Florian Michahelles

Building intelligent environments with Smart-Its

Smart-Its are self-contained, stick-on computers that attach to everyday objects. These augmented objects become soft media, enabling dynamic digital relationships with users and each other. In the Smart-Its project, we are developing technology to realize a vision of computation everywhere, where computer technology seamlessly integrates into everyday life, supporting users in their daily tasks. By embedding sensors, computation, and communication into common artifacts, future computing applications can adapt to human users rather than the other way around. However, its currently difficult to develop this type of ubiquitous computing because of the lack of toolkits integrating both the required hardware and software. Therefore, we are creating a class of small computers - called Smart-Its - equipped with wireless communication and sensors to make it possible to create smart artifacts with little overhead.

Proactive Instructions for Furniture Assembly

Tennenhouse [1] coined the term proactive computing where humans get out of the interaction loop and may be serviced specifically according to their needs and current situation. In this paper we propose a framework for proactive guidance which aims to overcome limitations of todays printed instructions. By attaching computing devices and multiple sensors onto different parts of the assembly the system can recognize the actions of the user and determine the current state of the assembly. The system can suggest the next most appropriate action at any point in time. In an experimental case study with the IKEA PAX wardrobe we show the feasibility of the proposed approach. At the end important issues are discussed and future directions are outlined.

CAPEUS: An Architecture for Context-Aware Selection and Execution of Services

This paper introduces a comprehensive framework that allows mobile users to access a variety of services provided by their current environment (e.g. print services). Novel to our approach is that selection and execution of services takes into account the user’s current context. Instead of being harassed by useless activities as service browsing or configuration issues, environmental services get seamlessly aligned to the user’s present task. Thus, the challenge is to develop a new service framework that fulfils these demands.

Less contact: heart-rate detection without even touching the user

Heart-rate sensing is very important. Whereas there are different methods and commercial products available, they all have a common drawback: the user has to mount some piece of sensor to his body. This paper provides a case study on how micro-impulse radar (MIR) can be used to sense heart-rate in a contact-free manner. With a sequence of tests the robustness of radar to different placements and even distances from the subject is shown. Since MIR is also cheap and power-efficient this paper suggests heart-rate sensing through radar as a promising approach.

Adaptive interaction for enabling pervasive services

We describe an architecture that allows mobile users to access a variety of services provided by pervasive computing environments. Novel to our approach is that the system selects and executes services taking into account arbitrary contextual information (e.g. location or preferences). Our architecture is based on an adaptive service interaction scheme; individual service requests are attributed by context constraints, which specify the adaption policy. Context constraints may relate to spatial or temporal concerns. We propose a document-based approach; so called Context-Aware Packets (CAPs) contain context constraints and data for describing an entire service request. Intermediary network nodes route and apply the data to services, which match the embedded constraints. Services are identified by characterizing attributes, rather then explicit network addresses. The execution of selected services may be deferred, and triggered by a specific event. Service requests carry the context of their use, therefore our system works well in environments with intermitted connectivity, less interaction with the issuing requester is required.

Detecting Context in Distributed Sensor Networks by Using Smart Context-Aware Packets

Context modeling and detection will play a major role for pervasive computing. This paper proposes an approach to reveal the users context in a self-organized sensor network without a central point of control. A uniform communication scheme, referred to as Smart Context-Aware Packets (sCAPs), allows single sensors to share sensed data and to cooperate in order to build a meaningful context model from manifold inputs. In this approach, sCAPs are injected into the sensor network by the context inquirer. In particular, sCAPs contain a retrieving plan specifying which types of sensors should be visited to obtain the desired context information. The paper concentrates on the routing concepts which allow to deal with breakdowns of sensor nodes and continuous changes of the network topology.

Smart CAPs for Smart Its – Context Detection for Mobile Users

Abstract: Context detection for mobile users plays a major role for enabling novel, human-centric interfaces. For this, we introduce a context detection scheme applicable in a self-organized sensor network, which is formed of disseminated, computer empowered sensors, referred to as Smart-Its [1]. Context-detection takes place without requiring any central point of control, and supports push as well as pull modes. Our solution is based on an in-network composition approach relying on so-called smart Context-Aware Packets (sCAPs). These packets act as a uniform interchange format, and allow single sensors to share sensed data and to cooperate to build up a meaningful context model from manifold inputs. sCAPs travel through the sensor network governed by an enclosed retrieving plan, specifying which sensors to visit in order to gain a specific piece of context information. For enhanced flexibility, the retrieving plan itself may be dynamically altered in accordance with past sensor readings.

Towards distributed awareness - an artifact based approach

Perception is a central issue for many applications in ubiquitous computing. However, in current implementations, sensing and distributed perception is re-invented over and over again. Identifying commonalities and synthesizing a common model would be more effective both from an economic as well as scientific perspective. We have analyzed the properties of ubicomp perception systems and used their characteristics as a main input for the design of a perception model. We present a layered perception model, discriminating functionality on artifact, setting, and application level. On the artifact layer, data collection, perception, and recognition for the particular artifact is modelled and implemented. The setting layer deals with perception and recognition tasks for a tightly coupled group of artifacts. In the application layer, perception and application-specific recognition resides. The approach was evaluated by building applications, two of which are also reported in the paper. The wider applicability of the model was assessed by analyzing further applications and how they map onto the artifact-based approach.

Mobile Ad Hoc Communication Issues in Ubiquitous Computing – The Smart-Its Experimentation Platforms

As we become familiar with the idea of connecting PDAs, notebook PCs and wall-sized screens, as put forward in [1], ubiquitous computing in everyday environments creates yet new challenges for mobile ad-hoc networking. When looking at less powerful mobile and stationary devices that act as sensors or actors, new requirements for communication evolve.