The core problem addressed by this proposal is that of being able to test design ideas for ubiquitous environments during the early phases of the design process. This implies that the analysis must be performed without the need to fully develop and install the envisaged system on location. Our proposal is to use a 3D Application Server as the basis for a prototyping framework that will enable agile development of simulations of the ubiquitous environment. This framework will enable different degrees of fidelity for the prototypes, from simple desktop simulations, to fully immersive experiences in a CAVE environment.
Having such a prototyping framework available will affect the development of ubiquitous systems by: a) detecting problems in the design of the systems much earlier in design and development; b) making it possible to test the system without access to the actual installation site. Both contribute to reductions in the cost of development and testing, while improving the quality of the final product.
The core of the work will be based at Minho/CCTC and will be supported by a PhD student (with grant SFRH/BD/41179/2007 from FCT) working under the co-supervision of the PI at Minho and Michael Harrison based at Newcastle but an honorary professor at Minho. Minho/CCTC has a strong reputation for modelling and analysis. A CAVE at the Computer Graphics Center in Minho will be made available to the project (at a cost). Minho/Algoritmi brings to the project expertise in ubiquitous systems development. The consultant, Jorge Santos from CPsi (Minho) provides expertise in Psychology, and in particular in user testing within the CAVE at CCG.
The work plan is divided into four phases. The phases are organized so that the work starts with more conceptual work (reviewing and analysis), and gradually moves into more practical work (leading to an applied case study).
Phase 1: Analysis
A modelling approach based on CPN [27] will be developed. The focus will be on modelling for rapid prototyping, and the modelling of user context. It is envisaged that languages will be needed for modelling both the architectural and behavioural aspects of the ubiquitous systems. It is envisaged that further development of the approach will lead to the use of a combination of notations. The selection of the languages will be preceded by an analysis of the requirements for the prototyping of ubiquitous systems (system centric view), and the requirements for experience prototyping (user centric view).
Associated tasks: Analysis of requirements for experience prototypes; Development of modelling approach.
Phase 2: Development of the 3D prototyping framework
A framework will be developed, enabling the simulation of environments enhanced with sensors and displays in which the user can move and interact, both explicitly and implicitly, to access services. Interaction will be supported both through the virtual environment and through personal devices connected to the system via Bluetooth.
This phase encompasses two main challenges: (a) developing a framework to support the animation of the prototypes; (b) developing a prototype generation engine that is capable of building ubiquitous environments from models expressed in the selected modelling notations as described in phase 1.
The framework will be developed in OpenSimulator. A 3D application server such as OpenSimulator will make it easier to create the virtual environments, and has the added advantage of making it easy to deploy the prototypes to distributed users. When combined with a desktop computer to navigate the world, it is also a low cost approach since hardware and software requirements are low. The desktop approach however, makes it harder to create a sense of presence. Presence will be addressed by connecting the system developed on a desktop to external devices and to a CAVE system. This will enable more realistic prototypes of the prototyped environments with the aim of making it easier to create a sense of “being there”.
Although the development of the OpenSimulator based prototyping framework is crucial, development of the other aspects can start independently from it if needed, since the major technical challenge is connecting OpenSimulator to external systems. A CAVE is available at Minho.
Two issues must be addressed in creating a prototype: (i) generating the skeleton environment with mock-ups of the devices exhibiting adequate behaviour; (ii) configuring the environment to a more real life appearance.
The initial version of the environment should be enough to perform initial evaluations of a design. Configuring the environment amounts to defining in detail the physical objects present in the prototype. This will allow for a more realistic user experience. Early versions of the system will be based on a created catalogue of physical objects. The early worlds will be based on “off-the-shelf” components. The objective is to use intelligent algorithms to generate candidate objects on demand.
The case study used in phase 1 and 2 will be used to test the framework.
Associated tasks: Development of the basic animation framework; Development of the prototype generator; Development of the configuration generator (MSc); Extension to the CAVE (MSc); Extension to external devices (MSc);
Phase 3: Assessment
In this phase a study will be carried out regarding techniques for evaluating user experience within the prototypes. It is envisaged that both free and guided exploration of the constructed environments will be used. Approaches must be selected to determine user reaction when exposed to the environment to establish the fidelity of the prototype environment.
An existing ubiquitous computing system will be used as a case study. This will be selected from system implemented at Algoritmi. The case study will be carried out to assess the use of the developed infrastructure. The goal of the exercise will be three fold: (1) to assess the expressiveness of the selected modelling notation as a tool for ubiquitous computing systems modelling; (2) to assess the capabilities of the infrastructures as a tool for experience centred agile prototyping for ambient intelligence; (3) to explore the fidelity of these prototypes as a factor in evaluating the eventual human (usability and social) impact of the design. This will entail an analysis of the feasibility and effort involved in creating the prototypes, as well as a comparative analysis of user experience in the real system and in the prototypes. In parallel with this phase, but outside the scope of the project, Harrison will explore the expressiveness of the notation in terms of its capability for verification.
Associated tasks: Assessment
Tasks
T1 - RAMP: Requirements for ambient and mobile system prototypes
The goal of this task is to build an understanding of the requirements for a prototype that will enable users to experience the ubiquitous system sufficiently to be able to provide information about its suitability in a proposed target environment.
The analysis will be performed at two complementary levels. On the one hand, we need to understand what features the prototype should have to enable a sense of experiencing the eventual target environment. On the other hand, we need an understanding of the type of information, and software infrastructure needed to build prototypes that exhibit the required features.
Following from the state of the art produced previously by members of the team, it is a basic assumption of the project that at least some sort of virtual world representation of the envisaged system will be needed. This analysis will proceed through a review of relevant literature and through the definition of a case study. At this stage a library space, enriched with public displays and touch screens, RFID tags to determine the position of books and users, and capable of interacting with the users’ personal devices is envisaged. The infrastructure should enable users to more easily find the book of their choice, as well as provide them with tailored information regarding the library’s activities and contents.
T2 - DOMA: Development of modelling approach
The goal of this task is to develop the modelling approach for rapid prototype generation.
The approach should be expressive enough to make the generation of prototypes as automatable as possible, but abstract enough to enable a cycle of the rapid development, and throw away of different models cost-effective. The work carried out in the context of this task will be informed by the results of task T1.
The adoption of existing modelling languages will be preferred to the development of new languages. A preliminary literature review (mentioned in [22]) has enabled us to identify a number of candidate languages for the modelling and prototyping of ubiquitous systems. Based on the preliminary study it is envisaged that a combination of languages will be needed to cover both the architectural and behavioural levels of the systems. A choice has already bean made to use CPN as the basis for the behavioural models.
One aspect to consider is how to best integrate the notion of context into the modelling approach being devised.
T3 - PFD: Prototyping framework development
This task will develop a framework to support the simulation of ubiquitous systems. Prototypes will consist of virtual environments in which the users can navigate, and where they will interact with available (virtual) devices.
Framework development will be informed by the requirements identified in task T1.
A 3D application server will be used to fast track the development of the framework. This approach had the added value of enabling easy web dissemination of the prototypes, and of being relatively inexpensive in terms of required hardware. A typical desktop or laptop computer is capable of running the required software satisfactorily.
At this stage OpenSimulator has been identified as the best candidate. The reason for this is that it is an open source system, enabling a much wider range of possibilities regarding its configuration and extension. The main issues to consider are related to fact that the system is still under development, and the lack of adequate documentation. These
risks are minimised by the fact that expertise exists in the team regarding development for OpenSimulator.
An alternative could be the adoption of SecondLife. This system is commercial, which would increase the cost, and inevitably the practicality, of generalising the applicability of the approach. More relevant, however, is the fact that, because it is proprietary, SecondLife is a relatively closed system. This would make developing the framework harder to achieve.
The developed framework will support both implicit and explicit interaction. Implicit interaction will happen through virtual sensors that capture, for example, the position of the user in the space. Explicit interaction implies the availability of virtual devices presented in the simulation, for example, touch screens or simulated portable devices.
T4 - PGD: Prototypes generator development
This task will be responsible for producing the tool that will enable the animation of the models (expressed in the modelling notation selected in task T2) in the prototyping framework (developed in task T3).
Development of the tool will be informed by the requirements identified in task T1.
The tool will be responsible for generating a skeleton environment with mock-ups of the devices exhibiting adequate behaviour. At this stage a library of available objects will be used to ease the generation of the environment. Behaviour of the object can be partially pre-defined, but ultimately it will be specified in the model and will have to be generated. Detailed physical layout is not expected to be present in the models.
The generator will use a combination of modules programmed into the server’s back-end, with the already existing capabilities of interactively arranging objects in the world (provided by the 3D application server) to generate the prototypes in a semi-automatic fashion.
These prototypes will be enough to perform initial evaluations of prototypes. The case study defined in task T1 will be used to test the approach.
T5 - CGD: Configurations generator development
This task will be responsible for developing approaches and tools that will help generate prototypes with a more real life appearance. The results from tasks T2 and T3 will be used as a starting point.
To provide a more realistic appearance to the prototypes without requiring significant effort from designers, this task will explore interactive evolutionary computation approaches to 3D design and behaviour programming. The focus of this task will be on finding suitable parametric models of the objects that can be modelled in relation to the previous tasks. A focus will be to establish an understanding of the performance of different algorithms in the search for objects that are adequate for the user and the automatically-generated smart space configuration.
