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.

Orientador: Rodolfo Jardim de Azevedo / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-27T04:45:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Caceffo_RicardoEdgard_D.pdf: 9419075 bytes, checksum: 471d33da09caeddcc57b6039b579fbac (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: O modelo do Aprendizado Ativo defende uma maior participação, motivação e colaboração entre os alunos no ambiente de ensino e aprendizagem. Usualmente o Aprendizado Ativo é suportado através de elementos tecnológicos, como os sistemas de resposta em sala de aula. Neste ambiente, o professor propõe aos alunos questões de múltipla escolha, que são respondidas através de clickers, sendo os dados organizados por um software gerenciado pelo professor. Ocorre que, apesar do crescente desenvolvimento da tecnologia, este suporte ainda é limitado, não considerando variáveis importantes do contexto, histórico e ambiente de ensino e aprendizagem, apresentando ainda problemas em sua aplicação, como a distração dos alunos. Nesta tese é proposta uma Arquitetura Ubíqua de Suporte ao Aprendizado Ativo (AUSAA), em que é desenvolvido um framework para promoção do Aprendizado Ativo através do uso de dispositivos móveis. A AUSAA incorpora elementos da Computação Ubíqua, como sensibilidade ao contexto, localização e análise do histórico dos usuários, permitindo a criação de funcionalidades que se adaptam ao ambiente e necessidades dos participantes. A AUSAA suporta ainda o modelo de estilos de aprendizagem de Felder & Silverman, que afirma que cada aluno possui preferências individuais em relação à percepção, processamento e manipulação da informação. Parte da AUSAA foi implementada através de um software (LSQuiz). Nele é proposto um processo colaborativo em que o professor disponibiliza um conjunto de questões de múltipla escolha aos alunos, que podem, a qualquer instante, informar ao sistema que estão com dificuldades. A partir disso, através da análise de fatores de contexto e da localização dos estudantes, é escolhido um aluno para ser convidado a ajudar. O LSQuiz foi aplicado e avaliado em um ambiente de ensino, sendo identificados pontos de melhoria em seu design, como a necessidade de identificação automática da localização dos alunos e ajustes pontuais no algoritmo do processo colaborativo. Verificou-se que é válida a premissa de que a aplicação da Computação Ubíqua neste ambiente viabiliza de uma forma mais efetiva o modelo do Aprendizado Ativo, sendo a autonomia dos alunos um elemento positivo neste processo. Por fim, identificou-se que não é possível inferir os estilos de aprendizagem dos alunos através do seu desempenho nos questionários, sendo inviável a aplicação do modelo de Felder & Silverman neste contexto / Abstract: The Active Learning model advocates greater participation, motivation and collaboration between students in the teaching and learning environment. Usually, the Active Learning is supported by technology through the classroom response systems. In this environment, the teacher asks students multiple-choice questions, which are answered trough clickers, being the data organized by a software managed by the teacher. Despite the increasing development of technology, its use is still limited, not being considered important variables related to the context, user's history and the learning environment. In addition, its application presented some problems, like the ones related to the distraction and attention loss of the students. This thesis proposes a Ubiquitous Classroom Response System (UCRS), developed as a framework to support the Active Learning using mobile devices. The UCRS incorporates elements of ubiquitous computing like context awareness, location and historical analysis of users' data, allowing the development of features that adapt to the environment and needs of the participants. The UCRS further supports the Felder and Silverman Learning Styles Model (FSM), which states that each student has individual preferences in relation to perception, processing and manipulation of information. Part of the UCRS was implemented through software (LSQuiz). The LSQuiz supports a collaborative process in which the teacher submits a multiple-choice quiz to students, who may at any time ask for the help of other students. Then, the LSQuiz analyses context factors, like the location affinity among students, verifying which student should be invited to help. The LSQuiz was implemented and evaluated in a learning environment, being identified some issues, like the need for automatic student's location and specific changes in the collaborative process algorithm. In addition, it was found valid the assumption that Ubiquitous Computing enables a more effective way to support the Active Learning model, being the student's autonomy a positive element in this process. Finally, was identified that it is not possible to assume the learning styles of students through their performance in the questionnaires. Thus, it is unfeasible the application of the FSM in this context / Doutorado / Ciência da Computação / Doutor em Ciência da Computação

