Τα μελλοντικά περιβάλλοντα υπολογισμού περιλαμβάνουν την ενσωμάτωση καθημερινών αντικειμένων, εφοδιασμένα με μικροσκοπικούς επεξεργαστές, αισθητήρες και κάρτες ασύρματων δικτύων. Τα έξυπνα αυτά αντικείμενα (τεχνουργήματα) μπορούν να εξερευνούν το περιβάλλον στο οποίο βρίσκονται και να επικοινωνούν μεταξύ τους. Η διαδραστικότητα με τον άνθρωπο μπορεί να παρέχει τη δυνατότητα αντιμετώπισης διαφόρων εργασιών με διαισθητικό τρόπο. Γίνεται αντιληπτό ότι μέσα σε ένα τέτοιο περιβάλλον, προκύπτουν σοβαρά ζητήματα που σχετίζονται με την ιδιωτικότητα των χρηστών. Αρχικά, εξαιτίας της αορατότητας των υπολογισμών που έχει σαν αποτέλεσμα οι χρήστες να μην τους αντιλαμβάνονται και έτσι να μην αισθάνονται ασφαλείς στο περιβάλλον αυτό. Επιπλέον, η παροχή ορισμένων υπηρεσιών απαιτεί τη μετάδοση και επεξεργασία προσωπικών δεδομένων και, ως εκ τούτου, εγκυμονεί κινδύνους για την προσωπική ζωή. Στην παρούσα εργασία ένα τέτοιο περιβάλλον (περιβάλλον περιρρέουσας νοημοσύνης) με τα παραπάνω χαρακτηριστικά, μοντελοποιείται μέσω των σφαιρών δραστηριοτήτων. Μια σφαίρα δραστηριοτήτων περιλαμβάνει όλη εκείνη την πληροφορία που απαιτείται για να εκτελεστεί μια συγκεκριμένη εργασία μέσα στο περιβάλλον. Στόχος της εργασίας είναι η μοντελοποίηση πολιτικών ιδιωτικότητας με κέντρο το χρήστη, η οποία μπορεί να πραγματοποιηθεί σε μια σφαίρα σε οποιοδήποτε περιβάλλον περιρρέουσας νοημοσύνης. Για να επιτευχθεί σημασιολογική ομοιογένεια, παρά την πιθανή ετερογένεια των πόρων ενός τέτοιου συστήματος, έχει σχεδιαστεί μια οντολογία για την αναπαράσταση αυτών των πολιτικών. Επιπλέον το σημασιολογικό αυτό πλαίσιο μοντελοποιεί τις βασικές αρχές και τους κανόνες αναφορικά με την προστασία των προσωπικών δεδομένων και την ιδιωτικότητα. Η προτεινόμενη οντολογία αξιολογείται βάσει αναγνωρισμένων κριτηρίων όπως είναι οι ερωτήσεις επάρκειας / Future computing environments involve integrating everyday objects equipped with tiny processors, sensors and wireless network cards. These smart objects (artifacts) may explore their environment and communicate with each other. Interactivity with humans may provide the ability of dealing with tasks in an intuitive way. It is clear that within this environment, serious issues related to the privacy of the users arise. Initially, due to the invisibility of all computations which results to the users being unaware of them. Moreover, the provision of certain services requires the transmission and processing of user’s personal data and thus poses a serious threat to their privacy. In the present project such an environment (ambient intelligence environment) with the above characteristics, is modeled through the concept of activity spheres. An activity sphere contains all the necessary information needed to realize a specific task within this environment. The aim of the project is to model a user-centered privacy policy which could be realized for a sphere in any ambient intelligence environment it is instantiated. To achieve semantic homogeneity, despite the possible heterogeneity of the resources within such an environment, an ontology has been designed. Furthermore, this semantic framework, models the fundamental principles and rules regarding personal data protection and privacy. The proposed ontology is evaluated by means of well-appreciated criteria such as competency questions

[pt] A diminuição do custo e a diversificação dos dispositivos computacionais vêm criando ambientes de computação cada vez mais completos e sofisticados, mas que ainda carecem de softwares de integração que simplifiquem sua utilização e que melhor explorarem seu potencial. Para responder a esta questão, sistemas de computação ubíqua vêm sendo desenvolvidos para criar mecanismos de controle remoto e unificado de aplicações e dispositivos. Além disso, grupos de pesquisa na área de multimídia abordam outras questões como a sincronização entre dispositivos, gerência de recursos e definição de padrões de documentos. Este trabalho visa unificar os esforços de ambas as áreas com o objetivo de realizar apresentações multimídia através do paradigma de computação ubíqua. Neste trabalho, apresentamos a infraestrutura de execução de apresentações ActivePresentation desenvolvida e baseada em diferentes protótipos. Além disso, propomos um formato de documento multimídia chamado NCLua para orquestrar tais apresentações. / [en] The