The case study from previous phases will continue to be used. In particular, this task will select a number of different objects from this case study for which a parametric model will be identified. For each object we will evaluate the outcome of the evolutionary computation approaches regarding the number of iterations to find a suitable object and the realism of the object found.
T6 - CD: CAVE deployment
The desktop approach, developed in tasks T3 and T4, makes it possible to generate prototypes rapidly, and to test them more economically. However, creating a sense of presence in such a setting might prove difficult. This task will be responsible for linking the prototyping framework to a CAVE system. This will enable a more immersive experience of the prototype, making it easier to create a sense of “being there”.
Although this task follows from tasks T3 and T4, development can in fact start independently from it if needed, since the major technical challenge is connecting OpenSimulator to the CAVE systems. The use of a programmatic interface to OpenSimulator enables the creation of a number of avatars that will provide the views to project on the CAVE.
A CAVE is available (at a cost) at Minho. The CAVE uses VR Juggler (http://www.vrjuggler.org/) which is a freely available open source virtual reality application development framework. Being available free of charge, its adoption by the project signifies a considerable cost reduction, when compared with the cost involved in acquiring licences for a commercial framework.
Given the cost of CAVE time, we need to maximize the utility of the time spent there. A triple head setup will also be put in place to simulate a CAVE scenario. This will allow us to carry out development and testing outside of the CAVE.
T7 - IMD: Integration with mobile devices
This task will be responsible for developing a solution to connect external devices to the virtual environments generated using the tool developed in tasks T3 and T4. As for task T7, the goal is to create conditions to enable a more realistic user experience. In this case we want to enable users of the prototypes (either at a desktop or at a CAVE) to interact with them via their own portable devices (see, for example, [24]). This will enable more realistic prototypes of the prototyped environments, contributing (especially when in a CAVE setting) to the creation of a sense of “being there”. Even in the case of a desktop setting, being able to use own portable devices will increase the ease of use and facilitate the interaction with the simulation.
As for task T6, although this task follows from tasks T3 and T4, development can start independently from it if needed. In this case, the major technical challenge is connecting OpenSimulator to the mobile systems. The connection will be achieved via Bluetooth. Members of the research team have significant practical experience at developing this type of system.
T8 - A: Assessment
There are two aspects to the Assessment task. The first is concerned with the expressiveness of tool (Tn.1) and will deal with the ability of the tool to provide models of realistic technologically enhanced environments. The second will be concerned with evaluating the proposed design with users.
Sub-Task T8.1
This evaluation will be achieved through the development of example systems. The first example that will be used to motivate the design of the tool will be a smart library. The evaluation will be based on an analysis of features: (1) the ease with which different notions of context could be expressed and the clarity and readability of the relevant elements of the model; (2) the availability of appropriate objects required to construct the environment; (3) the facility of the system to support the building of the environment based on binding the model to the chosen objects; (4) the facility of the system to support differing user perspectives. A second example will be chosen to achieve comparison with the original model. A candidate for the second example is a hospital out-patients guidance system, combined with accident and emergency. We will however choose from a number of alternatives as the project evolves.
Sub-Task T8.2
This evaluation will be achieved in stages.
Stage 1 (desktop with the library system)
A think-aloud approach will be used first to explore scenarios in relation to three conditions within the desk-top environment: (a) desk-top system using a disembodied view; (b) desk-top system with one user embodied within the system; (c) multiple users with one user embodied within the system.
Stage 2 (CAVE with the library system)
This will repeat (b) and (c) above. The aim of stages 1 and 2 is to get constructive formative feedback both about the design of the artifacts of the environment and the environment itself. Two subjects will be used in each condition and think-aloud feedback will be recorded and analysed, identifying significant issues in both the design of the simulations and the design of the system itself. Particular concerns will be to identify how well the users are able to “visualize” the experience that they would have of the real system.
Stage 3 (desktop and CAVE with second example)
Here users with recent experience of the currently existing system will be chosen (for example hospital out-patients). They will be asked to describe their recent experience in detail. The detail will form the basis for a scenario that will be used to explore the desktop environment. Hence the procedure will be to invite the subject to relive their experience using the new environment. The aim is to find ten subjects and to split them into two groups of five: one using the immersive version of the desktop system and the other using the CAVE system. A post-simulation questionnaire and interview will be used to explore the experience that they had with the new system in the two conditions. In addition we will ask the subjects to use “simulated” cultural probes [29] (they will use a clicker to indicate significant events) and will be asked afterwards in a run-through of their simulation what the significance of each event was.
It should be noted that controlled experiments are seen as inappropriate in the context of this project. Our aim is to derive formative qualitative data that can inform our understanding of the value of the design to explore the development of these environments.
-- JoseCampos - 09 Feb 2011
June 25, 2014 (Prototyping Ubicomp Environments - invited session at DAPI 2014)
Models as a Starting Point of Software Development for Smart Environments
Forbrig et al.
Prototyping Distributed Physical User Interfaces in Ambient Intelligence Setups
Varela et al.
Design and Evaluation of a Smart Library using the APEX Framework
Abade et al.
Constructing the Immersive Interactive Sonification Platform (iISoP)
Jeon et al.
Designing an Ambient Interaction Model for Mobile Computing
Elslander et al.
Towards a Design Space for Ubiquitous Computing
Shmorgun et al.
User Indoor Positioning System with Passive Infrared Motion Sensors and space Subdivision
Sioutis et al.
3rd year Project workshop
December 20, 2013 (DI-A2)
Responsive Web Design
Ana Sampaio
Geração de Ambientes Virtuais 3D
Tiago Gomes
2nd year Project workshop
November 6, 2012 (CPII, B2)
14h30
Rapid Prototyping of Ubiquitous Computing Environments
José Luís Silva
November 7, 2012 (DI, meeting room)
09h30
APEX project status
José Creissac Campos
09h40
Guidelines for Modelling Reactive Systems with Coloured Petri Nets
Madalena Pacheco
10h00
Simulating Ubiquitous Computing Environments
Samuel Moreira
10h20
Can GUI implementation markup languages be used for modelling?
Carlos Silva
10h40
A Java based PSM/PIM and pattern inference approach
Rui Couto
11h00
Discussion
Invited talk (DI, A1)
13h45
HCI for Safety Critical Interactive Applications: Commonalities and Differences between Air Traffic Control, Satelite Ground Segments and Large Civil Aircrafts Cockpits
Philippe Palanque
1st year Project workshop
September 27, 2011 (DI)
The APEX framework: current state
J.L. Silva
Simulation as an evaluation technique for Ubiquitous Computing Environments
R.J. José
The Laboratory of Visualization and Perception
J. Santos
Integrating a 3D application server with a CAVE
R. Moreira
Encouraging patient flow through a hospital environment
New paper accepted for publication at Int. J. Human-Computer Studies: Prototyping and Analysing Ubiquitous Computing Environments using Multiple Layers.
New paper at EAI Endorsed Transactions on Ambient Systems, A Virtual Environment based Serious Game to Support Health Education.
Two new MSc thesis: 3D Virtual Environments' Generation by Tiago Gomes and Responsive Web Design by Ana Isabel Sampaio.
Award: José Luís Silva's thesis won the Best Iberian Thesis Award! Congratulations.
New MSc thesis: Simulating Ubiquitous Computing Environments by Samuel Moreira
New PhD: Rapid Prototyping of Ubiquitous Computing Environments by José Luís Silva. Congratulations José!
Two new papers at SEW: Guidelines for Modelling Reactive Systems with Coloured Petri Nets by Gonçalves and Fernandes; and A Java based PSM/PIM and pattern inference approach by Couto el al.
New paper at MOMPES: MapIt: A model based pattern recovery tool by Couto et al.
New MSc thesis: Desenvolvimento de uma aplicação web para dispositivos móveis by Joaquim Anacleto
New paper at Formal H: Modelling and systematic analysis of interactive systems by M.D. Harrison et al.
New paper at EICS 2012: Formal analysis of Ubiquitous Computing environments through the APEX framework by J.L. Silva et al.
New MSc thesis: Integrating a 3D application server with a CAVE by Samuel Moreira
Project workshop happening next Tuesday (September 27, 2011).
Kick off meeting happened on the 2nd of February 2011.
Ubiquitous computing (Ubicomp) technologies are providing exciting new opportunities for enhancing physical spaces to support the needs and activities of people within them. The ability to develop such systems effectively will offer significant competitive advantage. Tools are required that will predict problems relating to use early in the design cycle. This proposal brings together a team of researchers and developers aimed at prototyping and calibrating methods and tools that facilitate the development of technology enhanced environments.
Ubiquitous computing systems pose new usability challenges that cut across all phases of design and development. We are particularly interested in “spaces” enhanced with sensors, public displays and personal devices. In evaluating and exploring these spaces it is not only necessary to explore conventional properties of usability but to explore properties of the environment that contribute to the experience of its users. Because of the potential cost of development and design failure, the characteristics of such systems must be explored using early versions of the system that could disrupt if used in the target environment. Being able to prototype and evaluate these systems early in the process is crucial to their successful development.