Aplicações sensíveis a contexto utilizam informações de contexto para fornecer serviços adaptados a usuários na realização de suas tarefas. Informação de contexto é qualquer informação considerada relevante para caracterizar entidades de uma interação usuário-computador, como a identidade e a localização de usuários. Esta tese trata a carência de uma abordagem que considere, em termos de processo de software, a complexidade de desenvolvimento de software sensível a contexto. O problema em questão é tratado por meio de três linhas de investigação: modelagem de informação contextual, serviços para tratamento de informação contextual e processo de software para computação sensível a contexto. As contribuições desta tese incluem: (i) o processo de software POCAp (Process for Ontological Context-aware Applications) para apoiar a construção de aplicações sensíveis a contexto baseadas em ontologias; (ii) o modelo de informações de contexto SeCoM (Semantic Context Model) baseado em ontologias e em padrões da Web Semântica; (iii) a infra-estrutura de serviços configuráveis SCK (Semantic Context Kernel) para interpretar informações de contexto apoiadas por modelos ontológicos de informação contextual, como o modelo SeCoM; (iv) uma instanciação do processo POCAp correspondente à extensão de uma aplicação com informações de contexto apoiadas pelo modelo SeCoM, e sua integração com serviços da infra-estrutura SCK; e (v) a identificação de questões de projeto relacionadas à inferência sobre informação contextual ontológica / In order to provide adaptive services according to users? tasks, context-aware applications exploit context information, which is any information used to characterize entities of a user-computer interaction such as user identity or user location. This thesis deals with the lack of a software process-based approach to supporting the inherent complexity of developing context-aware systems. The work reported in this thesis followed three main lines of investigation: context information modeling, services for processing context information, and a software process for context-aware computing. The contributions of this thesis include: (i) the Process for Ontological Context-aware Applications (POCAp) to support the development of context-aware applications based on ontologies; (ii) the Semantic Context Model (SeCoM) based on Semantic Web standards and ontologies; (iii) the Semantic Context Kernel (SCK) services infrastructure for interpreting ontological context information models such as the SeCoM model; (iv) an implementation of the POCAp process for the extension of an application with context information based on the SeCoM model, and its integration with services of the SCK infrastructure; and (v) the identification of design issues related to the inference over ontology-based context information

