Rod Walsh

From instant messaging to cloud computing, an XMPP review

The extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) is a versatile protocol that demonstrates many advantages over traditional communication protocols. XMPPs origin as an instant messaging (IM) protocol ensures that it inherits a tight relation with social communities and its flexibility makes it a very good candidate for converging communications between different application domains, such as social networks, consumer electronics and cloud computing. This paper reviews the XMPP protocol, its standardization community extensions and its usage in published literature. An application domain classification, or taxonomy, is derived and used to relate complementary and competing instances of XMPP deployment.

Large scale content distribution protocols

This paper introduces large scale content distribution protocols, which are capable of scaling to massive numbers of users and providing low delay end-to-end delivery. Delivery of files and static objects is described, with real-time content streaming being outside the scope of this paper. The focus is on solutions provided by the IETF Reliable Multicast Transport Working Group. More precisely, the paper explains FLUTE, ALC and the associated building blocks. Then it discusses how these components are used in the Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) for 3G systems and in the IP Datacast (IPDC) service for Digital Video Broadcast for Handheld devices (DVB-H).

Cultural differences in smartphone user experience evaluation

Through globalization it has become increasingly important to understand how culture affects the user experience (UX) of mobile devices and services. Despite the importance of cultural factors in product design, not much research has been done to study them. Our aim was to discover cultural differences in the UX of a Smartphone with remote online sentence completion method. This paper presents the results of a remote online UX evaluation survey of a Smartphone with altogether 72 respondents from India, China, USA, UK and Denmark. The results indicate that there are cultural differences in how people experience the product and also in the way people respond to UX evaluation survey and share their experiences with the product. The results show that a remote online sentence completion survey is a relatively fast and easy way of gathering international user data, although the analysis can be challenging. The use of Hofstedes cultural dimensions in the analysis of the data gave us better understanding of the impact of specific culture on the results.

A combined mixed reality and networked home approach to improving user interaction with consumer electronics

User interaction in a modern networked home can be unintuitive when utilizing a smartphone for control. Different layers of menus and the lack of a tangible real-world interaction metaphor complicates the everyday usage of those devices in a smartphone. We propose a solution focusing on mixed reality interaction, by combining computer vision and ubiquitous computing techniques, to allow the user to simply point to the device of interest, to be controlled, via the smartphone camera. This adds value to the consumer electronics ecosystem by improving networked home user interaction experiences.

Infinity point : Multi-device pointing systems evolution and review

Technology evolution theory is reviewed and applied to human computer interaction devices, systems and environments. A review of developments in multi-device pointing innovations identifies some key elements inhibiting and promoting convergence and evolution. Thus, we set the foundation for creating a platform of diverse interaction applications, devices and environments.

Fusing mixed reality and networked home techniques to improve user control of consumer electronics

User interaction in a modern networked home can be unintuitive when utilizing a smartphone for control. We propose a solution focusing on mixed reality interaction, by combining computer vision and ubiquitous computing techniques. This adds value to the consumer electronics ecosystem by improving networked home user experiences.

Introducing game and playful experiences to other application domains through personality and motivation models

We discuss the use of the PLEX playful experience model a system to introduce games design aspects into alternative application and product domains. We report an exploratory study to relate the relationships between playful experiences and real world values and personalities. The method led to a prototype model of playful experiences associated with values and personality based motivations, emotions and behavior, and could be a useful tool for playful concept creation. As consumer offerings are increasingly differentiated by the quality of the experience, our approach promises to enhance the fun, and widen the engagement, of many products and applications.

Improving the Value of Archived Personal Content with Aesthetic and Reflexive Qualities

We aim to improve user experiences and interactions with digital content by applying reflexive and aesthetic interaction methods to personal content management systems. Three distinct content management systems are modeled and compared in order to identify how these methods conceptually apply to achieve specific benefits. Our early progress promises worthwhile improvements in user experiences of personal content, and the opportunity to crossover this approach into other topics, such as gaming and group dialogue.

Towards off-the-shelf computer vision for user interaction in consumer homes

The increasing availability of open source implementations of computer vision algorithms promises to commoditize these technologies as reusable community maintained building blocks. Using OpenCV and the cross-platform Qt development environment, we investigate the suitability of an open building block approach for rapid concept prototyping of computer vision based user interaction designs in CE-orientated networked multimedia home environments.

Attaching the Value of Sensorial Experience to Pervasive Multimedia Applications

We use sensory data to improve and make multimedia applications pervasive. The learning cycle is used as a centrepiece from which the user experience is derived and higher-level knowledge understood. We propose an architecture by which this sensorial experience can be presented to users, creating immersion and continuity. I. BUILDING UP THE EXPERIENCE he ability to understand and also to empathize or interact with a user requires access to the deeper levels of the users emotions and expressions. By understanding people’s feelings, dreams and thoughts, we can create a truly interactive conversation with them. However, an experience is never static; on the contrary, it evolves. To gather knowledge on these subjects we need to record data from sensors at the place and time of their occurrence. Sanders [1] and Cain [2] suggest learning from people – summarized by figure 1. Listening to what people say and think provides us with an explicit knowledge (beyond what they express in words). Watching what people do and seeing what they use provides us with observable knowledge. Understanding what people think, know and dream provides us with tacit knowledge (knowledge that can’t be expressed in words). This information can show us how a person envisions a better future through expressed latent needs (only satisfiable in the future). Figure 1. Three levels of knowledge extraction from observing human actions Kolb [3] associates human experience with the learning process. He suggests there are four stages following one another (figure 2): the Concrete Experience; followed by Reflection on that experience; with Abstract Conceptualization then deriving social judgment to describe the experience; leading to ways of modifying the next experience called Active Experimentation, that feeds the next Concrete Experience. This recursive experiencing may happen very fast or over longer periods, depending on the case. II.FROM SENSING TO EXPERIENCING A. The Notion of Sensing Aristotle defined the traditional five human senses as sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste [4]. Humans have six additional senses, namely pain (nociception), balance (equilibrioception), joint motion and acceleration (proprioception & kinesthesia), sense of time, sense of temperature differences (thermoception), and the sense of direction (magnetoception) [5]. All those senses actively participate in the creation of the user experience. Therefore, when designing application for the end-user, it is crucial to record the sensed aspects of the experience, with samples of the before, during and after, regardless of the physical setting of the observed experience. B. Raw Sensing and Mobile Devices To record the physical aspects of a user experience – such as ambient sounds, people presence and location – physical sensors are necessary. To achieve this regardless of the physical setting, a pervasive approach must be taken. Mobile devices (such as cellular phones) have become an important piece in ubiquitous experiences, offering services to people whenever and wherever they are. Moreover, mobile devices are becoming a convergence point for many different sensors, ranging from light, motion, touch, location and proximity. These are typically included in shipped products to satisfy the needs of a specific vertical application. However, the growing number of specific sensor-oriented applications in a mobile device, and improved developer access to Application Programming Interfaces (API), enable this sensory information to be combined to provide additional information for novel applications and services. The MyLifeBits project [6] exemplifies research attempts to exploit these developments for a form of life logging [7]. Sensors are also being embedded into many physical environments to form the so-called Internet of Things. This trend is primarily driven by industrial process automation and academia with increasing numbers of consumer electronics applications [8]. It is also gaining momentum T Attaching the Value of Sensorial Experience to Pervasive Multimedia Applications Adrian Hornsby , Rod Walsh 2 1 Tampere University of Technology, Finland 2 Nokia Research Center, Tampere, Finland Figure 2. A simplified leaning cycle 978-1-4244-5176-0/10/