diminishing costs and the diversity of computational devices are creating increasingly complex and sophisticated computational environments. Nonetheless, such environments still lack integration software to simplify their use and to better explore their potential. In response to this issue, ubiquitous computing systems are being developed to create remote control mechanisms of applications and devices. At the same time, research groups in the area of multimedia deal with other issues, such as synchronization between devices, resource management and document standard definitions. The purpose of this work is to join the efforts of both areas in order to build presentations using the ubiquitous computing paradigm. In this work, we introduce the ActivePresentation infrastructure, based and developed through the study of different prototypes. In addition, we propose a multimedia document format called NCLua to orchestrate such presentations.

This report covers a master’s thesis project in industrial design engineering, product design, at Luleå University of Technology. The objective for the thesis has been to develop a product that enables interaction between people in the public space. This to promote meetings and create an additional experience with the help of integrated technology. Studies of concerned theories have been research which included information about interaction design, ubiquitous computing, public space and social innovation. It was decided early in the project to focus on benches as they are a natural part of public spaces like parks. To seek an understanding for the projects context an benchmark on similar projects, interviews with experts in choosing furniture for public space and a cultural probe has been conducted. This research served as a base for the design process which started with an ideation phase where creative methods were used to generate a great amount of ideas for possible interactions. Experience prototyping was one of the key methods used and when enough ideas had been developed four different concepts where put together that focused on how the interaction would be perceived. With the help of a voting process and a concept-scoring matrix one concept was chosen to further develop. This concept was then detailed design were the design for the actual bench was decided and two prototypes were built to be able to demonstrate and test the final concept. The final result of the thesis project was the interactive bench named The Social Bench. The Social Bench has integrated technology in the form of lightning and sensors that detect when someone sits down. This triggers the interaction and enables the user to choose the color on the light underneath the bench by sitting on the different colored seating disks placed on the bench. The bench is supposed to function in a network of benches that are all connected and mimics each other’s interactional patterns. This is displayed by the choosing of color were every users choice is displayed on all of the benches in the network. The Social Bench lets the user share an experience together on remote locations. It promotes interaction between people in the public space and provides with a fun and innovative way to communicate. This thesis aims to contribute in knowledge of interaction design as a tool for promoting interaction in the public space and the thesis concludes in a discussion of the outcome and recommendations for future work. / Den här rapporten innefattar ett examensarbete inom Teknisk Design inriktning produktdesign vid Luleå Tekniska Universitet. Syftet med examensarbetet har varit att utveckla en produkt som stödjer interaktionen mellan människor i den offentliga miljön. Detta för att främja möten och skapa ytterliga användarupplevelser genom integrerad teknologi. En litteraturstudie utfördes på berörda områden och innefattade teorier om interaktionsdesign, ubiquitous computing, offentliga miljöer och social innovation. Från början av projektet gjordes en avgränsning till att titta på specifikt bänkar eftersom dessa är en naturlig del av offentliga miljöer såsom parker. Efter detta utfördes en marknadsundersökning på liknade produkter, intervjuer och en cultural probe för att undersöka arbetets kontext. Den informationsinsamling som bedrivits blev utgångspunkten för en idégenerering som sedan utfördes