A computação ubíqua explora o fato de que é possível embutir em um ambiente sistemas computacionais que transparentemente apóiem tarefas cotidianas do usuário. Sistemas desse tipo podem ser aplicados a diferentes domínios contribuindo, por exemplo, com atividades educacionais, médicas ou administrativas. A captura automática de informação em ambientes de computação ubíqua visa documentar atividades cotidianas de modo a possibilitar, posteriormente, o acesso às informações capturadas. O nível de transparência da interação do usuário com as chamadas aplicações ubíquas de captura e acesso é um desafio para projetistas, uma vez que os requisitos da aplicação devem ser conhecidos em profundidade para que a interação usuário-ambiente seja eficiente, eficaz e satisfatória. O trabalho realizado teve por objetivo especificar uma versão da aplicação para comunicação síncrona entre usuários que participem de reuniões distribuídas usando o DiGaE (Distributed Gathering Environment), desenvolver protótipos de interfaces, avaliá-los e sugerir soluções que facilitem a interação do usuário, aproximando o modelo conceitual da aplicação de seu modelo mental. Foram utilizados conceitos de Engenharia de Software para especificação e modelagem do sistema, e de Interação Humano-Computador para o desenvolvimento e a avaliação das interfaces. O projeto realizado orientou a implementação de um protótipo do ambiente DiGaE pela equipe do Projeto TIDIA-Ae, em cujo contexto este trabalho se insere. A principal contribuição do trabalho é um projeto que considera usabilidade em ambientes ubíquos para comunicação remota entre usuários, de modo a tornar a interação fácil, eficiente, eficaz e satisfatória até mesmo para usuários não especialistas em informática / Ubiquitous computing explores the possibility of instrumenting an environment with computational infrastructure that transparently supports users in their daily tasks. This kind of systems can be applied in different contexts contributing in medical, educational or administrative activities, for instance. The automatic capture of information in ubiquitous computing environments aims at documenting daily activities so that the corresponding information can be later accessed for review. Achieving a high level of transparency concerning the user interaction in such environments is a challenge to designers, since many users\' requirements must be gathered so that the user-environment interaction is efficient, effective and satisfactory. The main objective of the work reported is the specification of a version of the DiGaE (Distributed Gathering Environment) application which allows the synchronous communication among remote users in distributed meetings developing interfaces prototypes, evaluating them and suggesting solutions to facilitate users\' interaction. Concepts from Software Engineering were employed to specify and model the application, and Human-Computer Interaction concepts were employed to develop and evaluate the interfaces. The project guided the implementation of a DiGaE prototype by TIDIA-Ae Project team, in which context this work is inserted. The main contribution of this work is a project which considers usability in ubiquitous distributed gathering environments in order to make the interaction easy, efficient, effective and satisfactory, even for non-expert users

[EN] This thesis is about the Design of Interactive Multimedia Learning Environments for Museums. Having into account the rapid advance and adoption of the Internet, which turns it into the new industrial revolution, whose innovative system influence and transform all socio--¿cultural and communicative paradigms. It raises the need for reformulating the models across all human domains, and specially those studied in this thesis, education, communication, patrimony/heritage, manipulation and information access. During the research on its bibliography support, it has lead this research to the concept of Virtual Museums (MOCA, Don Archer and Bob Dodson, 1993) as a ground for exploration and experimentation. Adopting from revolutionary cognitive theories, some educational tools such as graphic information representation and storytelling, to enhance knowledge construction and meaningful learning in a ubiquitous computing world, where there are plenty of opportunities for innovation and creativity but also there are also threats for human isolation and alienation . Data navigation and construction is proposed to be developed using concept maps as a systematic approach and storytelling as a human learning epistemological approach. / [ES] Esta tesis doctoral trata sobre el Diseño de Ambientes Educativos Interactivos Multimedia aplicados a museos. Teniendo en cuenta el rápido avance y adopción de la Internet, que la convierte en la nueva revolución industrial, cuyo sistema innovador influye y transforma todos los paradigmas sociales, culturales y de comunicación, suscitando un replanteamiento de los modelos de las actividades humanas y en el caso particular de esta tesis, la educación, el patrimonio o herencias, el acceso y la manipulación de la información. Durante la investigación bibliográfica, hemos tomado el concepto de Museos Virtuales (MOCA, primer museo virtual creado por Don Archer y Bod Dodson en 1993), como un lugar de exploración y experimentación. De teorías cognitivas revolucionarias, se han adoptado herramientas educativas como la representación gráfica del conocimiento y la narración de historias, para mejorar las condiciones de construcción del conocimiento y el aprendizaje significativo, en un mundo de computación omnipresente, donde las oportunidades para la innovación y la creatividad se multiplican, pero a la vez, presenta riesgos de aislamiento y alienación Como una aproximación sistémica para la navegación y construcción de la información, se propone el uso de los mapas conceptuales y como aproximación epistemológica de la transmisión del conocimiento, se propone la narración de historias. Ambos se estructuran en un andamiaje conceptual del Diseño Industrial, como disciplina encargada de la cultura artificial, centrada en los usuarios. / [CAT] Aquesta tesi doctoral tracta sobre el disseny d'ambients educatius, interactius, multimèdia, aplicats a museus. Tenint en compte el ràpid avanç i adopció d'Internet, que la converteix en la nova revolució industrial, el sistema innovador de la qual influeix i transforma tots els paradigmes socials, culturals i de comunicació, suscitant un re-plantejament dels models de les activitats humanes i en el cas particular d'aquesta tesi, l'educació, el patrimoni o herència, l'accés i la manipulació de la informació. Durant la recerca bibliogràfica, hem pres el concepte de Museus Virtuals (MOCA, primer museu virtual creat per Don ARCHER i Bob DODSON en 1993) com un lloc d'exploració i experimentació. De teories cognitives revolucionàries, s'han adoptat eines educatives com la representació gràfica del coneixement i la narració d'històries, per a millorar les condicions de construcció del coneixement i l'aprenentatge significatiu, en un món de computació omnipresent, on les oportunitats per a la innovació i la creativitat es multipliquen, però al mateix temps, presenta riscos d'aïllament i alienació. Com una aproximació sistèmica per a la navegació i construcció de la informació, es proposa l'ús dels mapes conceptuals i com una aproximació epistemològica de la transmissió del coneixement, es proposa la narració d'històries. Totes dos s'estructuren en una bastida conceptual del disseny industrial, com a disciplina encarregada de la cultura artificial, centrada en els usuaris. / Gómez García, JP. (2016). Diseño de ambientes educativos interactivos multimedia para museos [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/62151 / TESIS

