A Service-Oriented Privacy-Aware System for Medication Safety and Prescription Compliance in Smart Home Environments

Medication management is becoming more complex, and the likelihood of unsafe prescriptions has increased because of the rapid pace of new medications introduced to the market, the trend of modern healthcare towards specialization, and the variety of medication interactions that complicate the prescribing process and patient management of medications. The severity of this problem is magnified when patients require multiple medications or have cognitive impairments. To counter this problem and improve the quality of patient healthcare, we designed and implemented a service-oriented system for medication management that collects and integrates information from patient smart homes, doctor offices and pharmacies to 1) detect adverse reactions among prescribed medications, existing health conditions, and foods, and 2) monitor and promote compliance with prescription instructions. The system is privacy-aware and designed to support information privacy regulations, such as the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Situated Knowledge in Context-Aware Computing

A central feature of ubiquitous computing applications is their capability to automatically react on context changes so as to support users in their mobility. Such context awareness relies on models of specific use contexts, embedded in ubiquitous computing environments. However, since most such models are based merely on location and identity parameters, context-aware applications seldom cater for users’ situated knowledge and experience of specific contexts. This is a general user problem in well-known, but yet dynamic, user environments. Drawing on a sequential multimethod study of in-car navigation, this paper explores the role of situated knowledge in designing and using context-aware applications. This focus is motivated by the current lack of empirical investigations of context-aware applications in actual use settings. In-car navigation systems are a type of context-aware application that includes a set of contextual parameters for supporting route guidance in a volatile context. The paper outlines a number of theoretical and practical implications for context-aware application design and use.

An Internet Framework for Pervasive Sensor Computing

The rapid increase of sensor networks has brought a revolution in pervasive computing. However, data from these fragmented and heterogeneous sensor networks are easily shared. Existing sensor computing environments are based on the traditional database approach, in which sensors are tightly coupled with specific applications. Such static configurations are effective only in situations where all the participating sources are precisely known to the application developers, and users are aware of the applications. A pervasive computing environment raises more challenges, due to ad hoc user requests and the vast number of available sources, making static integration less effective. This paper presents an Internet framework called iSEE (Internet Sensor Exploration Environment) which provides a more complete environment for pervasive sensor computing. iSEE enables advertising and sharing of sensors and applications on the Internet with unsolicited users much like how Web pages are publicly shared today.

Mobile Technologies in the New Zealand Real-Estate Industry

The Real Estate industry can be viewed as a prime candidate for using mobile data solutions since it possesses a dispersed workforce as well as intensive and complex information requirements. This paper investigates the perceived value of mobile technologies in the New Zealand Real-Estate industry. It was found that mobile technologies are perceived as a strategic element in the Real-Estate industry. However, the use of data services still is bounded by industry practices and voice remains the most used application among agents.

Estimating and Conveying User Activity Levels in a Multi-User Computer Assisted Exercise Motivation System

The Electronic Multi-User Randomized Circuit Training (EMURCT, pronounced “emmersed”) system has been developed to utilize pervasive computing and communication technology to address the lack of motivation that individuals have for exercising regularly. EMURCT is capable of producing a totally different workout sessions with every use, for up to 7 trainees simultaneously using a common workout circuit, in an effort to reduce boredom. EMURCT is composed of three different components, a client application, an administrator application and a web service. This project also uses Wi-Fi signal strength to estimate the activity level of individuals using the system. Based on the activity level being read from each smart device, the event scheduler has the option of releasing any trainee from his/her assigned station if it feels that he/she is not working out, and someone else’s smart device is requesting that station. Initial experiments indicate that the best signal strength reading comes from preset, dedicated access points.

Issues of Sensor-Based Information Systems to Support Parenting in Pervasive Settings

The vision of the home of the future considers the existence of smart spaces saturated with computing and pervasive technology, yet so gracefully integrated with users. Sensing technology and intelligent agents will allow the smart home to empower dwellers lifestyle. In today’s homes, however, the exploration of pervasive and ubiquitous systems is still challenging. Lessons from past experiences have shown that social and technology issues have affected the implementation of pervasive computing environments that “fade into the background”, and of supportive applications that disappear from user’s consciousness. This paper presents our experience with the exploration of a pervasive system that aims to complement a parent’s awareness of their children’s activity in situations of concurrent attendance of household and childcare. To minimize issues such as sensing reliability and variations with parenting needs around this kind of pervasive support, parents are enabled to configure and adapt the UbiComp system to their current needs. From responses of a user study we highlight opportunities for the system on its current status, and challenges for its future development.

End User Context Modeling in Ambient Assisted Living

Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) services provide intelligent and context aware assistance for elderly people in their home environment. Following the vision of an open AAL service marketplace, such an approach has to support all lifecycle phases of an AAL service, starting with its specification and development until its operation within the user’s smart environment. In AAL the support of a user level context model becomes important. This enables an inhabitant of a smart home to get and give feedback on context without technical expertise and intensive training. At the same time, the context model has to be operational and to support context dependent service adaption and abstraction of the underlying context sensors. This leads to a layered context model for AAL with abstraction levels for different aspects. In this paper we focus on the requirements, the model elements and the concepts of the user interface layer of our approach.

New Perspectives on Adoption of RFID Technology for Agrifood Traceability

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an ubiquitous technology which may provide important improvements for the agri-food in different fields, e.g., supply chain management and alimentary security. As a consequence of local laws in many countries, which lay down that the traceability of food products is mandatory, industrial and academic research entities have been conducting studies on traceability management based on non-traditional technologies. A relevant outcome from these studies states that RFID systems seem to help reducing processing time and human-related errors in traceability operations due to their automation characteristics; nevertheless, engineering and economical constraints slow down their full adoption. The main purpose of this chapter is to analyze, describe and compare the most significant and novel RFID-based traceability systems in the agri-food sector while providing an exhaustive survey of benefits, drawbacks and new perspectives for their adoption.

Approaches to Facilitating Analysis of Health and Wellness Data

In the last decade novel sensing technologies enabled development of applications that help individuals with chronic diseases monitor their health and activities. These applications often generate large volumes of data that need to be processed and analyzed. At the same time, many of these applications target non-professionals and individuals of advanced age and low educational level. These users may find the data collected by the applications challenging and overwhelming, rather than helpful, and may require additional assistance in interpreting it. In this paper we discuss two different approaches to designing computing applications that not only collect the relevant health and wellness data but also find creative ways to engage individuals in the analysis and assist with interpretation of the data. These approaches include visualization of data using simple real world imagery and metaphors, and social scaffolding mechanisms that help novices learn by observing and imitating experts. We present example applications that utilize both of these approaches and discuss their relative strengths and limitations.

Understanding Consumers’ Behaviour when Using a Mobile Phone as a Converged Device

This research aims at developing an empirical model to explore the factors that influence consumers’ use of mobile phones as converged devices. The use of mobile phones as converged devices refers to the utility of the various functions and services embedded in mobile phones, such as PIM, e-mail, entertainment, and commerce. The exploratory work draws from in-depth interviews and theories to identify some of the critical factors that drive consumer to use a mobile phone for various functions. The interview data was transcribe and analysed to construct a model. The finding shows that although Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and other studies on mobile phones have been used to explain consumers’ adoption of different information technologies, they need further enrichment when applied to multi-functional (or converged) technologies and dynamic use contexts. Therefore, the result provides a significant step towards a better understanding of consumer behaviour in the context of technology convergence.