Hardware for recognition of human activities: a review of smart home and AAL related technologies

Activity recognition (AR) from an applied perspective of ambient assisted living (AAL) and smart homes (SH) has become a subject of great interest. Promising a better quality of life, AR applied in contexts such as health, security, and energy consumption can lead to solutions capable of reaching even the people most in need. This study was strongly motivated because levels of development, deployment, and technology of AR solutions transferred to society and industry are based on software development, but also depend on the hardware devices used. The current paper identifies contributions to hardware uses for activity recognition through a scientific literature review in the Web of Science (WoS) database. This work found four dominant groups of technologies used for AR in SH and AAL—smartphones, wearables, video, and electronic components—and two emerging technologies: Wi-Fi and assistive robots. Many of these technologies overlap across many research works. Through bibliometric networks analysis, the present review identified some gaps and new potential combinations of technologies for advances in this emerging worldwide field and their uses. The review also relates the use of these six technologies in health conditions, health care, emotion recognition, occupancy, mobility, posture recognition, localization, fall detection, and generic activity recognition applications. The above can serve as a road map that allows readers to execute approachable projects and deploy applications in different socioeconomic contexts, and the possibility to establish networks with the community involved in this topic. This analysis shows that the research field in activity recognition accepts that specific goals cannot be achieved using one single hardware technology, but can be using joint solutions, this paper shows how such technology works in this regard

Near Field Communication application provisioning framework

Near Field Communication es una tecnología de comunicación que está ganando adeptos día a día. NFC posee características comunes a la tecnología Bluetooth: ambas son tecnologías de comunicación de corto alcance que funcionan sobre una conexión inalámbrica; aún con todo, NFC posee propiedades con las que aventaja a Bluetooth. Una de las más importantes radica en el tiempo de establecimiento de la conexión, el cual es significativamente menor en la tecnología NFC. Por todo ello, esta Comunicación de Corto Alcance se ha convertido en un medio fácil y seguro de transmisión de información. Su aplicación en el campo de la telefonía móvil abre nuevos caminos a servicios y transacciones de la vida cotidiana, que buscan facilitar y agilizar los procedimientos seguidos en la actualidad. El proyecto con título NFC Application Provisioning Framework busca fomentar el uso de la tecnología descrita. La manera en que se desea conseguir este fin es facilitando un servicio al usuario, el cual le permitirá interaccionar con cualquier etiqueta NFC, incluso cuando éstas, en un principio, no pudieran ser leídas por su teléfono móvil. De esta forma, una única aplicación será la encargada de proveer todo tipo de servicios o aplicaciones requeridas para que un dispositivo móvil pueda comunicarse con dispositivos NFC y llevar a cabo transferencias de información entre ellos

Creating dynamic groups using context-awareness

This article presents the conceptual communication model of dynamic groups, that dynamically utilizes three traditional communication metaphors through the use of context-based information. Dynamic groups makes creation, management and usage of groups easy. It enables social network structures to be maintained in both virtual and face-to-face settings as well as in the combination thereof. This article defines the dynamic management of advanced contact lists which can include presence and status information, a/synchronous multimedia communication tools, and methods for structuring social networks. It also contains an initial evaluation and a proposed architecture for technical realisation.Godkänd; 2007; 20071130 (miabac

Creating digital life stories through activity recognition with image filtering

Abstract. This paper presents two algorithms that enables the MemoryLane system to support persons with mild dementia through creation of digital life stories. The MemoryLane system consists of a Logging Kit that captures context and image data, and a Review Client that recognizes activities and enables review of the captured data. The image filtering algorithm is based on image characteristics such as brightness, blurriness and similarity, and is a central component of the Logging Kit. The activity recognition algorithm is based on the captured contextual data together with concepts of persons and places. The initial results indicate that the MemoryLane system is technically feasible and that activity-based creation of digital life stories for persons with mild dementia is possible