Similar work, e.g. UbiWorld [1], has a different focus in two important respects: (1) the proposed tool drives virtual environment simulations using models that can also be used for analysis; (2) context is a primary consideration in our models with a focus on how context affects the usability of the implicit interactions that are characteristic of these systems. No other research or development is addressing this problem in the context of a development process.
The PI has been researching the rigorous analysis of models of interactive systems [2, 3, 4] (c.f. the IVY workbench - POSC/EIA/56646/2004). More recent research has concerned extending models and analysis to an ambient intelligence setting. Models vary from qualitative models concerned with who gets what information when [5, 6] to quantitative models concerned with the behaviour of many users of technologically enhanced environments [7]. How users experience such systems is particularly difficult to capture analytically, and yet is an important dimension of concern. We propose to develop a model-based prototyping environment that will allow for a more empirical style of analysis.
3D Application Servers such as SecondLifeTM or OpenSimulator provide a fast track to developing virtual worlds. They seem a natural choice for developing the type of prototype we are aiming at. Preliminary explorations carried out by the proposers [8] indicate the potential of the approach. OpenSimulator, in particular, has the advantage of being open source. This means the backend can be programmed, making it highly configurable and extensible.
The goals of the project are to: 1) employ an existing 3D Application Server to construct a rapid prototyping platform of ubiquitous computing environments driven by a model of the environment; 2) develop frameworks for modelling these environments with a particular focus on context; 3) explore the fidelity of these prototypes as a factor in evaluating the eventual human (usability and social) impact of the design.
To fulfil its goals the project will develop a software framework enabling rapid prototyping of ubiquitous systems targeted at built environments. The framework will plug into virtual reality (VR) simulations of the environments, and allow for the integration of users' portable devices thus immersing users within the environment using a mixture of reality and virtuality. Developers and users will be able to navigate the simulation to develop an impression of what it will be like to use the final system once fielded. Different levels of fidelity will be explored, from desktop VR to a CAVE [9].
A criterion for the framework’s success will be its fidelity as an evaluation tool. Comparative analysis of the user experience on an implemented benchmark system, and on different prototypes will enable this evaluation. Evaluation approaches will be researched to determine how well a given prototype fairs in relation to experience requirements. Drivers that determine this fitness (e.g. user stories or experience snapshots) must be identified. It is envisaged that user-stories will not be sufficient. Techniques are required to complement existing user-stories that enable developers to explore these more general properties of systems. These could, for example, include the animation of task models, or potentially problematic behaviours identified by verification analysis [10].
Another question relates to the expressiveness of the modelling notation adopted. The modelling of the benchmark system, together with interaction with its developers, will be the basis for this analysis.
T. L. Disz, M. E. Papka, and R. Stevens. UbiWorld: An Environment Integrating Virtual Reality. Heterogeneous Computing Workshop, Geneva, Switzerland, 1997.
J. C. Campos and M. D. Harrison. Model Checking Interactor Specifications. Automated Software Engineering, 8(3):275-310, August, 2001.
J.C. Campos and M.D. Harrison. Considering context and users in interactive systems analysis. In Engineering Interactive Systems, volume 4940 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 193-209. Springer-Verlag. 2008.
J. C. Campos and M. D. Harrison. Systematic analysis of control panel interfaces using formal tools. In XVth International Workshop on the Design, Verification and Specification of Interactive Systems (DSV-IS 2008), number 5136 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 72-85. Springer-Verlag. 2008.
M.D. Harrison, C. Kray, Z. Sun, and H. Zhang. Factoring user experience into the design of ambient and mobile systems. In Engineering Interactive Systems, volume 4940 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 243-259. Springer, 2007.
Myrto Arapinis, Muffy Calder, Louise Denis, Michael Fisher, Philip Gray, Savas Konur, Alice Miller, Eike Ritter, Mark Ryan, Sven Schewe, Chris Unsworth, Rehana Yasmin. In Harrison and Massink (editors) Towards the Verification of Pervasive Systems. Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Formal Methods for Interactive Systems (FMIS 2009). Electronic Proceedings of the EASST Volume 22 (2009)
Harrison, M.D., Massink, M. and Latella, D. (2009) Engineering Crowd Interaction within Smart Environments, editors, G. Calvary, T.C.N. Graham and P. Gray, Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems, ACM Press, pp. 117-122.
Silva, J.L., Campos, J.C. and Harrison, M.D. An Infrastructure for Experience Centered Agile Prototyping of Ambient Intelligence In EICS'09. Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems, July 15- 17, 2009, Pittsburgh, PA, USA Calvary, G., Graham, T.C. N. and Gray, P. (eds.) pp 79-84 ACM , 2009
M. Slater and A. Steed. A virtual presence counter. Presence: teleoperators and virtual environments, 9(5):413.434, 2000.
M.D. Harrison, C. Kray, Z. Sun, and H. Zhang. Factoring user experience into the design of ambient and mobile systems. In Engineering Interactive Systems, volume 4940 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 243-259. Springer, 2007.
Design and Evaluation of a Smart Library using the APEX Framework. T. Abade, T. Gomes, J.L. Silva and J.C. Campos. In Distributed, Ambient, and Pervasive Interactions, volume 8530 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 307-318. Springer.
APEX-P21
Towards a Framework for Adaptive Web Applications. A. Sampaio and J.C. Campos. In HCI International 2014 - Posters' Extended Abstracts, volume 434 of Communications in Computer and Information Science, pages 240-245. Springer.
APEX-P20
Prototyping and Analysing Ubiquitous Computing Environments using Multiple Layers. J.L. Silva, J.C. Campos and M.D Harrison. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 72(5):488-506, May.
APEX-P19
A Virtual Environment based Serious Game to Support Health Education. T. Gomes, T. Abade, M.D. Harrison, J.C. Campos and J.L. Silva. EAI Endorsed Transactions on Ambient Systems, 14(3):e5, March, 2014. doi: 10.4108/amsys.1.3.e5
APEX-P18
Analysing interactive devices based on information resource constraints. J.C. Campos, G. Doherty and M.D. Harrison. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 72(3):284-297, March. 2014.
APEX-P17
Rapid Development of First Person Serious Games using the APEX Platform: The Asthma Game. T. Gomes, T. Abade, J.C. Campos, M.D. Harrison and J.L. Silva (forthcoming) In In ACM SAC 2014 proceedings - Volume I: Artificial Intelligence & Agents, Distributed Systems, and Information Systems, pages 169-174. ACM.
APEX-P16
Depth cues and perceived audiovisual synchrony of biological motion. C. Silva, C. Mendonça, S. Mouta, R. Silva, J.C. Campos and J. Santos (2013) PLoS? ONE, 8(11):e80096, November.
APEX-P15
Avaliação de Ambientes Ubíquos na Plataforma APEX. T. Abade, T. Gomes, J.L.Silva and J.C. Campos (2013) In Luís Magalhães and Beatriz Santos, editors, Atas da Conferência Interação 2013, pages 177-178. Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro. (Questionário)
APEX-P14
Desenvolvimento de Jogos Educativos na plataforma APEX: O Jogo da Asma. T. Gomes, T. Abade, J.L.Silva and J.C. Campos (2013) In Luís Magalhães and Beatriz Santos, editors, Atas da Conferência Interação 2013, pages 90-97. Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro.
APEX-P13
Developing Serious Games With The APEX Framework. T. Gomes, T. Abade, M.D. Harrison, J.L.Silva and J.C. Campos (2013) In In Proceedings of the Workshop on "Ubiquitous games and gamifiction for promoting behavior change and wellbeing", pages 37-40.
APEX-P12
Audiovisual Perception in a Virtual World: An Application of Human-Computer Interaction Evaluation to the Development of Immersive Environments. C. Silva (2013) In ACM SIGCHI Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems (EICS 2013), pages 175-178. ACM. doi: 10.1145/2494603.2480340
APEX-P11
Combining Static and Dynamic Analysis for the Reverse Engineering of Web Applications. C.E.Silva and J.C. Campos (2013) In EICS 2013. (accepted)
APEX-P10
A empirical study on immersive prototyping dimensions. S. Moreira, R. José and J.C. Campos (2013) In HCI International 2013. (accepted)
APEX-P09
The Mobile Context Framework: providing context to mobile applications. L. Oliveira, A.N. Ribeiro and J.C. Campos (2013) In HCI International 2013. (accepted)
APEX-P08
Reverse Engineering of GWT Applications. C.E. Silva (2012) In ACM Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems (EICS2012), pages 325-328. ACM.
APEX-P07
A Java based PSM/PIM and pattern inference approach. R. Couto, A.N. Ribeiro and J.C. Campos (2012) In SEW-35. (accepted)
APEX-P06
Guidelines for Modelling Reactive Systems with Coloured Petri Nets. M.P. Gonçalves and J.M. Fernandes (2012) In MOMPES 2012. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 7706, pp. 126-137.
APEX-P05
MapIt: A model based pattern recovery tool. R. Couto, A.N. Ribeiro and J.C. Campos (2012) In MOMPES 2012. (accepted)
APEX-P04
Can GUI implementation markup languages be used for modelling? C.E. Silva and J.C. Campos (2012) In Human Centred Software Engineering (HCSE 2012). (accepted)
APEX-P03
Modelling and systematic analysis of interactive systems. M.D. Harrison, J.C. Campos, P. Masci and N. Thomas (2012) In M.L. Bolton, A. Degani and P. Palanque, editors, Proceedings of the Workshop on Formal Methods in Human-Machine Interaction (Formal H), pages 25-28.