där olika kreativa metoder användes för att generera ett stort antal med idéer. En av dessa metoder var experience prototyping och efter att tillräckligt många idéer genererats framställdes fyra olika koncept. Dessa koncept innefattade hur interaktionen skulle upplevas och genom en röstnings-process och en utvärderingsmatris så valdes ett koncept för vidare utveckling. Detta koncept blev sedan detalj utvecklat där designen på den fysiska bänken togs fram. För att kunna testa och utvärdera det slutgiltiga resultatet framställdes också två stycken prototyper i full skala. Det slutgiltiga resultatet av examensarbetet är den interaktiva bänken The Social Bench. The Social Bench har inbyggd belysning och integrerade trycksensorer som läser av när någon sätter sig ned på bänken. Detta triggar själva interaktionen som möjliggör för användaren att välja färg på den integrerade belysningen under bänken genom att välja vilken av dom färgade sitt-ytorna som hen vill sitta på. Bänken är tänkt att fungera i ett nätverk av sammankopplade bänkar som interagerar med varandra och användarna. Detta illustreras genom att när en färg valts på en av bänkarna så visas också denna färg på dom andra bänkarna i nätverket. Bänken låter användare som befinner sig på olika platser dela en upplevelse tillsammans där fler användare som använder bänken leder till att fler färger adderas till interaktionen. Detta för att främja interaktionen mellan människor i den offentliga miljön på ett rolig och innovativ sätt. Examensarbetet ämnar till att bidra med kunskap inom interaktionsdesign som ett verktyg för att främja social interaktion i den offentliga miljön. Arbetet avslutas med en diskussion om resultatet och rekommendationer för framtida arbete.

O presente trabalho apresenta o resultado de um estudo comparando o uso de técnicas de aprendizado de máquina na adaptação dinâmica de vídeo. O sistema utiliza informações de contexto, como as características de um dispositivo, preferências do usuário e condições de rede, como entrada de um mecanismo de decisão responsável por encontrar parâmetros de codificação mais adequados ao contexto à geração de um novo fluxo de vídeo dinamicamente personalizado / This work presents the results of a comparative study about machine learning techniques used in dynamic video adaptation. The system uses contextual information, such as devices? characteristics, user?s preferences and network condition as an input for a decision engine, responsible to find the best encoding parameters to be used during the generation of a new dynamically personalized video stream

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-03-23T11:22:44Z No. of bitstreams: 1 gabriellamartinsdasilvapraca.pdf: 459174 bytes, checksum: b0af5f73c33123bd6d83dfa0ec1fff5c (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-04-24T02:28:37Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 gabriellamartinsdasilvapraca.pdf: 459174 bytes, checksum: b0af5f73c33123bd6d83dfa0ec1fff5c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-24T02:28:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 gabriellamartinsdasilvapraca.pdf: 459174 bytes, checksum: b0af5f73c33123bd6d83dfa0ec1fff5c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-30 / FAPEMIG - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais / O mundo contemporâneo é marcado pela forte presença da informática nas mais diversas esferas da vida. Como elemento embutido em sistemas sociais, econômicos e culturais, o software interfere na maneira como os indivíduos se relacionam entre si, consigo próprios e com o meio à sua volta. Nesse sentido, a computação ubíqua tem desafiado a pesquisa em tecnologias da comunicação a repensar muitas das tradicionais definições na área – a começar pela própria mídia. Os atuais programas computacionais de criação e edição de conteúdo propiciam a hibridização entre distintos formatos, linguagens e estéticas, originando novas espécies midiáticas. Também têm se tornado cada vez mais fluidas, ou mesmo inexistentes, as fronteiras entre usuário e produtor de conteúdo, homens e máquinas, espaço “físico” e dimensão “virtual”. Além disso, as possibilidades de expansão sensório-cognitiva abertas pelas novas tecnologias de informação e comunicação têm instigado o questionamento do próprio conceito de “ser humano”. Este trabalho