Showing papers on "Context awareness published in 1999"
27 Sep 1999
TL;DR: Some of the research challenges in understanding context and in developing context-aware applications are discussed, which are increasingly important in the fields of handheld and ubiquitous computing, where the user?s context is changing rapidly.
Abstract: When humans talk with humans, they are able to use implicit situational information, or context, to increase the conversational bandwidth. Unfortunately, this ability to convey ideas does not transfer well to humans interacting with computers. In traditional interactive computing, users have an impoverished mechanism for providing input to computers. By improving the computer’s access to context, we increase the richness of communication in human-computer interaction and make it possible to produce more useful computational services. The use of context is increasingly important in the fields of handheld and ubiquitous computing, where the user?s context is changing rapidly. In this panel, we want to discuss some of the research challenges in understanding context and in developing context-aware applications.
4,842 citations
TL;DR: A working model for context is introduced, mechanisms to acquire context beyond location, and application of context-awareness in ultra-mobile computing are discussed and fusion of sensors for acquisition of information on more sophisticated contexts are explored.
1,222 citations
TL;DR: The Aware Home project is introduced and some of the technology-and human-centered research objectives in creating the Aware Home are outlined, to create a living laboratory for research in ubiquitous computing for everyday activities.
Abstract: We are building a home, called the Aware Home, to create a living laboratory for research in ubiquitous computing for everyday activities. This paper introduces the Aware Home project and outlines some of our technology-and human-centered research objectives in creating the Aware Home.
1,119 citations
18 Oct 1999
TL;DR: The Conference Assistant is described, a prototype mobile, context-aware application that assists conference attendees and uses a wide variety of contexts and enhances user interactions with both the environment and other users.
Abstract: We describe the Conference Assistant, a prototype mobile, context-aware application that assists conference attendees. We discuss the strong relationship between context-awareness and wearable computing and apply this relationship in the Conference Assistant. The application uses a wide variety of contexts and enhances user interactions with both the environment and other users. We describe how the application is used and the context-aware architecture on which it is based.
345 citations
18 Oct 1999
TL;DR: This work focuses on the task of indoor navigation and shows that, by integrating information from accelerometers, magnetometers and temperature and light sensors, it can collect enough information to infer the user's location.
Abstract: Machine learning techniques are applied to the task of context awareness, or inferring aspects of the user's state given a stream of inputs from sensors worn by the person. We focus on the task of indoor navigation and show that, by integrating information from accelerometers, magnetometers and temperature and light sensors, we can collect enough information to infer the user's location. However, our navigation algorithm performs very poorly, with almost a 50% error rate, if we use only the raw sensor signals. Instead, we introduce a "data cooking" module that computes appropriate high-level features from the raw sensor data. By introducing these high-level features, we are able to reduce the error rate to 2% in our example environment.
187 citations
18 Oct 1999
TL;DR: An image sequence matching technique for the recognition of locations and previously visited places is proposed and a dynamic programming algorithm is proposed for the calculation of the similarity of different locations.
Abstract: Context awareness is an important functionality for wearable computers. In particular, the computer should know where the person is in the environment. This paper proposes an image sequence matching technique for the recognition of locations and previously visited places. As in single word recognition in speech recognition, a dynamic programming algorithm is proposed for the calculation of the similarity of different locations. The system runs on a standalone wearable computer, such as a Libretto PC. Using a training sequence, a dictionary of locations is created automatically. These locations are then recognized by the system in real time using a hat-mounted camera.
139 citations
01 Jun 1999
TL;DR: Different categories of contexts and also different needs of applications concerning context awareness are described, taking into consideration contextual knowledge that cannot entirely be explained and processed with linguistic and terminological approaches.
Abstract: Traditionally, communication between healthcare providers, including the provision of physicians with information and knowledge, works quite well because there are implicitly common conventions and assumptions in the collaboration of all involved actors. The basic prerequisite of the communication process between humans is a mutual agreement on syntax and semantics of oral and written language, i.e., of the medical sublanguage. With telemedicine, i.e., the use of telecommunication and informatics in medicine, this prerequisite is no longer sufficient. First, various professionals from different clinical communities, characterized by specialty, nationality, school, etc., share the management of the patient's health. Second, electronically communicated information is more and more intended for processing by computer applications rather than for direct interpretation by human users. Third, the interconnection of distributed heterogeneous software systems in medicine raises the issue of semantic interoperability, especially the problem of data integration. A faithful communication in such a scenario must be based on explicit assumptions behind a message. Interpreting an usually highly context-dependent utterance demands for mechanisms on a pragmatic level in natural language processing. The need for additional processing and integration of the transferred data by the receiving system demands for standardization and mediation, taking into consideration contextual knowledge that cannot entirely be explained and processed with linguistic and terminological approaches. This paper describes different categories of contexts and also different needs of applications concerning context awareness.