APEX-P02
Formal analysis of Ubiquitous Computing environments through the APEX framework. J.L. Silva, J.C. Campos and M.D. Harrison (2012) In ACM Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems (EICS2012), pages 131-140. ACM.
APEX-P01
FlexiXML - A portable user interface rendering engine for UsiXML. J.C. Campos and S.A. Mendes (2011) In User Interface Extensible Markup Language - UsiXML'2011, pages 158-168. Thales Research and Technology.
The APEX framework: prototyping of ubiquitous environments based on Petri nets. J. L. Silva, O. R. Ribeiro, J. M. Fernandes, J. C. Campos, and M. D: Harrison. APEX Technical report n. APEX-TR03, 2011. (previously published In R. Bernhaupt, P. Forbrig, J. Gulliksen and M.K. Lárusdóttir, editors, Human-Centred Software Engineering, volume 6409 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 6-21. Springer, 2010.)
APEX-TR02
Prototipagem rápida de ambientes ubíquos. J.L. Silva, O.R. Ribeiro, J.M. Fernandes, J.C. Campos, and M.D. Harrison. APEX Technical report n. APEX-TR02, 2011. (previously published In O. Mealha, J. Madeira, D. Tércio and B.S. Santos, editors, 4a. Conferência Nacional em Interacção Humano-Computador (Interacção 2010), pages 121-128. GPCG, 2010.)
TWiki's Research/APEX webThe Research/APEX web of TWiki. TWiki is a Web-Based Collaboration Platform for the Enterprise.http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEXCopyright 2020 by contributing authors2014-08-30T17:46:13ZPublicationshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Publications2014-08-30T17:46:13ZPublications Papers Ref. Paper APEX P22 Design and Evaluation of a Smart Library using the APEX Framework. T. Abade, T. Gomes, J.L. Silva and J.C. Campos ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposEventshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Events2014-08-29T16:54:05ZProject Events Final Project workshop June 25, 2014 (Prototyping Ubicomp Environments invited session at DAPI 2014) Models as a Starting Point ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposNewshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/News2014-02-05T23:36:35ZNews New paper accepted for publication at Int. J. Human Computer Studies: Prototyping and Analysing Ubiquitous Computing Environments using Multiple Layers ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposDocumentationhttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Documentation2014-02-02T16:38:41ZProject Documentation Here you can find project related documentation and work in progress material. APEX evaluation questionnaire: Questionario APEXv4.pdf ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposAwardshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Awards2013-10-11T17:12:45ZJoseCampos 11 Oct 2013 (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposInTheNewshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/InTheNews2013-10-11T17:09:55ZIn the News Pointers to who is talking about us. APEX team member, José Luís Silva, wins the award for Best Iberian ICT Thesis by the AISTI da UMinho ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposWebSideBarhttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebSideBar2013-10-11T16:30:53ZOverview Home Project Description APEX Team Research Team Job Opportunities Results Publications In the news Documents Project ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposWebHomehttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebHome2013-09-25T13:44:35ZAgile Prototyping for user EXperience This project aims at developing an 3D Application Server based rapid prototyping platform for ubiquitous computing environments ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposJobshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Jobs2013-05-31T14:45:25ZJob Opportunities No offers at the moment. (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposTeamhttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Team2013-05-15T10:39:15ZResearch Team Team members António Nestor Ribeiro (UM/HASLab) João Miguel Fernandes (UM/HASLab) José Creissac Campos (UM/HASLab PI) José Lu ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposWebPreferenceshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebPreferences2012-05-02T13:16:55ZResearch/APEX Web Preferences The following settings are web preferences of the Research/APEX web. These preferences overwrite the site level preferences in ... (last changed by JoseFaria)JoseFariaDescriptionhttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Description2011-02-11T00:47:39ZProject Description Plan and Methods The core problem addressed by this proposal is that of being able to test design ideas for ubiquitous environments during the ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposProjectSummaryhttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/ProjectSummary2011-02-10T10:53:11ZThe project in a Nutshell Ubiquitous computing (Ubicomp) technologies are providing exciting new opportunities for enhancing physical spaces to support the needs and ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposWebCsshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebCss2008-01-16T01:12:30Z.natMiddle .natExternalLink:after { margin left:0px; margin right:0px; content:""; } .natRevision { width:0px; height:0px; overflow:hidden; } .natBreadCrumbs ... (last changed by JoseBacelarAlmeida)JoseBacelarAlmeidaWebStatisticshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebStatistics2008-01-16T00:55:32ZStatistics for Research/APEX Web Month: Topic views: Topic saves: File uploads: Most popular topic views: Top contributors for topic save ... (last changed by JoseBacelarAlmeida)JoseBacelarAlmeidaWebTopicListhttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebTopicList2006-11-15T19:43:52Z (last changed by TWikiContributor)TWikiContributor
Publications Papers Ref. Paper APEX P22 Design and Evaluation of a Smart Library using the APEX Framework. T. Abade, T. Gomes, J.L. Silva and J.C. Campos ...
News New paper accepted for publication at Int. J. Human Computer Studies: Prototyping and Analysing Ubiquitous Computing Environments using Multiple Layers ...
Project Documentation Here you can find project related documentation and work in progress material. APEX evaluation questionnaire: Questionario APEXv4.pdf ...
In the News Pointers to who is talking about us. APEX team member, José Luís Silva, wins the award for Best Iberian ICT Thesis by the AISTI da UMinho ...
Agile Prototyping for user EXperience This project aims at developing an 3D Application Server based rapid prototyping platform for ubiquitous computing environments ...
Research/APEX Web Preferences The following settings are web preferences of the Research/APEX web. These preferences overwrite the site level preferences in ...
Project Description Plan and Methods The core problem addressed by this proposal is that of being able to test design ideas for ubiquitous environments during the ...
The project in a Nutshell Ubiquitous computing (Ubicomp) technologies are providing exciting new opportunities for enhancing physical spaces to support the needs and ...
This project aims at developing an 3D Application Server based rapid prototyping platform for ubiquitous computing environments, and to explore the fidelity of these prototypes as a factor in evaluating a design.
(read more)
Project info
Supported by
This work is funded by ERDF - European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-015095. (97 KEuro)
Project Description Plan and Methods The core problem addressed by this proposal is that of being able to test design ideas for ubiquitous environments during the ...
Project Documentation Here you can find project related documentation and work in progress material. APEX evaluation questionnaire: Questionario APEXv4.pdf ...
In the News Pointers to who is talking about us. APEX team member, José Luís Silva, wins the award for Best Iberian ICT Thesis by the AISTI da UMinho ...
News New paper accepted for publication at Int. J. Human Computer Studies: Prototyping and Analysing Ubiquitous Computing Environments using Multiple Layers ...
The project in a Nutshell Ubiquitous computing (Ubicomp) technologies are providing exciting new opportunities for enhancing physical spaces to support the needs and ...
Publications Papers Ref. Paper APEX P22 Design and Evaluation of a Smart Library using the APEX Framework. T. Abade, T. Gomes, J.L. Silva and J.C. Campos ...
Agile Prototyping for user EXperience This project aims at developing an 3D Application Server based rapid prototyping platform for ubiquitous computing environments ...
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Publications Papers Ref. Paper APEX P22 Design and Evaluation of a Smart Library using the APEX Framework. T. Abade, T. Gomes, J.L. Silva and J.C. Campos ... (last changed by JoseCampos)2014-08-30T17:46:13ZJoseCamposEvents
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Project Description Plan and Methods The core problem addressed by this proposal is that of being able to test design ideas for ubiquitous environments during the ... (last changed by JoseCampos)2011-02-11T00:47:39ZJoseCamposProjectSummary
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The core problem addressed by this proposal is that of being able to test design ideas for ubiquitous environments during the early phases of the design process. This implies that the analysis must be performed without the need to fully develop and install the envisaged system on location. Our proposal is to use a 3D Application Server as the basis for a prototyping framework that will enable agile development of simulations of the ubiquitous environment. This framework will enable different degrees of fidelity for the prototypes, from simple desktop simulations, to fully immersive experiences in a CAVE environment.
Having such a prototyping framework available will affect the development of ubiquitous systems by: a) detecting problems in the design of the systems much earlier in design and development; b) making it possible to test the system without access to the actual installation site. Both contribute to reductions in the cost of development and testing, while improving the quality of the final product.
The core of the work will be based at Minho/CCTC and will be supported by a PhD student (with grant SFRH/BD/41179/2007 from FCT) working under the co-supervision of the PI at Minho and Michael Harrison based at Newcastle but an honorary professor at Minho. Minho/CCTC has a strong reputation for modelling and analysis. A CAVE at the Computer Graphics Center in Minho will be made available to the project (at a cost). Minho/Algoritmi brings to the project expertise in ubiquitous systems development. The consultant, Jorge Santos from CPsi (Minho) provides expertise in Psychology, and in particular in user testing within the CAVE at CCG.
The work plan is divided into four phases. The phases are organized so that the work starts with more conceptual work (reviewing and analysis), and gradually moves into more practical work (leading to an applied case study).
