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Ambient, personalised, and context-sensitive information systems for mobile users

Objective

The aim is to design and implement technology that is ambient, personalised to the users, and sensitive to their individual situation (i.e. context-sensitive). The idea is to develop a new system architecture, which will enable ambient information services to be delivered to mobile citizens. These services will be ubiquitous, personalised to the individual user, and appropriate to the user's current situation/ context. The application focus will be targeting citizens who are mobile - particularly business travellers and tourists. The project aims at testing and evaluating a prototype system with mobile users. Hence, user-centred design with user testing and evaluation are corner stones of the project.

Objectives:
The AmbieSense project looks into the future of the Ambient Intelligence Landscape - a landscape where computing surrounds you while mobile users are on the move. AmbieSense focus on travellers and tourists as end users. It will take one important step towards ambient, personalised, and context-sensitive info spaces for mobile citizens. The main scientific challenge is in the use of environmental context information and individual user context information to develop leading edge personalised interactive information services for mobile users. The main technological challenge lies in the combination of ambient, context-sensitive and personalisation technologies.

The thesis of the project can be formulated as: "It is impossible to provide mobile users with the Ambient Intelligence Landscape without making the surroundings around more intelligent and adapted to the situation". This will be enlightened via user scenarios.

The AmbieSense project will both develop and improve technology possessed by the technology providers in the project The corner-stones of the AmbieSense system are:
(1) wireless context tags;
(2), mobile computer/PDA;
(3) intelligent agents, and;
(4) personalised and context-oriented information services. These components utilise an ambient and intelligent user interface for the mobile user.

Work description:
In AmbieSense, context-sensitive technology is based on the use of context tags. These small electronic tags are a means of capturing and communicating information about the surroundings (e.g. info about the environment). The context tags within AmbieSense are unique as they can store a large amount of structured data and communicate it to mobile computers. Additionally, the tags can also be updated with information from remote network nodes.

The technology development and improvement focuses on:
- Small electronic context tags that can be mounted everywhere - in buildings, within shops and restaurants, in vehicles, hidden in furniture, in user clothes, and even outdoors. The context tags automatically send the contextual information about the surroundings to the mobile users who travel. The effect is that the user is relieved from specifying the context around him. Context tags can be networked and integrated with existing computers and wireless network infrastructures;
- The AmbieSense system architecture supports the development of information systems that are ubiquitous, personalised and adapted to the situation. It consists of the context tags mounted in the surroundings, mobile computers, and net-based information services. It builds upon state-of the-art wireless network infrastructures and de facto software and hardware;
- User context software and persistent storage for the administration of user contexts that belongs to individual mobile users. This software will run at the mobile computers and in the network as a net-based service. It will implement security and privacy mechanisms that mobile users' need. A user context is capable of describing the user's interests, his state, the social setting, the spatio-temporal aspects, and other entities in the surroundings;
- intelligent agents for mobile computers will be the technology that personalises and adapts the information system in terms of information extraction, retrieval, filtering, and presentation. Personalisation is achieved via the use of the context-sensitive technology. The intelligent agents help the mobile users to get the right information to the right situation;
- Ambient and intelligent user interfaces for the travelling businessman and the walking tourist.

Access to different information depending of user's interests and the current context and location. The applications will be tested and then demonstrated for mobile users in-house at an international airport, and in Seville. The integrated AmbieSense prototypes will undergo user testing and evaluation in both realistic and controlled environments. The consortium regards the results - the AmbieSense system - as wearing a significant potential for strategic impact for a wide range of applications within both B2B and B2C. The dissemination and exploitation activities are therefore regarded as very important facilitators for providing the target market with the overall AmbieSense system and it's components. Thus, exploitation is an important goal of the AmbieSense consortium.

Milestones:
The AmbieSense milestones are:
M1: Technological Prototype;
M2: Functional solution;
M3: User Validation;
M4: Technology Implementation Plan.

Call for proposal

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Coordinator

SINTEF - STIFTELSEN FOR INDUSTRIELL OG TEKNISK FORSKNING VED NORGES TEKNISKE HOEGSKOLE
EU contribution
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Address
STRINDVEIEN 4
7034 TRONDHEIM
Norway

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Total cost
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Participants (7)