The process of patient care relies on clinical data spread across specialized hospital departments. Powerful software is being designed to assimilate this disconnected patient data before treatment can be decided. However, these data are often presented to clinicians on interfaces that do not fit clinical workflows, leading to poor operational efficiency and increased patient safety risks. This project relies on ethnographic design methods to create evidence of clinician preferences pertaining to the presentation and collection of information on user interfaces in patient rooms. Using data gathered in clinical observation, a prototype interface was designed to enable doctors to conduct clinical tasks through a usable patient room interface. The prototype evaluation with doctors identified clinical tasks that are relevant in the patient room and provided insight into the perceived usability of such an interface. The evaluation sessions also elucidated on issues of patient-centeredness in technology design, effortless authentication and interface customizability.

The process of patient care relies on clinical data spread across specialized hospital departments. Powerful software is being designed to assimilate this disconnected patient data before treatment can be decided. However, these data are often presented to clinicians on interfaces that do not fit clinical workflows, leading to poor operational efficiency and increased patient safety risks. This project relies on ethnographic design methods to create evidence of clinician preferences pertaining to the presentation and collection of information on user interfaces in patient rooms. Using data gathered in clinical observation, a prototype interface was designed to enable doctors to conduct clinical tasks through a usable patient room interface. The prototype evaluation with doctors identified clinical tasks that are relevant in the patient room and provided insight into the perceived usability of such an interface. The evaluation sessions also elucidated on issues of patient-centeredness in technology design, effortless authentication and interface customizability.

Pervasive computing or ambient computing aims to integrate information systems into the environment, in a manner as transparent as possible to the users. It allows the information systems to be tightly coupled with the physical activities within the environment. Everyday used objects, along with their environment, are made smarter with the use of embedded computing, sensors etc. and also have the ability to communicate among themselves. In pervasive computing, it is necessary to sense the real physical world and to perceive its "context" ; a high level representation of the physical situation. There are various ways to derive the context. Typically, the approach is a multi-step process which begins with sensing. Various sensing technologies are used to capture low level information of the physical activities, which are then aggregated, analyzed and computed elsewhere in the information systems, to become aware of the context. Deployed applications then react, depending on the context situation. Among sensors, RFID is an important emerging technology which allows a direct digital link between information systems and physical objects. Besides storing identification data, RFID also provides a general purpose storage space on objects, enabling new architectures for pervasive computing. In this thesis, we defend an original approach adopting the later use of RFID i.e. a digital memory integrated to real objects. The approach uses the principle where the objects self-support information systems. This way of integration reduces the need of communication for remote processing. The principle is realized in two ways. First, objects are piggybacked with semantic information, related to itself ; as self-describing objects. Hence, relevant information associated with the physical entities are readily available locally for processing. Second, group of related objects are digitally linked using dedicated or ad-hoc data structure, distributed over the objects. Hence, it would allow direct data processing - like validating some property involving the objects in proximity. This property of physical relation among objects can be interpreted digitally from the data structure ; this justifies the appellation "Tangible Data Structures". Unlike the conventional method of using identifiers, our approach has arguments on its benefits in terms of privacy, scalability, autonomy and reduced dependency with respect to infrastructure. But its challenge lies in the expressivity due to limited memory space available in the tags. The principles are validated by prototyping in two different application domains. The first application is developed for waste management domain that helps in efficient sorting and better recycling. And the second, provides added services like assistance while assembling and verification for composite objects, using the distributed data structure across the individual pieces.

Context-aware applications must manage a continuous stream of context according to dedicated business logic. Research was limited on proposing frameworks and platforms that have predefined behavior toward applications. This thesis attempts to extend background works by proposing new concepts serving as foundation for a flexible approach for building context-aware applications. The thesis examines the state of the art of context-aware computing, then adopts well-established software design principles and a functional decomposition for designing a reference model for context management enabling seamless integration of context-awareness into applications. Also, the thesis studies the use of context in common applications and proposes a context-centric modeling approach which allows the creation of a graph-based representation where entities are connected to each other through links representing context. Furthermore, the context graph decouples the presentation and the semantics of context, leaving each application to manage the appropriate semantic for their context data. Case studies are conducted for the evaluation of the proposed system in terms of its support for the creation of applications enhanced with context-awareness. A simulation study is performed to analyze the performance properties of the proposed system. The result of this thesis is the introduction of a novel approach for supporting the creation of context-aware applications that supports the integration of context-awareness to existing applications. It empowers developers as well as users to participate in the creation process, thereby reducing usability issues

