ha creato nella formazione degli studenti allo scavo

Editorial message: special track on ubiquitous computing

Ubiquitous technologies, infrastructures, applications and services that operate across physical environments (e.g. neighbourhood, home, car etc) will soon be spanning all the different spheres of everyday life. Ubiquitous computing places humans in the center of environments saturated with computing and wireless communications capabilities, yet gracefully integrated, so that technology recedes in the background of everyday activities. The ubiquitous computing world is largely defined by applications, which present an altogether new set of requirements. In order to assess the impact of ubiquitous computing and discover caveats as early in the adoption process as possible, we need to study and analyze working prototypes applied in real-life settings and scenarios. The special track on ubiquitous computing applications, now in its third year, provides a forum for the discussion of all types of ubiquitous computing applications and related specialized infrastructures built for the deployment of targeted applications. Individual papers place applications within their use context and introduce novel and appropriate interaction paradigms while at the same time addressing related technical and business aspects and consequently identify novel opportunities or constraints

Special track on ubiquitous computing: ubiquitous and servasive ecommerce and ebusiness

Ubiquitous computing has emerged as one of the principal information and communication technologies that could lead to the achievement of the Ambient Intelligence (AmI) vision. Ambient Intelligence places human beings at the centre of the future knowledge-based society and implies a seamless environment of computing, advanced networking technology and unobtrusive interfaces: interaction should be relaxing and enjoyable for people. In an AmI environment, humans will be surrounded by intelligent interfaces supported by computing and networking technology that is embedded in everyday objects such as furniture, clothes, vehicles, roads and smart materials - even particles of decorative substances like paint. The AmI world then, is a world largely defined by ubiquitous computing applications, which are designed and developed to operate at the background, to disappear in the different layers of the physical world, in order to serve the needs of people unobtrusively

Human computer interaction research : a paradigm clash?

One of the major challenges in the emerging interdisciplinary field of human-computer interaction (HCI) is the specification of a research line that can enable the development of validated design relevant knowledge with a predictive power for the design of interactive systems. Based on the three different elements in the design of interactive systems: (1) human being(s), (2) technical artifact(s), and (3) context of use, different disciplines contribute with different research paradigms to this new field: social sciences with a strong empirical and experimental approach, and engineering disciplines with a strong technical and formal approach. This paper presents and discusses a possible way to integrate the strengths of different research and design paradigms

EDUC8 pathways: executing self-evolving and personalized intra-organizational educational processes

One of the main challenges to be confronted by modern tertiary sector, so as to improve quality is the personalization of learning, which has to be combined with a minimization of the respective costs. However, personalization requires continuous reconfiguration of the academic plans since the academic status of each student, educational options and circumstances inside a Higher Educational Institution constantly change. In this paper, we present EDUC8 (EDUCATE) software environment that provides an integrated information technology solution concerning the dynamic recommendation and execution of personalized education processes. The implemented EDUC8 prototype aggregates a process execution engine, a rule engine and a semantic infrastructure for reconfiguring the learning pathways for each student. The semantic infrastructure consists of an ontology enclosing the required knowledge and a semantic rule-set. During the execution of learning pathways, the system reasons over the rules and reconfigures the next steps of the learning process. At the same time, new knowledge and facts originated from both the rule base and the learning pathway meta-models that are established during their execution are created, which constitute the evolving knowledge base of EDUC8 platform. The completeness and performance of the implemented infrastructure was tested for the modeling and selection of a set of appropriate academic recommendations regarding the Network Engineering specialization field of the Computer Science program. © 2019, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

End-user configuration of ambient intelligence environments: Feasability from an user perspective

We report research into concepts and technology for enabling end-users to configure Ambient Intelligent environments. In this paper we focus on the feasibility and acceptability of this endeavor from an end-user perspective. We describe a conceptual model and an experimental enabling technology that illustrates the viability of these concepts and a multi-faceted evaluation of these concepts from an end-user perspective. Our work suggests the need for a flexible approach in letting users choose how much should be observable of system structure and function or of the processes of system learning and adaptation. Directions for future research in this field are described in the form of some provisional principles for shaping the interaction with end-user configurable Ambient Intelligence environments

An editing tool that manages the devices associations in an in-home environment

The forthcoming home environment will comprise numerous computationally enhanced artifacts that are autonomous, but interconnected via an invisible web of network-based services. The approach presented in this paper is to enable end users to make their own applications by linking such artifacts, which are treated as reusable ‘‘components.’’ A key requirement to achieve this is the availability of editing tools that meet the needs of different classes of users. A tool of this kind designed for end users is presented in this paper, together with the outcome of user evaluation sessions