discute algumas das transformações sociais provocadas pela computação ubíqua, a partir da perspectiva dos software studies. O aplicativo para smartphones Foursquare foi objeto de estudo empírico, feito a partir de entrevistas com usuários do serviço. Na abordagem, foram discutidas questões como exploração do espaço físico a partir de dispositivos móveis de comunicação, interação entre usuários, recomendações publicadas na rede e gamificação. Os resultados apontam para um cenário no qual as pessoas não apenas elegem quais mídias consumir, mas personalizam o uso das ferramentas disponíveis, de forma a conferir-lhe utilidade única e individualizada. / Information technology is present in many different areas of contemporary life. As embedded part of social, economic and cultural systems, software influences the way people interact with each other and with the environment. Ubiquitous computing has challenged the research in communication technologies to rethink many of the traditional definitions in the area. Computer programs for content creating and editing provide the hybridization between different formats, languages and aesthetics, what engenders new media species. The boundaries between user and producer of content, men and machines, 'physical' space and "virtual" dimension have also become increasingly fluid, or even nonexistent. Furthermore, the possibilities of sensory-cognitive expansion offered by communication technologies have led researchers to question even the concept of "human being." This work discusses some of the social changes brought about by ubiquitous computing, from the perspective of software studies. The application for smartphones Foursquare was the subject of an empirical study, done from interviews with its users. In the approach, issues such as space exploration from mobile communication devices, interaction between users, recommendations on the internet and gamification were discussed. The results point to a reality in which people not only choose which kinds of media they want to consume, but customize the use of the tools available, in order to give them an unique and personalized utility.

Military work-practice is a difficult area of research where paper-based approaches are still extended. This thesis proposes a solution which permits the digitalization of information at the same time as workpractice remains unaltered for soldiers working with maps in the field. For this purpose, a mobile interactive paper-based platform has been developed which permits the users to maintain their current work-flow. The premise of the solution parts from a system consisting of a prepared paper-map, a cellular phone, a desktop computer, and a digital pen with bluetooth connection. The underlying idea is to permit soldiers to take advantage of the information a computerized system can offer, at the same time as the overhead it incurs is minimized. On one hand this implies that the solution must be light-weight, on the other it must retain current working procedures as far as possible. The desktop computer is used to develop new paper-driven applications through the application provided in the development framework, thus allowing the tailoring of applications to the changing needs of military operations. One major component in the application suite is a symbol recognizer which is capable of recognizing symbols parting from a template which can be created in one of the applications. This component permits the digitalization of information in the battlefield by drawing on the paper-map. The proposed solution has been found to be viable, but still there is a need for further development. Furthermore, there is a need to adapt the existing hardware to the requirements of the military to make it usable in a real-world situation.

