In this thesis, we present results of an experimental study in order to generate a secure cryptographic key from the user’s voice which is to be shared between two mobile devices. We identified two security threats related to this problem, discussed the challenges to design the key generation/sharing mechanism, and proposed a new protocol based on bloom filters that overcomes the two main attacks by the intruder. One is when the attacker places its device in the close vicinity of the location where the user attempts to generate/share the key in order to derive the key from eavesdropping on communication messages. The second is when the attacker visually observes the experiment being performed and it tries to replicate the same experiment to reproduce the key. We present several results that demonstrate the practicality of our proposed technique in the context of communications between smart-phone

Abstract Communicating with mobile devices has become an unavoidable part of our daily life. Unfortunately, the current user interface designs are mostly taken directly from desktop computers. This has resulted in devices that are sometimes hard to use. Since more processing power and new sensing technologies are already available, there is a possibility to develop systems to communicate through different modalities. This thesis proposes some novel computer vision approaches, including head tracking, object motion analysis and device ego-motion estimation, to allow efficient interaction with mobile devices. For head tracking, two new methods have been developed. The first method detects a face region and facial features by employing skin detection, morphology, and a geometrical face model. The second method, designed especially for mobile use, detects the face and eyes using local texture features. In both cases, Kalman filtering is applied to estimate the 3-D pose of the head. Experiments indicate that the methods introduced can be applied on platforms with limited computational resources. A novel object tracking method is also presented. The idea is to combine Kalman filtering and EM-algorithms to track an object, such as a finger, using motion features. This technique is also applicable when some conventional methods such as colour segmentation and background subtraction cannot be used. In addition, a new feature based camera ego-motion estimation framework is proposed. The method introduced exploits gradient measures for feature selection and feature displacement uncertainty analysis. Experiments with a fixed point implementation testify to the effectiveness of the approach on a camera-equipped mobile phone. The feasibility of the methods developed is demonstrated in three new mobile interface solutions. One of them estimates the ego-motion of the device with respect to the user's face and utilises that information for browsing large documents or bitmaps on small displays. The second solution is to use device or finger motion to recognize simple gestures. In addition to these applications, a novel interactive system to build document panorama images is presented. The motion estimation and recognition techniques presented in this thesis have clear potential to become practical means for interacting with mobile devices. In fact, cameras in future mobile devices may, for the most of time, be used as sensors for self intuitive user interfaces rather than using them for digital photography.

