A Portal for Interacting with A Portal for Interacting with Context-aware Ubiquitous Context-aware Ubiquitous SystemsSystems

Don CruickshankDavid De Roure

Grid Based Medical Devices for Everyday HealthEquator / MIAS

7th September 2004

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UsersUsersInteractive access to live and stored information (e.g. visualised, excel) collected from

• Wearable devices• Sensor networks

e.g. medics and patientse.g. pervasive support deske.g. pollution-sensing cyclists (uploading)

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Medical jacket sensorsMedical jacket sensors

ECG traceHeart rate monitorBlood Glucose monitorAccelerometersGPS location

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ScenarioScenarioNatural language interaction – clinician over a phone

“look at Tom”“Tom’s patient ID is 12345.He is wearing a jacket.His data is archived.”“Look at jacket on Tom”“His blood pressure and heart rate are monitored.”“Look inside archive”…

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Personal device interfacePersonal device interface

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RequirementsRequirementsNatural language interfaceConfigurable ‘experience’ for different users

• Patient, clinician, support, administrator

Carrying spatial information• 2D/3D spatial, i.e. Cartesian coordinates• Logical, i.e. symbolic

Remote access, multiuser, distributedSupport for collaboration (or integration with collaborative tools)

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MUD benefitsMUD benefitsOpen sourceScriptable using a general purpose programming language (LPC)Rich support for network protocols, e.g. FTP, HTTP, POP3Standard clients available

• Modern clients have graphics and sound capability

• Trend towards HTML and CSS

Supports a variety of Intermud protocols

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EnhancementsEnhancementsLocation description

• All objects carry coords and may have relational positioning

• Currently using z-axis aligned polygons to represent area

• Span array algorithm used for large geographic areas

Authentication, authorisation• Access control and domain model exist• PKI can be integrated• WS-Security?

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Location in a Pervasive Location in a Pervasive EnvironmentEnvironment

To allow data to be combined, a common model is required Have defined an ontology to model locations within a buildingNot designed from spatial perspective, type and purpose more importantHierarchical notion of locations and inter-linked sub-spaces

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A MUD map of the labsA MUD map of the labs

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Uncertainty in locationUncertainty in locationWe have to take location information from a variety of sources

• GPS• Bluetooth proximity• Ultrasonic pingers

Which one do we trust when we have conflicting information?

• We can choose one we think is better• We can merge the contexts – e.g. create a specialised

location that has the features of all relevant locations• We can duplicate the users and populate the separate

areas with those peopleWhen a location technology is known to be false, that context is removed (or the false user model is destructed)Some operations may be high risk enough to utilise a certainty factor from the location information system

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MUD technologiesMUD technologiesLPC based MUDs (aka LPMuds) allow for real time reconfiguration of live systemsLocation is a strong contextual feature of MUDs

• Jim is located at 1500m west and 30m south of a named reference point• “Harry is sitting at the table.”

Roles feature strongly in staffing a MUD • Authorisation is dependent on domain memberships• Individual privileges• Staff members are often only known within the MUD domain

Object trails are commonly used for administrative purposes• Record of previous locations / owners• Recording the manner in which objects have moved

Objects can be tagged with special information that only staff can see• Units that are known to be buggy can be labelled by support staff and that

information is carried wherever that object goes

Objects can react to events in the environment• E.g. when the child walks near the tree, a sound is played out of a

loudspeaker nearby

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ConclusionConclusionAble to tailor the information flow to personal devices dependent on contextReal-time maintenance of the system possible by medics and administrators, each with specific access rightsUncertainty in location information is not straightforward