Phase 1: Analysis
A modelling approach based on CPN [27] will be developed. The focus will be on modelling for rapid prototyping, and the modelling of user context. It is envisaged that languages will be needed for modelling both the architectural and behavioural aspects of the ubiquitous systems. It is envisaged that further development of the approach will lead to the use of a combination of notations. The selection of the languages will be preceded by an analysis of the requirements for the prototyping of ubiquitous systems (system centric view), and the requirements for experience prototyping (user centric view).
Associated tasks: Analysis of requirements for experience prototypes; Development of modelling approach.
Phase 2: Development of the 3D prototyping framework
A framework will be developed, enabling the simulation of environments enhanced with sensors and displays in which the user can move and interact, both explicitly and implicitly, to access services. Interaction will be supported both through the virtual environment and through personal devices connected to the system via Bluetooth.
This phase encompasses two main challenges: (a) developing a framework to support the animation of the prototypes; (b) developing a prototype generation engine that is capable of building ubiquitous environments from models expressed in the selected modelling notations as described in phase 1.
The framework will be developed in OpenSimulator. A 3D application server such as OpenSimulator will make it easier to create the virtual environments, and has the added advantage of making it easy to deploy the prototypes to distributed users. When combined with a desktop computer to navigate the world, it is also a low cost approach since hardware and software requirements are low. The desktop approach however, makes it harder to create a sense of presence. Presence will be addressed by connecting the system developed on a desktop to external devices and to a CAVE system. This will enable more realistic prototypes of the prototyped environments with the aim of making it easier to create a sense of “being there”.
Although the development of the OpenSimulator based prototyping framework is crucial, development of the other aspects can start independently from it if needed, since the major technical challenge is connecting OpenSimulator to external systems. A CAVE is available at Minho.
Two issues must be addressed in creating a prototype: (i) generating the skeleton environment with mock-ups of the devices exhibiting adequate behaviour; (ii) configuring the environment to a more real life appearance.
The initial version of the environment should be enough to perform initial evaluations of a design. Configuring the environment amounts to defining in detail the physical objects present in the prototype. This will allow for a more realistic user experience. Early versions of the system will be based on a created catalogue of physical objects. The early worlds will be based on “off-the-shelf” components. The objective is to use intelligent algorithms to generate candidate objects on demand.
The case study used in phase 1 and 2 will be used to test the framework.
Associated tasks: Development of the basic animation framework; Development of the prototype generator; Development of the configuration generator (MSc); Extension to the CAVE (MSc); Extension to external devices (MSc);
Phase 3: Assessment
In this phase a study will be carried out regarding techniques for evaluating user experience within the prototypes. It is envisaged that both free and guided exploration of the constructed environments will be used. Approaches must be selected to determine user reaction when exposed to the environment to establish the fidelity of the prototype environment.
An existing ubiquitous computing system will be used as a case study. This will be selected from system implemented at Algoritmi. The case study will be carried out to assess the use of the developed infrastructure. The goal of the exercise will be three fold: (1) to assess the expressiveness of the selected modelling notation as a tool for ubiquitous computing systems modelling; (2) to assess the capabilities of the infrastructures as a tool for experience centred agile prototyping for ambient intelligence; (3) to explore the fidelity of these prototypes as a factor in evaluating the eventual human (usability and social) impact of the design. This will entail an analysis of the feasibility and effort involved in creating the prototypes, as well as a comparative analysis of user experience in the real system and in the prototypes. In parallel with this phase, but outside the scope of the project, Harrison will explore the expressiveness of the notation in terms of its capability for verification.
Associated tasks: Assessment
Tasks
T1 - RAMP: Requirements for ambient and mobile system prototypes
The goal of this task is to build an understanding of the requirements for a prototype that will enable users to experience the ubiquitous system sufficiently to be able to provide information about its suitability in a proposed target environment.
The analysis will be performed at two complementary levels. On the one hand, we need to understand what features the prototype should have to enable a sense of experiencing the eventual target environment. On the other hand, we need an understanding of the type of information, and software infrastructure needed to build prototypes that exhibit the required features.
Following from the state of the art produced previously by members of the team, it is a basic assumption of the project that at least some sort of virtual world representation of the envisaged system will be needed. This analysis will proceed through a review of relevant literature and through the definition of a case study. At this stage a library space, enriched with public displays and touch screens, RFID tags to determine the position of books and users, and capable of interacting with the users’ personal devices is envisaged. The infrastructure should enable users to more easily find the book of their choice, as well as provide them with tailored information regarding the library’s activities and contents.
T2 - DOMA: Development of modelling approach
The goal of this task is to develop the modelling approach for rapid prototype generation.
The approach should be expressive enough to make the generation of prototypes as automatable as possible, but abstract enough to enable a cycle of the rapid development, and throw away of different models cost-effective. The work carried out in the context of this task will be informed by the results of task T1.
The adoption of existing modelling languages will be preferred to the development of new languages. A preliminary literature review (mentioned in [22]) has enabled us to identify a number of candidate languages for the modelling and prototyping of ubiquitous systems. Based on the preliminary study it is envisaged that a combination of languages will be needed to cover both the architectural and behavioural levels of the systems. A choice has already bean made to use CPN as the basis for the behavioural models.
One aspect to consider is how to best integrate the notion of context into the modelling approach being devised.
T3 - PFD: Prototyping framework development
This task will develop a framework to support the simulation of ubiquitous systems. Prototypes will consist of virtual environments in which the users can navigate, and where they will interact with available (virtual) devices.
Framework development will be informed by the requirements identified in task T1.
A 3D application server will be used to fast track the development of the framework. This approach had the added value of enabling easy web dissemination of the prototypes, and of being relatively inexpensive in terms of required hardware. A typical desktop or laptop computer is capable of running the required software satisfactorily.
At this stage OpenSimulator has been identified as the best candidate. The reason for this is that it is an open source system, enabling a much wider range of possibilities regarding its configuration and extension. The main issues to consider are related to fact that the system is still under development, and the lack of adequate documentation. These
risks are minimised by the fact that expertise exists in the team regarding development for OpenSimulator.
An alternative could be the adoption of SecondLife. This system is commercial, which would increase the cost, and inevitably the practicality, of generalising the applicability of the approach. More relevant, however, is the fact that, because it is proprietary, SecondLife is a relatively closed system. This would make developing the framework harder to achieve.
The developed framework will support both implicit and explicit interaction. Implicit interaction will happen through virtual sensors that capture, for example, the position of the user in the space. Explicit interaction implies the availability of virtual devices presented in the simulation, for example, touch screens or simulated portable devices.
T4 - PGD: Prototypes generator development
This task will be responsible for producing the tool that will enable the animation of the models (expressed in the modelling notation selected in task T2) in the prototyping framework (developed in task T3).
Development of the tool will be informed by the requirements identified in task T1.
The tool will be responsible for generating a skeleton environment with mock-ups of the devices exhibiting adequate behaviour. At this stage a library of available objects will be used to ease the generation of the environment. Behaviour of the object can be partially pre-defined, but ultimately it will be specified in the model and will have to be generated. Detailed physical layout is not expected to be present in the models.
The generator will use a combination of modules programmed into the server’s back-end, with the already existing capabilities of interactively arranging objects in the world (provided by the 3D application server) to generate the prototypes in a semi-automatic fashion.
These prototypes will be enough to perform initial evaluations of prototypes. The case study defined in task T1 will be used to test the approach.
T5 - CGD: Configurations generator development
This task will be responsible for developing approaches and tools that will help generate prototypes with a more real life appearance. The results from tasks T2 and T3 will be used as a starting point.
To provide a more realistic appearance to the prototypes without requiring significant effort from designers, this task will explore interactive evolutionary computation approaches to 3D design and behaviour programming. The focus of this task will be on finding suitable parametric models of the objects that can be modelled in relation to the previous tasks. A focus will be to establish an understanding of the performance of different algorithms in the search for objects that are adequate for the user and the automatically-generated smart space configuration.
The case study from previous phases will continue to be used. In particular, this task will select a number of different objects from this case study for which a parametric model will be identified. For each object we will evaluate the outcome of the evolutionary computation approaches regarding the number of iterations to find a suitable object and the realism of the object found.
T6 - CD: CAVE deployment
The desktop approach, developed in tasks T3 and T4, makes it possible to generate prototypes rapidly, and to test them more economically. However, creating a sense of presence in such a setting might prove difficult. This task will be responsible for linking the prototyping framework to a CAVE system. This will enable a more immersive experience of the prototype, making it easier to create a sense of “being there”.
Although this task follows from tasks T3 and T4, development can in fact start independently from it if needed, since the major technical challenge is connecting OpenSimulator to the CAVE systems. The use of a programmatic interface to OpenSimulator enables the creation of a number of avatars that will provide the views to project on the CAVE.
A CAVE is available (at a cost) at Minho. The CAVE uses VR Juggler (http://www.vrjuggler.org/) which is a freely available open source virtual reality application development framework. Being available free of charge, its adoption by the project signifies a considerable cost reduction, when compared with the cost involved in acquiring licences for a commercial framework.
Given the cost of CAVE time, we need to maximize the utility of the time spent there. A triple head setup will also be put in place to simulate a CAVE scenario. This will allow us to carry out development and testing outside of the CAVE.
