Stefano Sanna

GeoPix: image retrieval on the geo web, from camera click to mouse click

In this paper we describe a multichannel, mobile, and location-based application called GeoPix developed as a proof-of-concept for several use cases related to eTourism. In GeoPix, mobile users produce geo-referenced pictures and share them with Web users that can access the online database with a smart navigation experience based on maps. Web users can browse, pan, zoom areas immediately seeing the pictures posted by the on-the-road users. Thumbnails are directly overlaid on the maps exactly where the full-size photos are taken. They can also make searches, apply filters, and save geographic bookmarks of the photos displayed on the maps. In this way a large database of images can be easily browsed in a way that we call geo-browsing.

The web around the corner: augmenting the browser with gps

As programmable mobile devices (such as high-end cellular phones and Personal Digital Assistants) became widely adopted, users ask for Internet access on-the-road. While upcoming technologies like UMTS and Wi-Fi provide broadband wireless communication, Web services and Web browsers do not provide any sort of location-awareness yet. As GPS receivers get cheaper, positioning devices will be embedded into commercial mobile devices. Thus, the position of the user can be used to filter and tailor the information presented to the user as already done for language preferences and user-agent.This paper describes early results of an ongoing project called GPSWeb, which aims to provide GPS support for Web browsers and an application model for Location-Based Services. It introduces the Location-Based Browsing concept that enhances the classic Webuser-Website interaction.

E-MATE: An Open Architecture to Support Mobility of Users

As the world gets connected, people need to access information anywhere, anytime, whatever the device is (laptop, cellular phone...). They look for situated services that identify and package relevant context-sensitive information. Situated services for mobile people must integrate 1) user profile: who the user is; 2) space: where the user is; 3) time: when the user needs the service 4) context: of which services the user is surrounded by. A situated service is multi-modal, geo-referenced and personalized. A multi-modal service is available through very different devices. A geo-referenced service selects information according to the physical position of the user. A personalized service chooses only relevant information. This paper presents the main elements of an architecture that fosters the design, implementation and deployment of situated services. These elements can be organized into three processes: personalization, deployment and access to a service. Personalization is the process that chooses the right information and presents it at the right time with the appropriate user interface. The deployment of services is supported through application servers that supports from fat-client to thin client distributed schemas. The access to service is done through portals that enables to get the client part of the service, a service viewer then uses an object renderer to generate on the fly the user interface according to the device profile, the service features and layout information.

Interactions Model and Code Generation for J2ME Applications

The Java2 Micro Edition platform can really be considered an emerging standard for new generation embedded software. This article introduces a practical methodology aimed to automatically generate a software prototype starting from an abstract description which defines the dialogue between the user and the application by means of a device independent and abstract description. We will show how an agenda application for cellular phones can be described by means of a visual language called PLANES and present how the personal agenda prototype is implemented by an appropriate generation tool.