Abstract Future multimodal mobile platforms are expected to require high interactivity in their applications and user interfaces. Until now, mobile devices have been designed to remain in a stand-by state until the user actively turns it on in the interaction sense. The motivation for this approach has been battery conservation. Imaging is a versatile sensing modality that can enable context recognition, unobtrusively predicting the user's interaction needs and directing the computational resources accordingly. However, vision-based always-on functionalities have been impractical in battery-powered devices, since their requirements of computational power and energy make their use unattainable for extended periods of time. Vision-based applications can benefit from the addition of interactive stages that, properly designed, can reduce the complexity of the methods utilizing user feedback and collaboration, resulting in a system that balances computational throughput and energy efficiency. The usability of user interfaces critically rests on their latency. However, an always-on sensing platform needs a careful balance with the power consumption demands. Improving reactiveness when designing for highly interactive vision-based interfaces can be achieved by reducing the number of operations that the application processor needs to execute, deriving the most expensive tasks to accelerators or specific processors. In this context, this thesis focuses on investigating and surveying enablers and solutions for vision-based interactivity on mobile devices. The thesis explores the development of new user interaction methods by analyzing and comparing means to reach interactivity, high performance, low latency and energy efficiency. The researched techniques, ranging from mobile GPGPU and dedicated sensor processing to reconfigurable image processors, provide understanding on designing for future mobile platforms. / Tiivistelmä Tulevaisuuden multimodaalisten mobiilialustojen sovellusten ja käyttöliittymien odotetaan vaativan käyttäjältä läheistä vuorovaikutusta. Tähän saakka mobiililaitteet on suunniteltu pysymään valveustilassa siihen asti kunnes käyttäjä aktivoi laitteen. Tällä lähestymistavalla on pyritty pidentämään akun kestoa. Kuvantaminen on monipuolinen aistimodaliteetti, joka mahdollistaa kontekstin tunnistuksen ennakoimalla huomaamattomasti käyttäjän vuorovaikutustarpeet ja suuntaamalla laskennalliset resurssit asianmukaisesti. Näköpohjaiset, jatkuvasti päällä olevat toiminnot ovat kuitenkin epäkäytännöllisiä akkukäyttöisissä laitteissa sillä niiden laskennallisen suoritustehokkuuden ja akun keston vaatimukset tekevät pidemmästä yhtäjaksoisesta käytöstä mahdotonta. Kamerapohjaiset sovellukset voivat hyötyä interaktiivisten vaiheiden lisäämisestä. Oikein suunniteltuina ne vähentävät käyttäjäpalautetta ja -yhteistyötä hyödyntävien menetelmien monimutkaisuutta, joka saattaa laskennallisen suoritustehokkuuden ja energiatehokkuuden tasapainoon. Käyttöliittymien käytettävyys on kriittisesti riippuvainen niiden viiveestä. Jatkuvasti päällä oleva aistiva alusta edellyttää kuitenkin tasapainottelua virrankulutuksen vaatimusten kanssa. Hyvin interaktiivisia kamerapohjaisia käyttöliittymiä suunniteltaessa reaktiivisuuden parantaminen saadaan aikaan vähentämällä prosessorin käsittelemien operaatioiden määrää, johtamalla kuormittavimmat tehtävät kiihdyttimille tai erillisille prosessoreille. Tässä kontekstissa, väitöskirjatutkimus keskittyy tutkimaan ja tarkastelemaan mahdollistajia ja ratkaisuja kamerapohjaiseen vuorovaikutukseen mobiililaitteissa. Väitöskirja tutkii uusien käyttäjäinteraktiomenetelmien kehittämistä vuorovaikutusta, suoritustehoa, alhaista viivettä ja energiatehokkuutta tuottavia keinoja analysoimalla ja vertaamalla. Tutkitut tekniikat mobiilista grafiikkaprosessoreista ja erillis sensoriprosessoinnista uudelleen konfiguroitaviin kuvaprosessoreihin tuovat ymmärrystä tulevaisuuden mobiilien alustojen suunnitteluun.

Abstract Users of mobile devices induce detrimental electrical effects on the antenna when devices are operated in close proximity to either the head, hand or fingers. A totally covered antenna can suffer over 10 dB gain loss and force an increase in the output power of the device, which additionally causes shorter battery life and higher emissions in terms of the specific absorption rate (SAR) and hearing aid compatibility (HAC). The user effect can be minimized with compensation methods such as active antenna tuning or a spatial antenna selection. In this thesis, capacitive proximity sensors are investigated in order to provide new characteristics for user effect compensation. The thesis has three parts. In the first, hand positions along the device chassis are measured with the antenna integrated capacitive sensor. The results are in proportion to the induced hand loss in the antenna. Secondly, discrete electrode sensors are studied as hand and single finger proximity recognition and are found to have a good performance in applications. Thirdly, weaknesses of integrated and discrete sensors are evaluated. The discrete sensor had an induced low antenna loss of 0.05–0.20 dB in the 1–2 GHz bands. In contrast, the integrated sensor caused radio interference in proper GSM channels, decreasing the sensitivity of the radio receiver. The capacitive sensor is able to sense the user proximity effect regardless of antenna matching, which may be changed in a complex manner when more than one electrical resonance is used in the same frequency band or when the matching is modified mainly by the resistive component. In multiple-antenna applications, capacitive sensors are able to maintain up-dated information of user loads of all antennas. Combining the results, the discrete electrode sensors fulfilled the technical and operational objectives of this thesis. They are able to detect a single finger or other user objects, they have low losses and they can be located in such a way that will not consume extra room in mobile devices. / Tiivistelmä Kannettavien päätelaitteiden käyttäjät aiheuttavat sähköisiä häviöita laitteen antennissa kun laitetta käytetään käden, pään tai sormien läheisyydessä. Kokonaan peitetyn antennin häviö voi olla yli 10 dB, mikä johtaa laitteessa lisääntyneeseen tehontarpeeseen, lyhyempään pariston kestoon ja korkeampiin haitta-arvoihin SAR ja HAC mittauksissa. Käyttäjän vaikutusta voidaan minimoida kompensaatiotekniikoilla kuten antennin säädöllä ja -valinnalla. Tässä työssä kapasitiivisia antureita tutkittiin uusien käyttäjävaikutuksen kompensaatiotekniikoiden löytämiseksi. Työ jakaantuu kolmeen osaan. Ensimmäiseksi käden sijainti laitteen rungon suhteen on mitattu kapasitiivisella anturilla. Nämä tulokset ovat verrannollisia käden aiheuttamaan kuormaan antennissa. Toiseksi erillisiä antureita tutkittiin käden ja sormien havaitsemiseksi hyvällä menestyksellä eri sovelluksissa. Kolmanneksi arvioitiin antennin integroidun ja erillisen anturin heikkouksia. Erillisen anturin aiheuttama häviö antenniin oli 0.05–0.20 dB 1–2 GHz taajuuskaistalla. Vastaavasti integroitu anturi aiheutti radiohäiriöitä tietyillä radiokanavilla, mikä heikentää vastaanottimen herkkyyttä. Kapasitiivinen anturi havaitsee käyttäjän läheisyyden riippumatta antennin sovituksesta. Sovitus voi muuttua monimutkaisesti kun useampaa sähköistä resonanssia käytetään samalla taajuuskaistalla tai sovitukseen vaikuttaa sähköisesti resistiivinen kuorma. Moniantennirakenteissa kapasitiiviset anturit voivat tuottaa jatkuvaa informaatiota käyttäjän aiheuttamasta kuormasta eri antenneissa. Erilliset kapasitiiviset anturit täyttivät ne tekniset ja toiminnalliset vaatimukset, jotka työlle aluksi asetettiin. Niillä voidaan havaita yksittäinen sormi tai muu kohde, ne ovat pienihäviöisiä, ja ne voidaan sijoittaa tilaa säästävällä tavalla nykyisiin päätelaitteisiin.