T7 - IMD: Integration with mobile devices
This task will be responsible for developing a solution to connect external devices to the virtual environments generated using the tool developed in tasks T3 and T4. As for task T7, the goal is to create conditions to enable a more realistic user experience. In this case we want to enable users of the prototypes (either at a desktop or at a CAVE) to interact with them via their own portable devices (see, for example, [24]). This will enable more realistic prototypes of the prototyped environments, contributing (especially when in a CAVE setting) to the creation of a sense of “being there”. Even in the case of a desktop setting, being able to use own portable devices will increase the ease of use and facilitate the interaction with the simulation.
As for task T6, although this task follows from tasks T3 and T4, development can start independently from it if needed. In this case, the major technical challenge is connecting OpenSimulator to the mobile systems. The connection will be achieved via Bluetooth. Members of the research team have significant practical experience at developing this type of system.
T8 - A: Assessment
There are two aspects to the Assessment task. The first is concerned with the expressiveness of tool (Tn.1) and will deal with the ability of the tool to provide models of realistic technologically enhanced environments. The second will be concerned with evaluating the proposed design with users.
Sub-Task T8.1
This evaluation will be achieved through the development of example systems. The first example that will be used to motivate the design of the tool will be a smart library. The evaluation will be based on an analysis of features: (1) the ease with which different notions of context could be expressed and the clarity and readability of the relevant elements of the model; (2) the availability of appropriate objects required to construct the environment; (3) the facility of the system to support the building of the environment based on binding the model to the chosen objects; (4) the facility of the system to support differing user perspectives. A second example will be chosen to achieve comparison with the original model. A candidate for the second example is a hospital out-patients guidance system, combined with accident and emergency. We will however choose from a number of alternatives as the project evolves.
Sub-Task T8.2
This evaluation will be achieved in stages.
Stage 1 (desktop with the library system)
A think-aloud approach will be used first to explore scenarios in relation to three conditions within the desk-top environment: (a) desk-top system using a disembodied view; (b) desk-top system with one user embodied within the system; (c) multiple users with one user embodied within the system.
Stage 2 (CAVE with the library system)
This will repeat (b) and (c) above. The aim of stages 1 and 2 is to get constructive formative feedback both about the design of the artifacts of the environment and the environment itself. Two subjects will be used in each condition and think-aloud feedback will be recorded and analysed, identifying significant issues in both the design of the simulations and the design of the system itself. Particular concerns will be to identify how well the users are able to “visualize” the experience that they would have of the real system.
Stage 3 (desktop and CAVE with second example)
Here users with recent experience of the currently existing system will be chosen (for example hospital out-patients). They will be asked to describe their recent experience in detail. The detail will form the basis for a scenario that will be used to explore the desktop environment. Hence the procedure will be to invite the subject to relive their experience using the new environment. The aim is to find ten subjects and to split them into two groups of five: one using the immersive version of the desktop system and the other using the CAVE system. A post-simulation questionnaire and interview will be used to explore the experience that they had with the new system in the two conditions. In addition we will ask the subjects to use “simulated” cultural probes [29] (they will use a clicker to indicate significant events) and will be asked afterwards in a run-through of their simulation what the significance of each event was.
It should be noted that controlled experiments are seen as inappropriate in the context of this project. Our aim is to derive formative qualitative data that can inform our understanding of the value of the design to explore the development of these environments.
-- JoseCampos - 09 Feb 2011
June 25, 2014 (Prototyping Ubicomp Environments - invited session at DAPI 2014)
Models as a Starting Point of Software Development for Smart Environments
Forbrig et al.
Prototyping Distributed Physical User Interfaces in Ambient Intelligence Setups
Varela et al.
Design and Evaluation of a Smart Library using the APEX Framework
Abade et al.
Constructing the Immersive Interactive Sonification Platform (iISoP)
Jeon et al.
Designing an Ambient Interaction Model for Mobile Computing
Elslander et al.
Towards a Design Space for Ubiquitous Computing
Shmorgun et al.
User Indoor Positioning System with Passive Infrared Motion Sensors and space Subdivision
Sioutis et al.
3rd year Project workshop
December 20, 2013 (DI-A2)
Responsive Web Design
Ana Sampaio
Geração de Ambientes Virtuais 3D
Tiago Gomes
2nd year Project workshop
November 6, 2012 (CPII, B2)
14h30
Rapid Prototyping of Ubiquitous Computing Environments
José Luís Silva
November 7, 2012 (DI, meeting room)
09h30
APEX project status
José Creissac Campos
09h40
Guidelines for Modelling Reactive Systems with Coloured Petri Nets
Madalena Pacheco
10h00
Simulating Ubiquitous Computing Environments
Samuel Moreira
10h20
Can GUI implementation markup languages be used for modelling?
Carlos Silva
10h40
A Java based PSM/PIM and pattern inference approach
Rui Couto
11h00
Discussion
Invited talk (DI, A1)
13h45
HCI for Safety Critical Interactive Applications: Commonalities and Differences between Air Traffic Control, Satelite Ground Segments and Large Civil Aircrafts Cockpits
Philippe Palanque
1st year Project workshop
September 27, 2011 (DI)
The APEX framework: current state
J.L. Silva
Simulation as an evaluation technique for Ubiquitous Computing Environments
R.J. José
The Laboratory of Visualization and Perception
J. Santos
Integrating a 3D application server with a CAVE
R. Moreira
Encouraging patient flow through a hospital environment
New paper accepted for publication at Int. J. Human-Computer Studies: Prototyping and Analysing Ubiquitous Computing Environments using Multiple Layers.
New paper at EAI Endorsed Transactions on Ambient Systems, A Virtual Environment based Serious Game to Support Health Education.
Two new MSc thesis: 3D Virtual Environments' Generation by Tiago Gomes and Responsive Web Design by Ana Isabel Sampaio.
Award: José Luís Silva's thesis won the Best Iberian Thesis Award! Congratulations.
New MSc thesis: Simulating Ubiquitous Computing Environments by Samuel Moreira
New PhD: Rapid Prototyping of Ubiquitous Computing Environments by José Luís Silva. Congratulations José!
Two new papers at SEW: Guidelines for Modelling Reactive Systems with Coloured Petri Nets by Gonçalves and Fernandes; and A Java based PSM/PIM and pattern inference approach by Couto el al.
New paper at MOMPES: MapIt: A model based pattern recovery tool by Couto et al.
New MSc thesis: Desenvolvimento de uma aplicação web para dispositivos móveis by Joaquim Anacleto
New paper at Formal H: Modelling and systematic analysis of interactive systems by M.D. Harrison et al.
New paper at EICS 2012: Formal analysis of Ubiquitous Computing environments through the APEX framework by J.L. Silva et al.
New MSc thesis: Integrating a 3D application server with a CAVE by Samuel Moreira
Project workshop happening next Tuesday (September 27, 2011).
Kick off meeting happened on the 2nd of February 2011.
Ubiquitous computing (Ubicomp) technologies are providing exciting new opportunities for enhancing physical spaces to support the needs and activities of people within them. The ability to develop such systems effectively will offer significant competitive advantage. Tools are required that will predict problems relating to use early in the design cycle. This proposal brings together a team of researchers and developers aimed at prototyping and calibrating methods and tools that facilitate the development of technology enhanced environments.
Ubiquitous computing systems pose new usability challenges that cut across all phases of design and development. We are particularly interested in “spaces” enhanced with sensors, public displays and personal devices. In evaluating and exploring these spaces it is not only necessary to explore conventional properties of usability but to explore properties of the environment that contribute to the experience of its users. Because of the potential cost of development and design failure, the characteristics of such systems must be explored using early versions of the system that could disrupt if used in the target environment. Being able to prototype and evaluate these systems early in the process is crucial to their successful development.
Similar work, e.g. UbiWorld [1], has a different focus in two important respects: (1) the proposed tool drives virtual environment simulations using models that can also be used for analysis; (2) context is a primary consideration in our models with a focus on how context affects the usability of the implicit interactions that are characteristic of these systems. No other research or development is addressing this problem in the context of a development process.
The PI has been researching the rigorous analysis of models of interactive systems [2, 3, 4] (c.f. the IVY workbench - POSC/EIA/56646/2004). More recent research has concerned extending models and analysis to an ambient intelligence setting. Models vary from qualitative models concerned with who gets what information when [5, 6] to quantitative models concerned with the behaviour of many users of technologically enhanced environments [7]. How users experience such systems is particularly difficult to capture analytically, and yet is an important dimension of concern. We propose to develop a model-based prototyping environment that will allow for a more empirical style of analysis.
3D Application Servers such as SecondLifeTM or OpenSimulator provide a fast track to developing virtual worlds. They seem a natural choice for developing the type of prototype we are aiming at. Preliminary explorations carried out by the proposers [8] indicate the potential of the approach. OpenSimulator, in particular, has the advantage of being open source. This means the backend can be programmed, making it highly configurable and extensible.
The goals of the project are to: 1) employ an existing 3D Application Server to construct a rapid prototyping platform of ubiquitous computing environments driven by a model of the environment; 2) develop frameworks for modelling these environments with a particular focus on context; 3) explore the fidelity of these prototypes as a factor in evaluating the eventual human (usability and social) impact of the design.