40 citations
18 Oct 1999
TL;DR: A general infrastructure based on contextual objects to design and develop adaptive distributed information systems in order to keep, even to improve, the level of the delivered service despite environment variations is proposed.
Abstract: The development of mobile computing combined, with the exponential growth of the Internet leads to new challenges in the development of large-scale information systems. As they move, users may experience dramatic variations in their environment, in terms of latency, network bandwidth, available services around etc. As a consequence, the level of service of the provided information may strongly depend on the context from which a user issues a query. To handle such variations while providing the best level of service to a user, information systems must be adaptive to change their behavior, preferably without the user intervention, depending on the current context of the user. We propose a general infrastructure based on contextual objects to design and develop adaptive distributed information systems in order to keep, even to improve, the level of the delivered service despite environment variations. As a first step to a complete implementation of our framework, we have implemented a location-aware Web service based on mobile-IP.
33 citations
18 Oct 1999
TL;DR: A wearable context-awareness component that derives general context information from low-level sensors is described that can be used by wearables or other personal technologies in a body network via a simple protocol.
Abstract: We describe the design of a wearable context-awareness component that derives general context information from low-level sensors. Derived context information is application-independent and can be used by wearables or other personal technologies in a body network via a simple protocol. We built the context-awareness component into a tie, stressing its design as an accessory.
32 citations
27 Sep 1999
TL;DR: This work believes that context aware management of resources provides the most reliable basis for managing the non-deterministic behaviour of mobile systems.
Abstract: Systems must support context awareness for mobile applications to permit adaptation to heterogeneity of hosts and networks, and variations in the user's environment. We believe that context aware management of resources provides the most reliable basis for managing the non-deterministic behaviour of mobile systems.
25 citations
Book•
15 Sep 1999
TL;DR: Design Probes for Handheld and Ubiquitous Computing focus on maintaining Context and Control in a Digital World and issues in Developing Context-Aware Computing.
Abstract: Design Probes for Handheld and Ubiquitous Computing.- Maintaining Context and Control in a Digital World.- Everywhere Messaging.- Mobile, Ubiquitous and the Sense of Space.- The Children's Machines: Handheld and Wearable Computers Too.- Pocket BargainFinder: A Handheld Device for Augmented Commerce.- Scalable and Flexible Location-Based Services for Ubiquitous Information Access.- Enabling Context-Awareness from Network-Level Location Tracking.- Perceptual Intelligence.- Advanced Interaction in Context.- Exploring Brick-Based Navigation and Composition in an Augmented Reality.- Handheld Computing Predictions: What Went Wrong?.- The Open-End Argument for Private Computing.- Integrating PDAs into Distributed Systems: 2K and PalmORB.- Designing Information Appliances Using a Resource Replication Model.- Active Map: A Visualization Tool for Location Awareness to Support Informal Interactions.- Close Encounters: Supporting Mobile Collaboration through Interchange of User Profiles.- A Digital Photography Framework Supporting Social Interaction and Affective Awareness.- The Role of Connectivity in Supporting Context- Sensitive Applications.- Issues in Developing Context-Aware Computing.- RAMSES: A Mobile Computing System for Field Archaeology.- Token-Based Access to Digital Information.- InfoStick: An Interaction Device for Inter-Appliance Computing.- Using Spatial Co-location for Coordination in Ubiquitous Computing Environments.- Amplifying Reality.- Designing Interaction Styles for a Mobile Use Context.- POBox: An Efficient Text Input Method for Handheld and Ubiquitous Computers.- Middleware for Ubiquitous Computing.- Towards a Better Understanding of Context and Context-Awareness.- The MediaCup: Awareness Technology Embedded in an Everyday Object.- Point & Click-Interaction in Smart Environments.- Wearable Information Appliances for the Emergency Services: HotHelmet.- Using Wearable Computer as an Audiovisual Memory Prosthesis.- Today's Stories.- On the Self Evaluation of a Wearable Assistant.- On Positioning for Augmented Reality Systems.- Hippie: A Nomadic Information System.- A Rapidly Configurable Location-Aware Information System for an Exterior Environment.- Mobile Computing in Machine Engineering Applications.- Chameleon - Reconfigurability in Hand-Held Multimedia Computers.- An Evaluation of WebTwig - A Site Outliner for Handheld Web Access.- Human Factors of Multi-modal Ubiquitous Computing.- URCP: Experimental Support for Multi-modal Interfaces.- Magic Medicine Cabinet: A Situated Portal for Consumer Healthcare.- Augmented Workspace: The World as Your Desktop.- The ChatterBox.- Pollen: Virtual Networks That Use People as Carriers.- VoIP in Context-Aware Communication Spaces.- A Platform for Environment-Aware Applications.- The Design and Implementation of the Ubidata Information Dissemination Framework.- Co-authoring in Dynamic Teams with Mobile Individuals.- A Universal, Location-Aware Hoarding Mechanism.- QoS and Context Awareness for Mobile Computing.- Anonymous and Confidential Communications from an IP Addressless Computer.- Ad-hoc Network Routing for Centralized Information Sharing Systems.