Abstract Usability methodology has matured into a well-defined, industrially relevant field with its own findings, theories, and tools, with roots in applying information technology to user interfaces ranging from control rooms to computers, and more recently to mobile communications devices. The purpose is regularly to find out the users’ goals and to test whether a design fulfils the usability criteria. Properly applied, usability methods provide reliable and repeatable results, and are excellent tools in fine-tuning existing solutions The challenges of usability methodologies are in finding new concepts and predicting their characteristics before testing, especially when it comes to the relatively young field of mobile user interfaces. Current usability methods concentrate on utilising available user-interface technologies. They do not provide means to clearly identify, e.g., the potential of auditory or haptic output, or gestural input. Consequently, these new interaction techniques are rarely used, and the long-envisioned useful multimodal user interfaces are yet to appear, despite their assumed and existing potential in mobile devices. Even the most advocated and well-known multimodal interaction concepts, such as combined manual pointing and natural language processing, have not materialised in applications. An apparent problem is the lack of a way to utilise a usage environment analysis in finding out user requirements that could be met with multimodal user interfaces. To harness the full potential of multimodality, tools to identify both little or unused and overloaded modalities in current usage contexts are needed. Such tools would also help in putting possibly existing novel interaction paradigms in context and pointing out possible deficiencies in them. In this thesis, a novel framework for analysing the usage environment from a user-centric perspective is presented. Based on the findings, a designer can decide between offering a set of multiple devices utilising various user-interface modalities, or a single device that offers relevant modalities, perhaps by adapting to the usage environment. Furthermore, new techniques for creating mobile user interfaces utilising various modalities are proposed. The framework has evolved from the experiences gathered from the designs of experimental and actual product-level uni- and multimodal user interface solutions for mobile devices. It has generated novel multimodal interaction and interface techniques that can be used as building blocks in system designs.

Nowadays, decision-making is not only made in the office with a PC. With a dramatic increase of mobile devices (such as smartphones and tablets) and internet access, the approach to reaching and delivering key, strategic data has changed over the last decade. The diploma thesis analyses the market of business intelligence platforms, dedicated for mobile devices, by comparing selected vendors in this segment. The first, theoretically oriented chapters focus on explaining the key concepts of business intelligence and mobile business intelligence and appropriate context, especially the growing market of mobile devices and internet access availability. Furthermore, the theoretical part is followed by a list of criteria, amongst which will selected platforms be compared. These criteria include not only a user view, but also a technical view of the compared products -- IBM, MicroStrategy, SAP and Oracle. Two methods are used to evaluate the best product. The first comparison is based on average scores gained across all criteria, while the second method applied is a pairwise comparison. The following, practically oriented chapter contains a step-by-step user guide of downloading, installing, configuring and especially the process of creating and deploying reports and documents suited directly for mobile devices, such as the iPad. The whole process is described for the winning platform MicroStrategy, which not only earned the highest scores, but also won the pairwise comparison over all other platforms. This thesis serves as basic orientation in the young market of business intelligence platforms enhanced with dedicated modules for mobile devices and carries a recommendation for one of them to select.