To fulfil its goals the project will develop a software framework enabling rapid prototyping of ubiquitous systems targeted at built environments. The framework will plug into virtual reality (VR) simulations of the environments, and allow for the integration of users' portable devices thus immersing users within the environment using a mixture of reality and virtuality. Developers and users will be able to navigate the simulation to develop an impression of what it will be like to use the final system once fielded. Different levels of fidelity will be explored, from desktop VR to a CAVE [9].
A criterion for the framework’s success will be its fidelity as an evaluation tool. Comparative analysis of the user experience on an implemented benchmark system, and on different prototypes will enable this evaluation. Evaluation approaches will be researched to determine how well a given prototype fairs in relation to experience requirements. Drivers that determine this fitness (e.g. user stories or experience snapshots) must be identified. It is envisaged that user-stories will not be sufficient. Techniques are required to complement existing user-stories that enable developers to explore these more general properties of systems. These could, for example, include the animation of task models, or potentially problematic behaviours identified by verification analysis [10].
Another question relates to the expressiveness of the modelling notation adopted. The modelling of the benchmark system, together with interaction with its developers, will be the basis for this analysis.
T. L. Disz, M. E. Papka, and R. Stevens. UbiWorld: An Environment Integrating Virtual Reality. Heterogeneous Computing Workshop, Geneva, Switzerland, 1997.
J. C. Campos and M. D. Harrison. Model Checking Interactor Specifications. Automated Software Engineering, 8(3):275-310, August, 2001.
J.C. Campos and M.D. Harrison. Considering context and users in interactive systems analysis. In Engineering Interactive Systems, volume 4940 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 193-209. Springer-Verlag. 2008.
J. C. Campos and M. D. Harrison. Systematic analysis of control panel interfaces using formal tools. In XVth International Workshop on the Design, Verification and Specification of Interactive Systems (DSV-IS 2008), number 5136 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 72-85. Springer-Verlag. 2008.
M.D. Harrison, C. Kray, Z. Sun, and H. Zhang. Factoring user experience into the design of ambient and mobile systems. In Engineering Interactive Systems, volume 4940 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 243-259. Springer, 2007.
Myrto Arapinis, Muffy Calder, Louise Denis, Michael Fisher, Philip Gray, Savas Konur, Alice Miller, Eike Ritter, Mark Ryan, Sven Schewe, Chris Unsworth, Rehana Yasmin. In Harrison and Massink (editors) Towards the Verification of Pervasive Systems. Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Formal Methods for Interactive Systems (FMIS 2009). Electronic Proceedings of the EASST Volume 22 (2009)
Harrison, M.D., Massink, M. and Latella, D. (2009) Engineering Crowd Interaction within Smart Environments, editors, G. Calvary, T.C.N. Graham and P. Gray, Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems, ACM Press, pp. 117-122.
Silva, J.L., Campos, J.C. and Harrison, M.D. An Infrastructure for Experience Centered Agile Prototyping of Ambient Intelligence In EICS'09. Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems, July 15- 17, 2009, Pittsburgh, PA, USA Calvary, G., Graham, T.C. N. and Gray, P. (eds.) pp 79-84 ACM , 2009
M. Slater and A. Steed. A virtual presence counter. Presence: teleoperators and virtual environments, 9(5):413.434, 2000.
M.D. Harrison, C. Kray, Z. Sun, and H. Zhang. Factoring user experience into the design of ambient and mobile systems. In Engineering Interactive Systems, volume 4940 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 243-259. Springer, 2007.
Design and Evaluation of a Smart Library using the APEX Framework. T. Abade, T. Gomes, J.L. Silva and J.C. Campos. In Distributed, Ambient, and Pervasive Interactions, volume 8530 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 307-318. Springer.
APEX-P21
Towards a Framework for Adaptive Web Applications. A. Sampaio and J.C. Campos. In HCI International 2014 - Posters' Extended Abstracts, volume 434 of Communications in Computer and Information Science, pages 240-245. Springer.
APEX-P20
Prototyping and Analysing Ubiquitous Computing Environments using Multiple Layers. J.L. Silva, J.C. Campos and M.D Harrison. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 72(5):488-506, May.
APEX-P19
A Virtual Environment based Serious Game to Support Health Education. T. Gomes, T. Abade, M.D. Harrison, J.C. Campos and J.L. Silva. EAI Endorsed Transactions on Ambient Systems, 14(3):e5, March, 2014. doi: 10.4108/amsys.1.3.e5
APEX-P18
Analysing interactive devices based on information resource constraints. J.C. Campos, G. Doherty and M.D. Harrison. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 72(3):284-297, March. 2014.
APEX-P17
Rapid Development of First Person Serious Games using the APEX Platform: The Asthma Game. T. Gomes, T. Abade, J.C. Campos, M.D. Harrison and J.L. Silva (forthcoming) In In ACM SAC 2014 proceedings - Volume I: Artificial Intelligence & Agents, Distributed Systems, and Information Systems, pages 169-174. ACM.
APEX-P16
Depth cues and perceived audiovisual synchrony of biological motion. C. Silva, C. Mendonça, S. Mouta, R. Silva, J.C. Campos and J. Santos (2013) PLoS? ONE, 8(11):e80096, November.
APEX-P15
Avaliação de Ambientes Ubíquos na Plataforma APEX. T. Abade, T. Gomes, J.L.Silva and J.C. Campos (2013) In Luís Magalhães and Beatriz Santos, editors, Atas da Conferência Interação 2013, pages 177-178. Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro. (Questionário)
APEX-P14
Desenvolvimento de Jogos Educativos na plataforma APEX: O Jogo da Asma. T. Gomes, T. Abade, J.L.Silva and J.C. Campos (2013) In Luís Magalhães and Beatriz Santos, editors, Atas da Conferência Interação 2013, pages 90-97. Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro.
APEX-P13
Developing Serious Games With The APEX Framework. T. Gomes, T. Abade, M.D. Harrison, J.L.Silva and J.C. Campos (2013) In In Proceedings of the Workshop on "Ubiquitous games and gamifiction for promoting behavior change and wellbeing", pages 37-40.
APEX-P12
Audiovisual Perception in a Virtual World: An Application of Human-Computer Interaction Evaluation to the Development of Immersive Environments. C. Silva (2013) In ACM SIGCHI Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems (EICS 2013), pages 175-178. ACM. doi: 10.1145/2494603.2480340
APEX-P11
Combining Static and Dynamic Analysis for the Reverse Engineering of Web Applications. C.E.Silva and J.C. Campos (2013) In EICS 2013. (accepted)
APEX-P10
A empirical study on immersive prototyping dimensions. S. Moreira, R. José and J.C. Campos (2013) In HCI International 2013. (accepted)
APEX-P09
The Mobile Context Framework: providing context to mobile applications. L. Oliveira, A.N. Ribeiro and J.C. Campos (2013) In HCI International 2013. (accepted)
APEX-P08
Reverse Engineering of GWT Applications. C.E. Silva (2012) In ACM Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems (EICS2012), pages 325-328. ACM.
APEX-P07
A Java based PSM/PIM and pattern inference approach. R. Couto, A.N. Ribeiro and J.C. Campos (2012) In SEW-35. (accepted)
APEX-P06
Guidelines for Modelling Reactive Systems with Coloured Petri Nets. M.P. Gonçalves and J.M. Fernandes (2012) In MOMPES 2012. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 7706, pp. 126-137.
APEX-P05
MapIt: A model based pattern recovery tool. R. Couto, A.N. Ribeiro and J.C. Campos (2012) In MOMPES 2012. (accepted)
APEX-P04
Can GUI implementation markup languages be used for modelling? C.E. Silva and J.C. Campos (2012) In Human Centred Software Engineering (HCSE 2012). (accepted)
APEX-P03
Modelling and systematic analysis of interactive systems. M.D. Harrison, J.C. Campos, P. Masci and N. Thomas (2012) In M.L. Bolton, A. Degani and P. Palanque, editors, Proceedings of the Workshop on Formal Methods in Human-Machine Interaction (Formal H), pages 25-28.
APEX-P02
Formal analysis of Ubiquitous Computing environments through the APEX framework. J.L. Silva, J.C. Campos and M.D. Harrison (2012) In ACM Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems (EICS2012), pages 131-140. ACM.
APEX-P01
FlexiXML - A portable user interface rendering engine for UsiXML. J.C. Campos and S.A. Mendes (2011) In User Interface Extensible Markup Language - UsiXML'2011, pages 158-168. Thales Research and Technology.
The APEX framework: prototyping of ubiquitous environments based on Petri nets. J. L. Silva, O. R. Ribeiro, J. M. Fernandes, J. C. Campos, and M. D: Harrison. APEX Technical report n. APEX-TR03, 2011. (previously published In R. Bernhaupt, P. Forbrig, J. Gulliksen and M.K. Lárusdóttir, editors, Human-Centred Software Engineering, volume 6409 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 6-21. Springer, 2010.)
APEX-TR02
Prototipagem rápida de ambientes ubíquos. J.L. Silva, O.R. Ribeiro, J.M. Fernandes, J.C. Campos, and M.D. Harrison. APEX Technical report n. APEX-TR02, 2011. (previously published In O. Mealha, J. Madeira, D. Tércio and B.S. Santos, editors, 4a. Conferência Nacional em Interacção Humano-Computador (Interacção 2010), pages 121-128. GPCG, 2010.)