01 Nov 1999
TL;DR: This approach uses a variety of perception techniques to obtain white box context from audio and video streams, and uses this context information to generate a storyboard-like multimedia representation of collected and extracted context information.
Abstract: Awareness support system are based on formal and specific context information such as location, or on video-mediated general context information such asa view into a remote office. We propose a new approach based on fusion of these different kinds of context information. In this approach we distinguish white box context, used by the awareness system for reasoning, and black box context, which can only be interpreted by humans. Our approach uses a variety of perception techniques to obtain white box context from audio and video streams. White box context is then used for further processing of context information, for instance to derive additional context. It is further used to generate a storyboard-like multimedia representation of collected and extracted context information. This storyboard provides a condensed view of recent activity to collaboration partners.
05 Sep 1999
TL;DR: A system to use information about the user's context, including physical, social, and temporal facts, to achieve this, possibly through better user interfaces, application selection, or communication network selection is designed.
Abstract: As mobile devices become more frequently used by an ever-increasing user base, more efficient methods of use are desired. We are designing a system to use information about the user's context, including physical, social, and temporal facts, to achieve this, possibly through better user interfaces, application selection, or communication network selection. This paper discusses the structure of the system, including the hierarchy and classification of information. We then describe the working prototype we have built to acquire physical context cues through low-level sensors. Using data collected with this prototype, we show that differentiating between a number of modes is possible using either a standard back-propagating or a modular neural network.
27 Sep 1999
TL;DR: This paper proposes an efficient way to export context-dependent informations to applications by exploiting location knowledge available at the network level using Mobile-IP and a context-aware Web browser.
Abstract: The development of mobile computing combined with the exponential growth of the Internet makes it possible to access informations and services from everywhere. However, user's mobility also means that the context in which the information system is used change dramatically. To be useful in these new environments, applications will have to be adaptive, which requires context-awareness. We propose in this paper an efficient way to export context-dependent informations to applications by exploiting location knowledge available at the network level. This method is illustrated by a prototype using Mobile-IP and a context-aware Web browser.
Proceedings Article•
22 Aug 1999
TL;DR: This paper uses ethnographic studies of work practice for exploring the metaphor of Manufaktur as a space populated by workplaces, tools, materials, people, exchanges with the outside world, and links between these different elements.
Abstract: This paper addresses the design of a collaborative virtual work environment for (landscape) architects. More specifically, it uses ethnographic studies of work practice for exploring the metaphor of Manufaktur as a space populated by workplaces, tools, materials, people, exchanges with the outside world, and links between these different elements. We conceive of the Manufaktur as a space, which supports (landscape) architects in keeping the context of a project for particular tasks and activities present.
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: To design support for distributed cognition is tough and a big amount of systems have been designed during the years and a great number of them have failed in order to fulfill the purpose.
Abstract: To design support for distributed cognition is tough. A big amount of this type of systems have been designed during the years and a great number of them have failed in order to fulfill the purpose ...
TL;DR: A prototype system of work in-progress that combines remote sensors with presence detection to address the orientation needs when confronted with unfamiliar spaces is described.
Abstract: We describe a prototype system of work in-progress that combines remote sensors with presence detection to address the orientation needs when confronted with unfamiliar spaces The goal is to explore how these technologies might together make interactive spaces that can support users in their everyday interactions with the world An application that presents information about our office space using environmental sensing hardware and infrared badges is introduced An explanation of how the prototype is used, and a description of the rationale behind designing its software infrastructure and hardware selection is provided
Dissertation•
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: This system can (without any prior labeling of data) cluster the audio/visual data into events, such as passing through doors and crossing the street, and hierarchically cluster these events into scenes and get clusters that correlate with visiting the supermarket, or walking down a busy street.
Abstract: A truly personal and reactive computer system should have access to the same information as its user, including the ambient sights and sounds. To this end, we have developed a system for extracting events and scenes from natural audio/visual input. We find our system can (without any prior labeling of data) cluster the audio/visual data into events, such as passing through doors and crossing the street. Also, we hierarchically cluster these events into scenes and get clusters that correlate with visiting the supermarket, or walking down a busy street. Thesis Supervisor: Alex P. Pentland Title: Department Head/Associate Professor, Media Arts and Sciences