Thesis (MTech (Business Information Systems))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2020 / A shared common understanding or context awareness (CA) of IT Audit and Governance among all the internal stakeholders of a business remains an important factor. This context awareness is needed between the business itself, the IT department, and the Audit and Risk functions of the business. The research problem states that there is a lack of shared context awareness among all stakeholders when conducting IT audits and implementing IT Governance. To answer the research questions, a case study research strategy was followed using an International Services Group of companies operating from South Africa. The case study offered a diverse group of companies and vast experience in the South African Services, Trading, and Distribution sector. The diversity of this group of companies made it a perfect candidate for understanding context and the value of context in IT when conducting IT audits. The following research questions were asked: i) What are the factors affecting a shared context understanding among the stakeholders when conducting IT audits and implementing IT Governance? ii) How can a shared context understanding among stakeholders be achieved when conducting IT audits and implementing IT Governance? The aim of the study was to explore the value of context awareness within IT Audit and Governance in order to identify the value of shared context understanding. Data collection was done by means of interviews using semi-structured questionnaires and an interview guide. Qualitative data analysis techniques were adopted for this research. The conclusion of the study highlights the importance of a collective understanding of the business’s context in order to obtain alignment in business, IT, and Audit. It refers to the same or a similar understanding of the business processes; this takes time and is unique on all levels.

As Semantic Web technology evolves many open areas emerge, which attract more research focus. In addition to quickly expanding Linked Open Data (LOD) cloud, various embeddable metadata formats (e.g. RDFa, microdata) are becoming more common. Corporations are already using existing Web of Data to create new technologies that were not possible before. Watson by IBM an artificial intelligence computer system capable of answering questions posed in natural language can be a great example. On the other hand, ubiquitous devices that have a large number of sensors and integrated devices are becoming increasingly powerful and fully featured computing platforms in our pockets and homes. For many people smartphones and tablet computers have already replaced traditional computers as their window to the Internet and to the Web. Hence, the management and presentation of information that is useful to a user is a main requirement for today’s smartphones. And it is becoming extremely important to provide access to the emerging Web of Data from the ubiquitous devices. In this thesis we investigate how ubiquitous devices can interact with the Semantic Web. We discovered that there are five different approaches for bringing the Semantic Web to ubiquitous devices. We have outlined and discussed in detail existing challenges in implementing this approaches in section 1.2. We have described a conceptual framework for ubiquitous semantic applications in chapter 4. We distinguish three client approaches for accessing semantic data using ubiquitous devices depending on how much of the semantic data processing is performed on the device itself (thin, hybrid and fat clients). These are discussed in chapter 5 along with the solution to every related challenge. Two provider approaches (fat and hybrid) can be distinguished for exposing data from ubiquitous devices on the Semantic Web. These are discussed in chapter 6 along with the solution to every related challenge. We conclude our work with a discussion on each of the contributions of the thesis and propose future work for each of the discussed approach in chapter 7.