Improving the quality of user generated data sets for activity recognition

It is fully appreciated that progress in the development of data driven approaches to activity recognition are being hampered due to the lack of large scale, high quality, annotated data sets. In an effort to address this the Open Data Initiative (ODI) was conceived as a potential solution for the creation of shared resources for the collection and sharing of open data sets. As part of this process, an analysis was undertaken of datasets collected using a smart environment simulation tool. A noticeable difference was found in the first 1–2 cycles of users generating data. Further analysis demonstrated the effects that this had on the development of activity recognition models with a decrease of performance for both support vector machine and decision tree based classifiers. The outcome of the study has led to the production of a strategy to ensure an initial training phase is considered prior to full scale collection of the data

Kaasasündinud N-glükosüülimise haigused Eestis

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsiooneKaasasündinud glükosüülimise haigused (KGH) moodustavad kiirelt areneva ainevahetushaiguste grupi ning on põhjustatud valkude ja lipiididega seotud glükaanide häirunud sünteesist. Erinevad valkude N-glükosüülimise haigused on enim diagnoositavad KGH-d ja PMM2-CDG on kõige sagedasem N-glükosüülimise haigus. KGH sümptomid on mittespetsiifilised ja multisüsteemsed. Valikmeetod KGH skriinimiseks on seerumi transferriini isoelektriline fokuseerimine (IEF). Käesoleva uuringu eesmärk oli juurutada Eestis KGH diagnostikaks transferriini IEF ja hinnata kolme aasta jooksul N-glükosüülimise haiguste esinemist meie patsientide hulgas. Kuuel patsiendil 1230-st esines KGH skriiningul positiivne tulemus, mis leidis molekulaarse kinnituse. Esmalt näitasime, et kõige sagedasem KGH Eestis on PMM2-CDG, mida diagnoositi neljal patsiendil kahest perekonnast. Ühe pere lastel väljendub haigus kerge neuroloogilise vormina, kuid normaalse kognitiivse arenguga, mida PMM2-CDG patsientide hulgas esineb harva. Eesti PMM2-CDG patsientidel oli kõige sagedasem variant PMM2 geenis p.Val131Met. Teiseks, esitasime tulemused PMM2-CDG eeldatava sageduse kohta, kasutades Tartu Ülikooli Eesti Geenivaramu andmeid. Leidsime viis erinevat PMM2 heterosügootset mutatsiooni. Kõige sagedasem geenivariant on p.Arg141His kandlussagedusega 1/224. p.Val131Met kandlussagedus on 1/449. Eeldatav PMM2-CDG sagedus Eestis on 1/77,000. Kolmandaks, kirjeldasime patsienti KGH alatüübiga SLC35A2-CDG ning võrdlesime tema fenotüüpi ja genotüüpi 14 rahvusvahelise patsiendi kliiniliste andmetega. Patsientidele on iseloomulik mittespetsiifiline neuroloogiline haigus üldise arengu hilistumise, lihashüpotoonia, krampide ning epileptilise entsefalopaatiaga, düsmorfsed tunnused ja lühike kasv. Lisaks võib transferriini IEF olla vale-negatiivne. Neljandaks, kirjeldasime multisüsteemsete kliiniliste sümptomitega ning uue, seni kirjeldamata KGH alatüübiga patsienti, kellel on KGH alatüübi põhjuseks tõenäoliselt haiguspõhjuslik homosügootne muutus STX5 geenis. Käesolev uuring näitas, et Eesti patsientide puhul on transferriini IEF on tulemuslik meetod KGH diagnostikas. Skriiningu rakendamine võimaldas lisada uusi kliinilisi ja epidemioloogilisi andmeid erinevate teadaolevate ning uue KGH alatüübi kohta.Congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG) are an expanding group of inherited metabolic diseases caused by impaired synthesis and attachment of glycans on proteins and lipids. Disorders affecting the N-glycosylation pathway form the most common CDG subgroup, and the most common N-glycosylation disorder is PMM2-CDG. The symptoms of different CDG are often non-specific and multisystem. Serum transferrin isoelectric focusing (Tf IEF) is a routine method to screen CDG. The aim of this study was to implement Tf IEF in Estonian clinical practice and to study the presence of N-glycosylation defects among Estonian patients in a three-year screening period. Altogether, positive CDG screening with subsequent molecular confirmation was detected in six patients among 1230 subjects screened. First, the most frequent CDG in Estonia is PMM2-CDG as we diagnosed this disorder in four patients from two families. In one family, the siblings show a mild neurological phenotype with normal-borderline cognitive development, which has previously been seldom described. Among PMM2-CDG patients, the most common variant in PMM2 gene is p.Val131Met. Second, we reported the expected frequency of PMM2-CDG based on the Estonian population data. In this cohort, we identified five different heterozygous variants in PMM2 gene. The most frequent variant is p.Arg141His with carrier frequency 1/224. The carrier frequency for p.Val131Met based on the Estonian population data is 1/449. The expected frequency of PMM2-CDG is 1/77,000. Third, we described a patient with SLC35A2-CDG and compared his phenotype-genotype with 14 international SLC35A2-CDG patients. This type of CDG presents as a non-specific neurological syndrome with global developmental delay, hypotonia, seizures and epileptic encephalopathy, together with dysmorphic features and short stature. In addition, Tf IEF can show a normal profile. Fourth, we presented a patient with multisystem clinical CDG features and a novel type II CDG likely caused by homozygous variant in STX5. In conclusion, Tf IEF proved to be an effective method to detect CDG among Estonian patients. Our results led to many findings, which have helped to add new clinical and epidemiological data about different known types of CDG, but also to expand the group of CDG by the discovery of a new type of CDG

