Adding generic contextual capabilities to wearable computers

Context-awareness has an increasingly important role to play in the development of wearable computing systems. In order to better define this role we have identified four generic contextual capabilities: sensing, adaptation, resource discovery, and augmentation. A prototype application has been constructed to explore how some of these capabilities could be deployed in a wearable system designed to aid an ecologist's observations of giraffe in a Kenyan game reserve. However, despite the benefits of context-awareness demonstrated in this prototype, widespread innovation of these capabilities is currently stifled by the difficulty in obtaining the contextual data. To remedy this situation the Contextual Information Service (CIS) is introduced. Installed on the user's wearable computer, the CIS provides a common point of access for clients to obtain, manipulate and model contextual information independently of the underlying plethora of data formats and sensor interface mechanisms

The Stick-e Note Architecture: Extending the Interface Beyond the User

This paper proposes a redefinition of the human-computer interface, extending its boundaries to encompass interaction with the user's physical environment. This extension to the interface enables computers to become aware of their context of use and intelligently adapt their activities and interface to suit their current circumstances. Context-awareness promises to greatly enhance user interfaces, but the complexity of capturing, representing and processing contextual data, presents a major obstacle to its further development. The Stick-e Note Architecture is proposed as a solution to this problem, offering a universal means of providing context-awareness through an easily understood metaphor based on the Post-It note

Context-Aware Software

With the advent of PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), smart phones, and other forms of mobile and ubiquitous computers, our computing resources are increasingly moving off of our desktops and into our everyday lives. However, the software and user interfaces for these devices are generally very similar to that of their desktop counterparts, despite the radically different and dynamic environments that they face. We propose that to better assist their users, such devices should be able to sense, react to, and utilise, the user's current environment or context. That is, they should become context-aware. In this thesis we investigate context-awareness at three levels: user interfaces, applications, and supporting architectures/frameworks. To promote the use of context-awareness, and to aid its deployment in software, we have developed two supporting frameworks. The first is an application-oriented framework called stick-e notes. Based on an electronic version of the common Post-It Note, stick-e notes enable the attachment of any electronic resource (e.g. a text file, movie, Java program, etc.) to any type of context (e.g. location, temperature, time, etc.). The second framework we devised seeks to provide a more universal support for the capture, manipulation, and representation of context information. We call it the Context Information Service (CIS). It fills a similar role in context-aware software development as GUI libraries do in user interface development. Our applications research explored how context-awareness can be exploited in real environments with real users. In particular, we developed a suite of PDA-based context-aware tools for fieldworkers. These were used extensively by a group of ecologists in Africa to record observations of giraffe and rhinos in a remote Kenyan game reserve. These tools also provided the foundations for our HCI work, in which we developed the concept of the Minimal Attention User Interface (MAUI). The aim of the MAUI is to reduce the attention required by the user in operating a device by carefully selecting input/output modes that are harmonious to their tasks and environment. To evaluate our ideas and applications a field study was conducted in which over forty volunteers used our system for data collection activities over the course of a summer season at the Kenyan game reserve. The PDA-based tools were unanimously preferred to the paper-based alternatives, and the context-aware features were cited as particular reasons for preferring them. In summary, this thesis presents two frameworks to support context-aware software, a set of applications demonstrating how context-awareness can be utilised in the ''real world'', and a set of HCI guidelines and principles that help in creating user interfaces that fit to their context of use

Context-aware software

With the advent of PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), smart phones, and other forms of mobile and ubiquitous computers, our computing resources are increasingly moving off of our desktops and into our everyday lives. However, the software and user interfaces for these devices are generally very similar to that of their desktop counterparts, despite the radically different and dynamic environments that they face. We propose that to better assist their users, such devices should be able to sense, react to, and utilise, the user's current environment or context. That is, they should become context-aware. In this thesis we investigate context-awareness at three levels: user interfaces, applications, and supporting architectures/frameworks. To promote the use of context-awareness, and to aid its deployment in software, we have developed two supporting frameworks. The first is an application-oriented framework called stick-e notes. Based on an electronic version of the common Post-It Note, stick-e notes enable the attachment of any electronic resource (e.g. a text file, movie, Java program, etc.) to any type of context (e.g. location, temperature, time, etc.). The second framework we devised seeks to provide a more universal support for the capture, manipulation, and representation of context information. We call it the Context Information Service (CIS). It fills a similar role in context-aware software development as GUI libraries do in user interface development. Our applications research explored how context-awareness can be exploited in real environments with real users. In particular, we developed a suite of PDA-based context-aware tools for fieldworkers. These were used extensively by a group of ecologists in Africa to record observations of giraffe and rhinos in a remote Kenyan game reserve. These tools also provided the foundations for our HCI work, in which we developed the concept of the Minimal Attention User Interface (MAUI). The aim of the MAUI is to reduce the attention required by the user in operating a device by carefully selecting input/output modes that are harmonious to their tasks and environment. To evaluate our ideas and applications a field study was conducted in which over forty volunteers used our system for data collection activities over the course of a summer season at the Kenyan game reserve. The PDA-based tools were unanimously preferred to the paper-based alternatives, and the context-aware features were cited as particular reasons for preferring them. In summary, this thesis presents two frameworks to support context-aware software, a set of applications demonstrating how context-awareness can be utilised in the ''real world'', and a set of HCI guidelines and principles that help in creating user interfaces that fit to their context of use