The wide-spread presence of wireless networks and the availability of mobile devices has enabled the development of mobile applications that take us a step closer to accomplishing Weiser’s vision of ubiquitous computing (Weiser, 1991). Unfortunately however, network connectivity is still not given anywhere and at any time. To increase the benefit of mobile applications, the next logical step is to provide support for an offline modethat allows to continuously work with an application, even when the device is not connected to a network. In this paper typical problems of replicating data are explained, possible solutions are discussed and two architectural patterns that could be used to implement hybrid support are illustrated.

This paper introduces a graphical modeling notation based on coloured petri nets for the performance and cost evaluation of mobile applications. When developing such an application some restrictions due to the low bandwith of mobile networks need to be considered. The notation can be used to model the workflow of an mobile application with just a small effort. The resulting model can be (automatically) transformed into a coloured petri net for simulating the communication behaviour depending on typical user interactions. The simulation results are an important basis for improving the applications performance and the occuring costs for using mobile networks.

This thesis aims to investigate the eect context could have to interaction between a user and a spoken dialogue system. It was assumed that using context-dependent voice commands instead of absolute semantic voice commands would make the dialogue more natural and also increase the usability. This thesis also investigate if introducing context could aect the user's privacy and if it could expose a threat for the user from a user perspective. Based on an extended literature review of spoken dialogue system, voice recognition, ambient intelligence, human-computer interaction and privacy, a spoken dialogue system was designed and implemented to test the assumption. The test study included two steps: experiment and interview. The participants conducted the dierent scenarios where a spoken dialogue system could be used with both context-dependent commands and absolute semantic commands. Based on these studies, qualitative results regarding natural, usability and privacy validated the authors hypothesis to some extent. The results indicated that the interaction between users and spoken dialogue systems was more natural and increased the usability when using context. The participants did not feel more monitored by the spoken dialogue system when using context. Some participants stated that there could be a theoretical privacy issues, but only if the security measurements were not met. The paper concludes with suggestions for future work in the scientic area. / Denna uppsats har som mal att undersoka vilken eekt kontext kan ha pa interaktion mellan en anvandare och ett spoken dialogue system. Det antogs att anvandbarheten skulle oka genom att anvanda kontextberoende rostkommandon istallet for absolut semantiska rostkommandon. Denna uppsats granskar aven om kontext kan paverka anvandarens integritet och om den, ur ett anvandarperspektiv, kan utgora ett hot. Baserat pa den utokade litteraturstudien av spoken dialogue system, rostigenkanning, ambient intelligence, manniska-datorinteraktion och integritet, designades och implementerades ett spoken dialogue system for att testa detta antagande. Teststudien bestod av tva steg: experiment och intervju. Deltagarna utforde olika scenarier dar ett spoken dialogue system kunde anvands med kontextberoende rostkommandon och absolut semantiska rostkommandon. Kvalitativa resultat angaende naturlighet, anvandbarhet och integritet validerade forfattarens hypotes till en viss grad. Resultatet indikerade att interaktionen mellan anvandare och ett spoken dialogue system var mer naturlig och mer anvandbar vid anvandning av kontextberoende rostkommandon istallet for absolut semantiska rostkommandon. Deltagarna kande sig inte mer overvakade av ett spoken dialogue system vid anvandning av kontextberoende rostkommandon. Somliga deltagare angav att det, i teorin, fanns integritetsproblem, men endast om inte alla sakerhetsatgarder var uppnadda. Uppsatsen avslutas med forslag pa framtida studier inom detta vetenskapliga omrade.