The Master‘s thesis deals with the design, implementation and creation of a mobile application and a business plan for a new-coming start-up which offers rental intermediation for movable goods. The application is designed for a mobile platform Android. It focuses on user-friendly interface while containing functionality of adding and viewing rental advertisements for movable goods. The first part of the thesis deals with theoretical outcomes of the operating system Android and the structures of business plan. The following parts concern the analysis, design and implementation. The conclusion is aimed towards the business plan blueprint.

No description available.

The purpose of this Dissertation in Practice was to analyze the organizational factors affecting technology integration within the context of literacy instruction at a single school site that was preparing to implement a 1:1 mobile device initiative in all K-5 classrooms the following academic year. This was achieved through conducting an organizational analysis using a multi-frame model developed by Bolman and Deal (2008). This study used a convergent parallel mixed methods research design consisting of teacher and administrator interviews, a quantitative and qualitative survey, and classroom observational data. One main evaluation question was designed to frame this organizational analysis: What organizational factors support and impede technology integration within the context of literacy instruction? To answer the main evaluation question, the evaluator collected data to answer six evaluation sub-questions. The evaluation sub-questions were developed to ensure that data was being collected among Bolman and Deal's (2008) four frames. In the context of integrating technology into literacy instruction, the data collected in this study suggest that the organizational strategies and issues within the human resource frame are impacting, and are impacted by, the organization's political, structural, and symbolic practices. The teachers' lack of opportunities to develop the requisite knowledge, experience, and skills needed to integrate technology into literacy instruction seem to have impacted the teachers' level of technology integration as well as their levels of concern. Data from this organizational analysis indicated that the lack of time was a major obstacle in learning how to integrate mobile devices into literacy instruction. The school's current team-based organizational model, while supporting other aspects of their education practices, may create structural and political barriers to effectively implement the 1:1 mobile device initiative. Observations and interviews suggested that the school values technology to support basic literacy skills, but not the transformative role of technology on literacy in today's society. Using all four frames of the Bolman and Deal's (2008) model allows an organization to look beyond one frame, such as developing human resources through professional development, when working towards implementing a school-wide initiative effectively. Although tailored professional development is necessary for teachers to learn how to integrate technology into literacy instruction, the professional development will not be effective without greater stability in the instructional staff, and focused political and structural solutions that will support the instructional staff's professional learning and implementation.

Distance education is the fastest growing educational modality because of advances information technology has made over the past 25 years. Adult learners have become the fastest growing population in distance education. Adult learners, through technical tools and devices they use on the job, have become more digitally literate and mobile, making the ability to access class work on the go a necessity. Mobile learning or m-learning (learning that uses wireless, portable, mobile computing, and communication devices) is becoming an extension of distance learning, providing a channel for students to learn, communicate, and access educational material outside the traditional classroom environment. For adult learners, this modality allows them to take advantage of accessing material using mobile devices they use for job related activities. Despite the portability and readiness to information mobile devices provide its users, cognitive and physical ergonomic issues may impact learner performance. These issues may stem from information overload and physical discomfort from extended use of the mobile device which may negatively affect the overall success and satisfaction of m-learning environments. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between physical ergonomic discomfort, subjective workload, physiological response, and the impact on student performance while using mobile technology to read course material. Activity Theory was used as the theoretical foundation that guided the study. Eighty-four research participants, all over the age of 25, read a passage using one of two distance education modalities: desktop computer or mobile device. While reading the passage, one of three task load levels was imposed on participants: none, low or high. Each participant endured three trials, repeating the same task for each trial. After each trial, participants completed an achievement test and the NASA-TLX assessment. The results from this study provided evidence that mobile learning technologies with increased levels of task load introduced physical ergonomic discomfort and affected perceptions of mental workload in participants. The study also provided evidence that mobile learning technologies with increased levels of task load affected the performance (reading and learning) of participants. Study results provided insight into capabilities and limitations of students in their use of mobile devices for educational purposes. The limitations identified need to be further examined to aid in building successful m-learning environments with the goal of mobile device usage not affecting student performance.