On distributed real-time systems : the mStar environment, net-based learning and context-aware applications

This doctoral thesis presents two frameworks for distributed real-time systems, the mStar environment for Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) and the Alipes architecture for context-aware applications, from the perspective of distributed teamwork and net-based learning. The mStar environment was designed to be symmetric and fully distributed, which allows all users equal access and thus full interactivity, as well as scalable through the use of IP multicast and a server-less design. The environment makes use of reliable multicast, network resource management and packet loss recovery techniques to increase robustness. Heterogeneous networks and terminals are supported through tunneling and transcoding of media. Asynchronous use of the environment is made possible through support for recording and replay of sessions. It is therefore well equipped to meet the requirements for net-based learning, as the inherent time- and location-independence allows students to follow distributed courses, when otherwise large geographical distances or time restrictions otherwise would limit where and when education could be offered. The student can be anything from a full-time student attending lectures physically at the university, to a part-time student following courses from his home during evenings and weekends. Students will thus have increased possibilities of taking part in education. The Alipes architecture for context-aware applications allows multiple positioning techniques to be seamlessly interchanged and combined, enabling applications to utilize a single interface, yet benefit from several advantages that single positioning techniques cannot offer alone. Add peer-to-peer interchange of position information using ad-hoc networks, and the platform offers a wide variety of techniques to be interchanged or combined, with obvious advantages such as increased coverage and accuracy. Privacy issues are central to managing a user?s context information, for example his position, as that information could cause serious violations of personal integrity if misused. The Alipes architecture handles privacy through general criteria and contracts between users and location servers. Information exchange is typically carried out on a peer-to-peer basis using ad-hoc networks. Integrated examples could be combining locating a nearby tutor with setting up a conference call to initiate a tutoring session, using context information to enhance the perceived feeling of presence within the mStar environment or to optimize network-usage depending on the user?s context. A final conclusion is that systems aiming at enhancing the social aspects of distributed applications by using context information might be important, if not vital, when creating new real-time services for mobile terminals.Godkänd; 2002; 20060921 (ysko

Net-based Learning and the mStar Environment

This licentiate thesis presents a Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) environment, mStar, from the perspective of net-based learning. The novel usage of IPmulticast based tools in teaching scenarios have been evolved to an interactive environment that supports time and location independence for students following distributed courses. The mStar environment has been designed to be scalable through the use of IP multicast and a server-less design. Robustness is achieved by separating traffic by loss tolerance, where traffic that accepts no loss uses a reliable multicast protocol and traffic that can accept some loss may use repair techniques. To enhance robustness even further, network resource management is suggested (which is important within a corporate network). If the tools are to be used over a non-multicast enabled or low bandwidth network, then the traffic can be tunneled and even concentrated. Everything from small group meetings to large lectures is supported, which to..