Transcript Context-Aware Communication Patrick Malatack Key Idea • • Communication is a killer app for ubicomp Example activities: – Staying in touch – Coordinating with friends and family –

Context-Aware Communication
Patrick Malatack
Key Idea
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Communication is a killer app for ubicomp
Example activities:
– Staying in touch
– Coordinating with friends and family
– Being aware of activities of friends and family
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Non-ubicomp evidence
– Popularity of Social Networking web sites
– Popularity of sharing sites
– Popularity of Blogs / Message boards
Problems with Keeping in Touch
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Irrelevant messages
– Vacation mail, surveys, junk email
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Interruptions
– During meetings, concerts, movies, dinner, driving
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Lack of awareness on callee side
– Phone tag, time zone issue (oops!)
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Information overload
– Can make it hard to find useful messages (ex. delayed flight)
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Device overload
– Fax, email, landline phone, mobile phone, IM
Readings
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Context Aware Computing
– 2002, looked at field of context-aware communication
specifically and attempted to define and characterize field.
– Presented history of devices and inventions in the field
– Articulated design principles for C-A Communication
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Social Disclosure of Place: From Location Technology
to Communication Practices
– 2005, designed, developed, evaluated a system for
disclosing you location to other people based on user
defined settings
– Out of PlaceLab
Context-Aware Communication
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Main idea:
– Use sensors and other pieces of context…
– to improve awareness of and communication with others…
– while minimizing overload, irrelevancy, and interruptions
“C-A Comm” Working Definition
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“C-A Communication” applications apply knowledge of
people’s context (and activities) to reduce person-toperson communication barriers
C-A Communication is subset of C-A Computing
– Does not include, e.g., control of environment, or apps that
filter information about nearby restaurants and printers
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Information versus communication
– Is the chirping Lovegety an information or communication
device?
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Article takes broad view of communication
Less Privacy
Context-Aware Comm Dimensions
Less Common Sense
C-A Communication Research
Grouped by application types
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Routing
Addressing
Messaging
Caller Awareness
Screening
Routing
directing communication
to nearby & appropriate devices
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Follow ing Callers on PARC’s Etherphone System
Olivetti’s Active Badge Aiding a Telephone Receptionist
Ubiquitous Message Delivery
PARC Etherphone (Swinehart, et al. 1987)
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50 Etherphones
Location registered by
– Logging in
– “Visiting”
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Etherphone 1
– Autonomous routing (action)
– Manual sensing
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Etherphone 2
– Autonomous routing (action)
– Autonomous sensing
Distinctive ring tones
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More brittle
New defaults for visitors
ORL Active Badge “Aid to a receptionist”
(Want & Hopper 1992)
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Infrared emitting badges and
network of receivers
Initial application was an “Aid
for a telephone receptionist”
Give a person info for
tracking down callee
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Receptionist 1
– Autonomous sensing
– Manual routing
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Receptionist 2
– Autonomous sensing
– Autonomous routing
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Less intelligent
People wanted to control based
on who they were with, where
they are, etc. -> more work
Addressing
targeting communication at appropriate
people
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Context-Aware Mailing List
PARCTAB Virtual Whiteboard
Context-Aware Mailing List
(Dey, Abowd & Salber 2001)
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In-out board using iButton RF tags
Dynamic e-mail list for directing
email to people who are in the building
– “let’s get lunch”
– “talk in 5 minutes”
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C-A Mailing List
– Triggered autonomous action
– (could be) Autonomous sensing
Messaging
providing the right message at the right
time
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Contextual Reminder Messages in CybreMinder
MIT’s Active Messenger
CybreMinder
(Dey 2000)
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To-do items associated
with location and context
Can be sent to other
people
Context include “forecast is
for rain and Bob is leaving
home.”
CybreMinder
– Autonomous sensing
– Autonomous action
(delivery)
Providing Awareness
Allows others to determine
availability to talk
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Awareness with AwareNex
Audio Aura
Triggering Real World
Meetings with Roomotes
LoveGety
Erfolg’s LoveGety (Awareness)
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Many spinoffs like
Party Bapp-X and
Media Lab’s Meme Tag
A Japanese toy (circa 1998) for
meeting people, beeps when a
compatible partner is nearby.
Detects other devices in a 15 foot
range and “bleep”
Blue and Pink models (blue only
responds to pink and vice versa)
3 Modes:
– Chat mode: if you're interested in
meeting someone for conversation
– Karaoke mode: if you're looking
for a "playmate,"
– Get-get mode: for those looking to
move straight away into something
a bit more intimate.
Audio Aura
(Mynatt 1999)
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Auditory cues as people
walk around an office
place
Going to an empty office
creates an audio cue about
how long it has been
empty
A “group pulse” if people
are meeting
– Automated sensing
– Little automated
communication
Screening
Users determine wether or not
they want to talk
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Calls.Calm making Caller-Callee Calm
Context-Call
Calls.Calm (Pedersen 2001)
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Calls.Calm uses web phones to mediate communication with
subscribers.
A person (a) selects who to call and
(b) is greeted by the callees contact page contextualized and
customized for the caller; or if the caller is unknown,
(c) a generic page.
5 Design Considerations
1.
Improving relevance
– Deciding when a communication is relevant to the person’s
current (or near future) situation.
– For example, getting notification about an email from your
travel agent regarding itinerary changes while packing to
leave for the airport.
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Minimizing disruption
Improving awareness
Reducing overload
Selecting channels
5 Design Considerations
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2.
Improving relevance
Minimizing disruption
– Deciding when and how to notify people that they have a
communication.
– For example, your phone should vibrate and not ring, when
you are at the symphony (unless it is truly urgent).
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5.
Improving awareness
Reducing overload
Selecting channels
5 Design Considerations
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3.
Improving relevance
Minimizing disruption
Improving awareness
– Deciding what information and mechanisms can help
people make intelligent communication decisions.
– For example, the caller should be told you are at the movies
before the call goes through.
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5.
Reducing overload
Selecting channels
8/26/02
context-aware communication
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5 Design Considerations
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2.
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4.
Improving relevance
Minimizing disruption
Improving awareness
Reducing overload
– Deciding how to reduce the number of communications that
don’t apply given your context.
– For example, filtering out emails about going to lunch when
you are away from the office (or already at lunch).
5.
Selecting channels
8/26/02
context-aware communication
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5 Design Considerations
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2.
3.
4.
5.
Improving relevance
Minimizing disruption
Improving awareness
Reducing overload
Selecting channels
– Deciding which communication device should be used to
get in touch with somebody.
– For example, routing calls to your home phone instead of
your cell phone when you are at home and cellular
reception is poor.
8/26/02
context-aware communication
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Social Disclosure of Place
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Reno
– J2me application
– Nokia 6600
– Cell tower based
location estimation
– Always on
– “avoid real privacy
threats”
– Minimize
deployment barriers
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (LZW) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Social Disclosure of Place
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Study design
– 8 members
– Project members or
families
– 5 were members of
the team
– Disclosure based on
relationship
– Accidental
disclosures occurred
– 8 disclosures a day
on average
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (LZW) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.