Die Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit User Innovation Toolkits für situationsbezogene Dienste. Während User Innovation Toolkits Endnutzern erlauben, mobile Dienste selbst zu gestalten, haben situationsbezogene Dienste die Fähigkeit, sich an die Bedürfnisse des Nutzers und die Nutzungssituation anzupassen. Aufbauend auf einer empirischen Studie konnten drei wesentliche Herausforderungen der mobilen Telekommunikationsbranche identifiziert werden: Erstens, sind die Bedürfnisse von Nutzern mobiler Dienste hochgradig heterogen und ändern sich laufend. Zweitens, mangelt es an Geschäftsmodellen, um von dem wachsenden Markt zu profitieren. Schließlich sind technologische Probleme hinsichtlich adaptierbarer und lernfähiger Informationssysteme zu lösen. Die Untersuchung der theoretischen Grundlagen fokussierte vor allem auf den Transfer von Kundenwissen, der Wissensemergenz und der Situationstheorie und ihrer Anwendungen. Im Rahmen der Aktionsforschung konnte gemeinsam mit Fachexperten ein Ökonomisch sinnvolles generisches Geschäftsmodell für User Innovation Toolkits konzipiert und evaluiert, ein neues Vorgehensmodell zur Anforderungsanalyse generiert und die Informationsarchitektur zur Realisierung situationsbezogener Dienste modelliert werden. Die Synthese stellt den Prototyp eines User Innovation Toolkits für situationsbezogene Dienste dar. (Autorenref.)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Every year the queues in hospitals publics and privates grows due to, among others, the increasing of the world population and the delay in the patients service. This is a serious problem faced by administrators of hospitals which believe that it is increasingly difficult to offer services of quality to those who search for them. One of the ways to decrease these queues is through the development of homecare systems that allow the patient to receive the clinic treatment directly in his house. The development of these kind of systems would help to decrease the queues and consequently, would improve the attendance of those who goes to the hospitals looking for assistance. Considering this, this work has as main purpose to present the modelling of an architecture of a pervasive system to be applied in homecare environments. The pervasive systems developed from this modelling aim to improve the services provided by healthcare professionals in the treatment of patients that are located in their houses. The architecture proposed by the methodology uses concepts of pervasive computing to provide access to information anytime and wherever the user is, once that a homecare environment has a high level of dynamicity of the envolved. The knowledge representation of the homecare environment needed in the modelling of the architecture is made through ontologies due to the possibility of reuse of the information stored, as well as the interoperability of information among different computational devices. To validate the proposed methodology, we present two use cases, which are also used to demonstrate the workflow of the pervasive system of homecare. / A cada ano que passa as filas de hospitais públicos e privados crescem devido, entre outros fatores, ao aumento da população mundial e a demora no atendimento de pacientes. Este é um problema sério enfrentado por administradores de hospitais os quais acreditam ser cada vez mais difícil oferecer um serviço de qualidade a quem os procura. Uma das formas de diminuir estas filas é através do desenvolvimento de sistemas de homecare que possibilitam que o paciente receba um tratamento clínico diretamente em sua casa. O desenvolvimento de sistemas deste tipo ajudaria a diminuir as filas e, consequentemente, iria melhorar o atendimento daqueles que forem até os hospitais a procura de auxílio. Considerando isto, este trabalho tem como objetivo principal apresentar uma modelagem para uma arquitetura de um sistema pervasivo para ser aplicado em ambientes de homecare. Os sistemas pervasivos desenvolvidos a partir desta modelagem visam o aprimoramento dos serviços prestados por profissionais da saúde no tratamento de pacientes que encontram-se em suas casas. A metodologia proposta apresenta uma arquitetura que utiliza conceitos de computação pervasiva possibilitando acesso à informação a qualquer hora e independente do lugar onde estejam, uma vez que um ambiente homacare possui um alto grau de dinamicidade dos envolvidos. A representação do conhecimento existente no ambiente homecare necessária para a modelagem da arquitetura é feita através de ontologias devido possibilidadde de reuso das informações ali armazenadas, bem como a interoperabilidade de informações entre diferentes dispositivos computacionais. Para validação da metodologia proposta, são apresentados dois casos de estudos, os quais também são utilizados para demonstração do fluxo de funcionamento do sistema pervasivo de homecare.