Student Engagement : Exploring How and Why Students Engage In- and Out-of-Class

Student engagement in a course plays a vital role in a student’s ability to process and construct knowledge. Student engagement research has investigated how students engage in and out of the classroom on a macro scale, through observation and survey data collection of large student populations, which lack focus on the individual student and the influence of context regarding their engagement in a course. This thesis includes one manuscript that explores how students engage in a particular context both in and out of class using descriptive and interpretive case study analysis. Qualitative data was collected through frequent semi-structured interviews with seven student participants enrolled in six different Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses at a single institution. The results captured a broad range of student engagements in and out of the classroom, which were unique to the student and the context. Understanding how and why students engage in a course allows educators to be proactive towards curriculum development centered about student learning, and reflective in the ways that they are facilitating student learning

Os sistemas de informação geográfica no suporte a serviços móveis para o cidadão

O seguinte artigo descreve os trabalhos de investigação efectuados no âmbito do projecto USE-ME.GOV (USability-drivEn open platform for Mobile GOVernment), um projecto do 6º Programa Quadro, que tem como objectivo o fornecimento de uma plataforma aberta para a disponibilização de serviços móveis ao cidadão, podendo ser partilhada por uma rede de autarquias, instituições públicas e outros fornecedores de serviços de informação. O artigo explica como a informação geográfica e de localização dá suporte à contextualização do utilizador móvel, podendo essa informação ser cruzada e processada com outras dimensões que definem o contexto

Foldwatch:using origami-inspired paper prototypes to explore the extension of output space in smartwatches

Smartwatches are highly portable, ubiquitous devices, allowing rich interaction at a small scale. However, the display size can hinder user engagement, limit information display, and presentation style. Most research focuses on exploring ways in which the interaction area of smartwatches can be extended, although this mainly entails simple fold-out displays or additional screens. Conversely, added weight and size can hinder the wearable experience. In response, we took inspiration from origami and explored the design space for new types of lightweight, highly foldable smartwatch, by developing complex paper-prototypes which demonstrate novel ways of extending screen space. We collected data on potential input and output interaction with complex folded smartwatch displays during workshops with expert and non-expert users, discovering application ideas and additional input/output functionality. These insights were used to produce and evaluate a concept video for the FoldWatch prototype

Exercise Intensity and Duration Effects on In Vivo Immunity

PURPOSE: To examine the effects of intensity and duration of exercise stress on induction of in vivo immunity in humans using experimental contact hypersensitivity (CHS) with the novel antigen diphenylcyclopropenone (DPCP). METHODS: Sixty-four healthy males completed either 30 min running at 60% V O2peak (30MI), 30 min running at 80% V O2peak (30HI), 120 min running at 60% V O2peak (120MI), or seated rest (CON). Twenty min later, the subjects received a sensitizing dose of DPCP; and 4 wk later, the strength of immune reactivity was quantified by measuring the cutaneous responses to a low dose-series challenge with DPCP on the upper inner arm. Circulating epinephrine, norepinephrine and cortisol were measured before, after, and 1 h after exercise or CON. Next, to understand better whether the decrease in CHS response on 120MI was due to local inflammatory or T-cell-mediated processes, in a crossover design, 11 healthy males performed 120MI and CON, and cutaneous responses to a dose series of the irritant, croton oil (CO), were assessed on the upper inner arm. RESULTS: Immune induction by DPCP was impaired by 120MI (skinfold thickness -67% vs CON; P < 0.05). However, immune induction was unaffected by 30MI and 30HI despite elevated circulating catecholamines (30HI vs pre: P < 0.01) and greater circulating cortisol post 30HI (vs CON; P < 0.01). There was no effect of 120MI on skin irritant responses to CO. CONCLUSIONS: Prolonged moderate-intensity exercise, but not short-lasting high- or short-lasting moderate-intensity exercise, decreases the induction of in vivo immunity. No effect of prolonged moderate-intensity exercise on the skin's response to irritant challenge points toward a suppression of cell-mediated immunity in the observed decrease in CHS. Diphenylcyclopropenone provides an attractive tool to assess the effect of exercise on in vivo immunity

Association of Six Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in a Chinese Population

To investigate whether the candidate genes that confer susceptibility to type 2 diabetes mellitus are also correlated with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in pregnant Chinese women.In this study, 1764 unrelated pregnant women were recruited, of which 725 women had GDM and 1039 served as controls. Six single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs7754840 in CDKAL1, rs391300 in SRR, rs2383208 in CDKN2A/2B, rs4402960 in IGF2BP2, rs10830963 in MTNR1B, rs4607517 in GCK) were genotyped using TaqMan allelic discrimination assays. The genotype and allele distributions of each SNP between the GDM cases and controls and the combined effects of alleles for the risk of developing GDM were analyzed. We found that the rs4402960, rs2383208 and rs391300 were statistically associated with GDM (OR = 1.207, 95%CI = 1.029-1.417, p = 0.021; OR = 1.242, 95%CI = 1.077-1.432, p = 0.003; OR = 1.202, 95%CI = 1.020-1.416, P = 0.028, respectively). In addition, the effect was greater under a recessive model in rs391300 (OR = 1.820, 95%CI = 1.226-2.701, p = 0.003). Meanwhile, the joint effect of these three loci indicated an additive effect of multiple alleles on the risk of developing GDM with an OR of 1.196 per allele (p = 1.08×10(-4)). We also found that the risk alleles of rs2383208 (b = -0.085, p = 0.003), rs4402960 (b = -0.057, p = 0.046) and rs10830963 (b = -0.096, p = 0.001) were associated with HOMA-B, while rs7754840 was associated with decrease in insulin AUC during a 100 g OGTT given at the time of GDM diagnosis (b = -0.080, p = 0.007).Several risk alleles of type 2 diabetes were associated with GDM in pregnant Chinese women. The effects of these SNPs on GDM might be through the impairment of beta cell function and these risk loci contributed additively to the disease