Up to now various recommendation systems have been proposed for web based applications such as e-commerce and information retrieval where a large amount of product or information is available. Basically, the task of the recommendation systems in those applications, for example the e-commerce, is to find and recommend the most relevant items to users/customers. In this domain, the most prominent approaches are collaborative filtering and content-based filtering. Sometimes these approaches are called as user profiling as well. In this work, a context-aware recommendation system is proposed for mobile environment, which also can be considered as an extension of those recommendation systems proposed for web-based information retrieval and e-commerce applications. In the web-based information retrieval and e-commerce applications, for example in an online book store (e-commerce), the users&amp / #8217 / actions are independent of their instant context (location, time&amp / #8230 / etc). But as for mobile environment, the users&amp / #8217 / actions are strictly dependent on their instant context. These dependencies give raise to need of filtering items/actions with respect to the users&amp / #8217 / instant context. In this thesis, an approach coupling approaches from two different domains, one is the mobile environment and other is the web, is proposed. Hence, it will be possible to separate whole approach into two phases: context-aware prediction and user profiling. In the first phase, combination of two methods called fuzzy c-means clustering and learning automata will be used to predict the mobile user&amp / #8217 / s motions in context space beforehand. This provides elimination of a large amount of items placed in the context space. In the second phase, hierarchical fuzzy clustering for users profiling will be used to determine the best recommendation among the remaining items.

Master of Philosophy (Architecture) / Context-aware computing is a mobile computing paradigm in which applications can discover, use, and take advantage of contextual information, such as the location, tasks and preferences of the user, in order to adapt their behaviour in response to changing operating environments and user requirements. A problem that arises is the inability to respond to contextual information that cannot be classified into any known context. Many context-aware applications require all discovered contextual information to exactly match a type of context, otherwise the application will not react responsively. The ability to learn and recall contexts based on the contextual information discovered has not been very well addressed by previous context-aware applications and research. The aim of this thesis is to develop a component middleware technology for mobile computing devices for the discovery and capture of contextual information, using the situated reasoning concept of constructive memory. The research contribution of this thesis lies in developing a modified architecture for context-aware systems, using a constructive memory model as a way to learn and recall contexts from previous experiences and application interactions. Using a constructive memory model, previous experiences can be induced to construct potential contexts, given a small amount of learning and interaction. The learning process is able to map the many variations of contextual information currently discovered by the user with a predicted type of context based on what the application has stored and seen previously. It only requires a small amount of contextual information to predict a context, something common context-aware systems lack, as they require all information before a type of context is assigned. Additionally, some mechanism to reason about the contextual information being discovered from past application interactions will be beneficial to induce contexts for future experiences.