Abstract This dissertation seeks to identify and discuss challenges related to the engagement process of multipurpose public displays (MPD) in urban spaces. MPD is a public display concept based on the current emergence of passive public displays, which again is part of the growth of digital signage as a medium for commercial and non-commercial content. MPDs are separated from contemporary public displays by two traits: interactivity and new use cases. Due to these traits, a better understanding of the potential of the MPD concept is needed, and this, in its turn, necessitates both a systematic and a multidisciplinary approach. The investigation on the MPD concept and its related engagement process carried out in this thesis is divided into two phases. First, the theoretical phase is based on an extensive and analytical literature review and results in a theoretical framework based on two contributions: a layered design space for capturing the challenges related to design of MPDs in a systematic way, as well as formulation of a three-phase engagement process to model the engaging of MPDs in practice. These two formalizations facilitate reasoning on different aspects of MPD design, and thus scaffold future designs and deployments. Second, the empirical phase is based on a collection of case studies each of which investigates selected sections of the overall theoretical framework along with serving to illustrate how the sections under investigation operationalize in practice. The overall contribution of this dissertation is thus both to lay out a framework for a wider research area, as well as to raise selected findings as part of the framework through the case studies. The findings derived on the basis of the design space, as well as the engagement process indicate the complexity of the design process for MPDs, even in cases where only the aspects of human-computer interaction (HCI) are considered. They also serve to raise the importance of non-functional issues in real-world MPD deployments, most notably, the mental models embodied by current public displays that citizens implicitly transfer over to MPDs as well. For future designs, careful leveraging of existing practices and mental models is crucial to facilitate the adoption of MPDs and to fully realize their potential as flexible urban computing tools. / Tiivistelmä Tämä väitöskirja pyrkii tunnistamaan ja analysoimaan monikäyttöisten julkisten näyttöjen (multipurpose public display, MPD) käyttöön liittyviä haasteita. MPD on uusi kaupunkitiloissa olevien julkisten näyttöjen konsepti, joka perustuu nykyisten passiivisten julkisten näyttöjen sekä niissä esitettävän digitaalisen kyltityksen (digital signage) pohjalle. MPD eroaa konseptitasolla nykyisistä julkisista näytöistä pääasiassa kahdella tavalla: interaktiivisuudella sekä uusilla käyttötarkoituksilla. Näistä eroavaisuuksista sekä kaupunkitilojen yleisemmästä luonteesta johtuen MPD-konseptin parempi ymmärrys ja sitä kautta hyödyntäminen tulevaisuudessa edellyttää sekä järjestelmällistä että tieteidenvälistä tutkimusotetta. Tässä työssä tehty tutkimus jakaantuu ylimmällä tasollaan kahteen vaiheeseen. Ensimmäinen teoreettinen vaihe pohjautuu laajaan kirjallisuuskatsaukseen ja kulminoituu teoreettiseen viitekehykseen, joka koostuu kahdesta osasta. Ensimmäinen osa on kerroksittainen suunnitteluavaruus (design space), jossa pyritään MPD-konseptiin liittyvien haasteiden ja mahdollisuuksien kartoittamiseen tutkimuksen nykytila huomioonottaen. Toinen osa on teorisoitu esitys MPD-konseptin käyttöprosessista (engagement process) kaupunkilaisten näkökulmasta koostuen kolmesta osittain limittyvästä vaiheesta. Nämä kaksi teoreettista osaa tarjoavat pohjaa MDP-konseptiin pohjautuvalle suunnittelulle tulevaisuudessa. Toinen empiirinen vaihe rakentuu kolmen tapaustutkimuksen kokoelmasta, jossa jokainen yksittäinen tapaustutkimus pohjautuu tiettyihin esitetyn teorian osa-alueisiin ja näin ollen myös esittelee, miten suunitteluavaruus sekä käyttöprosessin malli voivat realisoitua käytännössä. Työn kontribuutio koostuu siis laajemman teoreettisen kehyksen muodostamisesta sekä tämän kehyksen määrittämässä fokuksessa tehdyistä tapaustutkimuksista. Työssä saavutetut tulokset auttavat hahmottamaan MPD-konseptiin liittyvän suunnittelun kompleksisuutta tilanteissa, joissa on keskitytty pääasiassa ihminen-kone vuorovaikutuksen (human-computer interaction, HCI) tutkimiseen. Tapaustukimukset nostavat esille myös ns. non-funktionaalisten tekijöiden roolin autenttisissa kaupunkitiloissa tapahtuvassa empiirisessä ja konstruktiivisessa tutkimuksessa. Tässä tärkeään rooliin nousevat etenkin niin kutsutut mentaalimallit, joiden kautta kaupunkilaiset hahmottavat MPD-konseptia. Työn tulosten perusteella voidaan todeta, että MPD-konseptiin pohjautuvassa suunnittelussa tulee korostaa olemassa olevien urbaanien sosiokulttuuristen käytäntöjen roolia. Näin MPD-konseptin käytöstä voidaan tulevaisuudessa saada sujuvampaa ja luontevampaa, ja MPD-konsepti voisi tulevaisuudessa olla keskeisempi osa urbaania sosiokulttuurista rakennetta.

Abstract Application composition refers to the creation of applications by using Web Services and resources such as mobile devices, displays, and various augmented everyday objects as building blocks. This approach is especially useful for ubiquitous applications which focus on supporting users' needs and everyday activities. This thesis proposes to compose these applications by choosing the appropriate set of resources and services and their configuration as dictated by the users themselves, together with their needs and other contexts. This thesis studies automated and interactive application composition. The first approach enables the system to act upon users' needs and intentions, while the second enables users themselves to specify their needs and achieve their goals. The research was carried out by designing, implementing and evaluating eight prototypes for automated and interactive application composition. The evaluation methods used included performance analysis and user experiments. The main results include (1) the design and implementation of automated composition mechanisms which rely on evolutionary computing and genetic algorithms, (2) a detailed performance analysis of these mechanisms using synthesized datasets and in a real networking environment; (3) the design and implementation of interactive application composition prototypes which rely on graphical and physical (i.e. touch-based) user interfaces for mobile devices and utilize various contexts; (4) an evaluation of these prototypes in a series of user experiments. The evaluation studied the following issues: users' attitudes towards an automated composition system which makes decisions on their behalf; users' attitudes towards a context-aware composition interface; and the issue of balancing user control and system autonomy. / Tiivistelmä Sovellusten kokoamisella tarkoitetaan sovellusten luomista käyttäen rakennuselementteinä Web Services -ohjelmistojärjestelmää, sekä muita resursseja, kuten mobiililaitteita, näyttölaitteita ja monenlaisia lisävarusteltuja tavanomaisia esineitä. Tämä menetelmä on erityisen käyttökelpoinen sellaisten jokapaikan tietoteknisten sovellusten luomisessa, joiden tarkoitus on tukea käyttäjän tarpeita ja päivittäisiä toimia. Tutkimuksessa esitetään, että tällaisia sovelluksia voidaan koota valitsemalla sopivia palvelu- ja resurssipaketin sekä niiden konfiguraation käyttäjien vaatimusten mukaan, ottaen huomioon heidän tarpeensa sekä muut kontekstit. Tässä väitöskirjassa tutkitaan automatisoitua ja vuorovaikutteista sovellusten kokoamista. Automatisointi mahdollistaa sen, että järjestelmä toimii käyttäjän tarpeiden ja päämäärien mukaisesti, kun taas vuorovaikutteisuuden ansiosta käyttäjä voi määritellä tarpeensa ja pääsee näin haluamaansa lopputulokseen. Tutkimus toteutettiin suunnittelemalla, toteuttamalla ja arvioimalla kahdeksan automatisoidun ja vuorovaikutteisen sovelluksen kokoonpanon prototyyppiä. Arviointimetodeina käytettiin suorituskykyanalyysiä ja käyttäjäkokeita. Tutkimuksen tärkeimpiä tuloksia ovat (1) evoluutiolaskentaan ja geneettisiin algoritmeihin perustuvien automatisoitujen kokoamismekanismien suunnittelu ja toteutus; (2) näiden mekanismien yksityiskohtainen suorituskykyanalyysi syntetisoitujen tietoaineistojen ja todellisten verkkoympäristöjen avulla; (3) graafisille ja fyysisille (l. kosketus) mobiililaitteiden käyttöliittymille perustuvien ja monenlaisia konteksteja hyödyntävien vuorovaikutteisten kokoamissovellusten prototyyppien suunnittelu ja toteutus; (4) prototyyppien arviointi erilaisin käyttäjäkokein. Arvioinnissa tutkittiin käyttäjien asenteita käyttäjän puolesta päätöksiä tekevää automatisoitua kokoamisjärjestelmää kohtaan, käyttäjien asenteita kontekstitietoista kokoamiskäyttöliittymää kohtaan, sekä käyttäjälle jäävän kontrollin ja järjestelmän autonomian välistä tasapainoa.