L’ étude de la littérature montre que la sensibilité au contexte est devenue un élément primordial pourla mise en place des services adaptatifs dans les applications interactives pervasives. Le contexten’est plus un modéle préétabli et prédéfini au moment de la conception des systèmes des applicationsinteractives mais plutôt une description dynamique des situations courantes qui peuvent êtredécouvertes dans les données de contexte et qui peuvent changer dynamiquement en fonction deschangements des exigences et des préférences des utilisateurs. Les applications pervasives doiventpouvoir s’exécuter dans différents contextes d’utilisation selon l’environnement de l’utilisateur, sonprofil, le terminal qu’il utilise, sa localisation, . . . Afin de répondre aux différentes exigences d’adaptationaux changements dynamiques des situations contextuelles, nous proposons des m´ecanismespermettant de fournir la trac¸abilitéde contexte sous la forme de Cartes de Visite COntextuelles(CVCO). Ces mécanismes s’appuient sur la technique de Mapping OWL afin de donner des modèlesontologiques de trac¸abilité de contexte. Les différentes ontologies créées pendant ce travail sontintégrées au sein de l’architecture de notre nouvelle plateforme d’adaptation de contexte COALA(COntext Adaptation Platform), afin de permettre l’adaptation automatique des services offerts parles application interactives pervasives. Ces travaux ont été r éalis ´es et appliqu éés dans le cadre d’unethèse en co-tutelle entre la Tunisie et France. / The study of the literature proves that context-awareness has become a key element for the implementationof adaptive services in pervasive interactive applications. In fact, the present work focuseson the context of modeling issues for the adaptation of services provided by the invective pervasiveapplications to the sensitivity of context situations. The context is no longer a pre-established and predefinedtemplate when designing interactive applications systems but rather a dynamic description ofthe common situations that can be discovered in the context data and can dynamically be changedwhen changing user’s requirements and preferences. The systems of pervasive applications must beavailable in different contexts of use according to the user’s environment, the terminal being used, location. . .. The major challenge of these systems accordingly relates to the adaptation of the servicesoffered by interactive applications to the user context. In Order to respond to different requirementsof dynamic adaptation to changes in contextual situations, following the changes in usage patternsas well as the dynamics of the pervasive environment and the heterogeneity of context data sources,we propose mechanisms used to provide the traceability of the context as Virtual contextual Cards(VCOC). These works were carried out and applied as part a PhD under joint supervision betweenTunisia and France.

Förstärkt verklighet eller Augmented Reality (AR) är idag en av de viktigaste riktningarna inom informationsteknologiområdet (IT). AR-tekniken har redan använts inom områden såsom underhållning, konstruktion, medicinsk behandling, utbildning och är tillgänglig i flera olika enheter som till exempel mobiltelefoner, surfplattor, etcetera. Under de senaste åren har allt snabbare framsteg gjorts inom mobilapplikationer som erbjuder AR-upplevelser, men det finns fortfarande ett behov av en djupare förståelse för hur en bättre användarupplevelse eller User Experience (UX) kan designas i dessa Augmented Reality Mobile Applications (ARMA). Detta examensarbete fokuserar på de aspekter av interaktionen som måste beaktas när ett grafiskt användargränssnitt baserat på ARMA utformas i syfte att göra applikationerna kontextkänsliga. Det betyder att hjälpa användaren få relevant information som passar situationen eller den kontext denne befinner sig in när hen använder sin mobiltelefon och därmed erbjuda hen bättre användarupplevelser. Studien omfattar en heuristisk utvärdering och ett användbarhetstest av mobilapplikationen Layar som bland annat känner igen olika Points of Interest (POI) och som ger direkt digital kontextuell information om dem. Baserat på resultatet av den heuristiska utvärderingen och användbarhetstestet i kombination med tidigare forskning inom området, har åtta stycken designriktlinjer tagits fram. Jag hoppas att dessa riktlinjer kan fungera som ett stöd vid utformningen av gränssnittet på kontextkänsliga ARMA och i förlängningen förbättra användarupplevelsen.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / In ubiquitous systems, due to the complexity added by the use of contextual information, the application of context aware exception handling (CAEH) techniques has many challenges and in the literature several approaches have been found to define concepts and abstractions useful for modeling CAEH. However, only one of these approaches proposes a method for specification and verification of models in the field of ubiquitous systems, which provides a tool for specifying the CAEH model using a Java API, and also generates an error report to a text file. The disadvantage of this approach is that the designer should strive to understand programming details that are irrelevant to the analysis process of the exceptional behavior of the system. Then, this work aims to propose a domain specific language for modeling CAEH, which provides abstractions and constructors that allow to express relevant concepts and make the task of designing CAEH models simpler and more intuitive. In addition, the language is integrated with the tool mentioned before that allows automatic model verification. The errors generated by the verifier are now shown directly in the source code making their identification and correction easier for the designer. In order to evaluate the language, a case study is conducted to provide evidence of its viability as an alternative to modeling CAEH. / Em sistemas ubÃquos, devido à complexidade inserida pela utilizaÃÃo de informaÃÃes contextuais, a aplicaÃÃo de tÃcnicas de tratamento de exceÃÃo sensÃvel ao contexto (TESC) tem sido objeto de estudo para muitos pesquisadores. Na literatura sÃo encontradas diversas abordagens que definem conceitos e abstraÃÃes Ãteis para modelagem de TESC. Entretanto, apenas uma dessas abordagens propÃe um mÃtodo para especificaÃÃo e verificaÃÃo de modelos no domÃnio de sistemas ubÃquos o qual fornece uma ferramenta para especificaÃÃo do modelo de TESC atravÃs de uma API Java, e gera ainda um relatÃrio de erros em um arquivo texto. A desvantagem dessa abordagem à que o projetista deve se esforÃar para entender detalhes de programaÃÃo irrelevantes ao processo de anÃlise do comportamento excepcional do sistema. Esta dissertaÃÃo tem portanto como objetivo propor uma linguagem de domÃnio especÃfico para modelagem de TESC, com o intuito de oferecer abstraÃÃes e construtores que permitem expressar conceitos pertinentes e tornar a tarefa de projetar modelos de TESC mais simples e intuitiva. AlÃm disso, a linguagem à integrada com a ferramenta citada anteriormente, o que permite realizar a verificaÃÃo do modelo de forma automÃtica. Os erros gerados pelo verificador sÃo mostrados agora diretamente no cÃdigo do modelo facilitando a identificaÃÃo e correÃÃo dos mesmos pelo projetista. A fim de avaliar a linguagem, um estudo de caso à realizado para fornecer indÃcios de sua viabilidade como alternativa para modelagem de TESC.

Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-27T18:56:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 Jonas Bulegon Gassen.pdf: 799149 bytes, checksum: 2d5d71d3a957faa5f82feebbf14e88fc (MD5) Jonas Bulegon Gassen.pdf.txt: 183193 bytes, checksum: ac769c0da06ca7ce3b8154b94c90eaf6 (MD5) Jonas Bulegon Gassen.pdf.jpg: 3509 bytes, checksum: dfc698f4611f3e08f6acfc0f11a92b31 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-03-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / For a hospital environment can be called as "pervasive", it requires that all the entities that are present in this context (like people and equipment) are sinchronized to perform the daily common tasks. Inside these environments, the computational devices should be considered tools to access information and, therefore, they shouldn't be the focus of attention of the professional. Thus, they should be used naturally. For the system to behave in such a way, it is necessary that it adapts itself to the users contexts. One of the most indicated ways to represent these contexts is through ontologies, due to the great expressivity that they allow. However, environments such as proposed require an extremely dynamic system to represent the context in a coherent manner with the changes in this environment, because their professionals encounter a frequent changing of shifts and tasks in which they work with diferent patients and information from diferent sources. To this end, this dissertation proposes an architecture for a hospital pervasive that seeks to provide all the features mentioned above. / Para que um ambiente hospitalar possa vir a tornar-se pervasivo, necessita-se que as entidades presentes neste contexto (como pessoas e equipamentos) estejam em perfeita sincronia para a realização das tarefas comuns do dia-a-dia. Dentro destes ambientes, os dispositivos computacionais devem ser considerados ferramentas para o acesso à informação e, portanto, não devem ser foco de atenção dos profissionais. Desta forma, os mesmos devem ser utilizados de forma natural. Para que o sistema possa se comportar de tal forma, é necessário que o mesmo se adapte ao contexto dos usuários. Uma das maneiras mais indicadas para efetuar a representação destes contextos é através de ontologias, devido a grande expressividade que estas permitem. Entretanto, ambientes como o proposto necessitam de um sistema extremamente dinâmico para representar o contexto de forma coerente com as modificações ocorridas neste ambiente, pois seus profissionais contam com uma freqüente modificação de turnos e tarefas, onde os mesmos trabalham com diferentes pacientes e informações provenientes de diferentes fontes. Para tal, esta dissertação propõe uma arquitetura para um ambiente hospitalar pervasivo que busca prover todas as funcionalidades acima citadas.