TWiki's Research/APEX webThe Research/APEX web of TWiki. TWiki is a Web-Based Collaboration Platform for the Enterprise.http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEXCopyright 2020 by contributing authors2014-08-30T17:46:13ZPublicationshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Publications2014-08-30T17:46:13ZPublications Papers Ref. Paper APEX P22 Design and Evaluation of a Smart Library using the APEX Framework. T. Abade, T. Gomes, J.L. Silva and J.C. Campos ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposEventshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Events2014-08-29T16:54:05ZProject Events Final Project workshop June 25, 2014 (Prototyping Ubicomp Environments invited session at DAPI 2014) Models as a Starting Point ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposNewshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/News2014-02-05T23:36:35ZNews New paper accepted for publication at Int. J. Human Computer Studies: Prototyping and Analysing Ubiquitous Computing Environments using Multiple Layers ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposDocumentationhttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Documentation2014-02-02T16:38:41ZProject Documentation Here you can find project related documentation and work in progress material. APEX evaluation questionnaire: Questionario APEXv4.pdf ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposAwardshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Awards2013-10-11T17:12:45ZJoseCampos 11 Oct 2013 (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposInTheNewshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/InTheNews2013-10-11T17:09:55ZIn the News Pointers to who is talking about us. APEX team member, José Luís Silva, wins the award for Best Iberian ICT Thesis by the AISTI da UMinho ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposWebSideBarhttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebSideBar2013-10-11T16:30:53ZOverview Home Project Description APEX Team Research Team Job Opportunities Results Publications In the news Documents Project ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposWebHomehttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebHome2013-09-25T13:44:35ZAgile Prototyping for user EXperience This project aims at developing an 3D Application Server based rapid prototyping platform for ubiquitous computing environments ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposJobshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Jobs2013-05-31T14:45:25ZJob Opportunities No offers at the moment. (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposTeamhttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Team2013-05-15T10:39:15ZResearch Team Team members António Nestor Ribeiro (UM/HASLab) João Miguel Fernandes (UM/HASLab) José Creissac Campos (UM/HASLab PI) José Lu ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposWebPreferenceshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebPreferences2012-05-02T13:16:55ZResearch/APEX Web Preferences The following settings are web preferences of the Research/APEX web. These preferences overwrite the site level preferences in ... (last changed by JoseFaria)JoseFariaDescriptionhttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Description2011-02-11T00:47:39ZProject Description Plan and Methods The core problem addressed by this proposal is that of being able to test design ideas for ubiquitous environments during the ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposProjectSummaryhttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/ProjectSummary2011-02-10T10:53:11ZThe project in a Nutshell Ubiquitous computing (Ubicomp) technologies are providing exciting new opportunities for enhancing physical spaces to support the needs and ... (last changed by JoseCampos)JoseCamposWebCsshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebCss2008-01-16T01:12:30Z.natMiddle .natExternalLink:after { margin left:0px; margin right:0px; content:""; } .natRevision { width:0px; height:0px; overflow:hidden; } .natBreadCrumbs ... (last changed by JoseBacelarAlmeida)JoseBacelarAlmeidaWebStatisticshttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebStatistics2008-01-16T00:55:32ZStatistics for Research/APEX Web Month: Topic views: Topic saves: File uploads: Most popular topic views: Top contributors for topic save ... (last changed by JoseBacelarAlmeida)JoseBacelarAlmeidaWebTopicListhttp://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebTopicList2006-11-15T19:43:52Z (last changed by TWikiContributor)TWikiContributor
Publications Papers Ref. Paper APEX P22 Design and Evaluation of a Smart Library using the APEX Framework. T. Abade, T. Gomes, J.L. Silva and J.C. Campos ...
News New paper accepted for publication at Int. J. Human Computer Studies: Prototyping and Analysing Ubiquitous Computing Environments using Multiple Layers ...
Project Documentation Here you can find project related documentation and work in progress material. APEX evaluation questionnaire: Questionario APEXv4.pdf ...
In the News Pointers to who is talking about us. APEX team member, José Luís Silva, wins the award for Best Iberian ICT Thesis by the AISTI da UMinho ...
Agile Prototyping for user EXperience This project aims at developing an 3D Application Server based rapid prototyping platform for ubiquitous computing environments ...
Research/APEX Web Preferences The following settings are web preferences of the Research/APEX web. These preferences overwrite the site level preferences in ...
Project Description Plan and Methods The core problem addressed by this proposal is that of being able to test design ideas for ubiquitous environments during the ...
The project in a Nutshell Ubiquitous computing (Ubicomp) technologies are providing exciting new opportunities for enhancing physical spaces to support the needs and ...
This project aims at developing an 3D Application Server based rapid prototyping platform for ubiquitous computing environments, and to explore the fidelity of these prototypes as a factor in evaluating a design.
(read more)
Project info
Supported by
This work is funded by ERDF - European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-015095. (97 KEuro)
Project Description Plan and Methods The core problem addressed by this proposal is that of being able to test design ideas for ubiquitous environments during the ...
Project Documentation Here you can find project related documentation and work in progress material. APEX evaluation questionnaire: Questionario APEXv4.pdf ...
In the News Pointers to who is talking about us. APEX team member, José Luís Silva, wins the award for Best Iberian ICT Thesis by the AISTI da UMinho ...
News New paper accepted for publication at Int. J. Human Computer Studies: Prototyping and Analysing Ubiquitous Computing Environments using Multiple Layers ...
The project in a Nutshell Ubiquitous computing (Ubicomp) technologies are providing exciting new opportunities for enhancing physical spaces to support the needs and ...
Publications Papers Ref. Paper APEX P22 Design and Evaluation of a Smart Library using the APEX Framework. T. Abade, T. Gomes, J.L. Silva and J.C. Campos ...
Agile Prototyping for user EXperience This project aims at developing an 3D Application Server based rapid prototyping platform for ubiquitous computing environments ...
Research/APEX Web Preferences The following settings are web preferences of the Research/APEX web. These preferences overwrite the site level preferences in ...
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Set SITEMAPLIST = on
Set SITEMAPWHAT = APEX
Set SITEMAPUSETO = Agile Prototyping for user EXperience
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Set ALLOWWEBCHANGE = JoseCampos,Main.JoseLuisSilva
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http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX
The Research/APEX web of TWiki. TWiki is a Web-Based Collaboration Platform for the Enterprise.en-usCopyright 2020 by contributing authorsTWiki Administrator [webmaster@di.uminho.pt]The contributing authors of TWikiTWikiDIUM.Research/APEX
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX
/twiki/pub/Main/LocalLogos/um_eengP.jpgPublications
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Publications
Publications Papers Ref. Paper APEX P22 Design and Evaluation of a Smart Library using the APEX Framework. T. Abade, T. Gomes, J.L. Silva and J.C. Campos ... (last changed by JoseCampos)2014-08-30T17:46:13ZJoseCamposEvents
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Events
Project Events Final Project workshop June 25, 2014 (Prototyping Ubicomp Environments invited session at DAPI 2014) Models as a Starting Point ... (last changed by JoseCampos)2014-08-29T16:54:05ZJoseCamposNews
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/News
News New paper accepted for publication at Int. J. Human Computer Studies: Prototyping and Analysing Ubiquitous Computing Environments using Multiple Layers ... (last changed by JoseCampos)2014-02-05T23:36:35ZJoseCamposDocumentation
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Documentation
Project Documentation Here you can find project related documentation and work in progress material. APEX evaluation questionnaire: Questionario APEXv4.pdf ... (last changed by JoseCampos)2014-02-02T16:38:41ZJoseCamposAwards
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Awards
JoseCampos 11 Oct 2013 (last changed by JoseCampos)2013-10-11T17:12:45ZJoseCamposInTheNews
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/InTheNews
In the News Pointers to who is talking about us. APEX team member, José Luís Silva, wins the award for Best Iberian ICT Thesis by the AISTI da UMinho ... (last changed by JoseCampos)2013-10-11T17:09:55ZJoseCamposWebSideBar
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebSideBar
Overview Home Project Description APEX Team Research Team Job Opportunities Results Publications In the news Documents Project ... (last changed by JoseCampos)2013-10-11T16:30:53ZJoseCamposWebHome
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebHome
Agile Prototyping for user EXperience This project aims at developing an 3D Application Server based rapid prototyping platform for ubiquitous computing environments ... (last changed by JoseCampos)2013-09-25T13:44:35ZJoseCamposJobs
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Jobs
Job Opportunities No offers at the moment. (last changed by JoseCampos)2013-05-31T14:45:25ZJoseCamposTeam
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Team
Research Team Team members António Nestor Ribeiro (UM/HASLab) João Miguel Fernandes (UM/HASLab) José Creissac Campos (UM/HASLab PI) José Lu ... (last changed by JoseCampos)2013-05-15T10:39:15ZJoseCamposWebPreferences
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebPreferences
Research/APEX Web Preferences The following settings are web preferences of the Research/APEX web. These preferences overwrite the site level preferences in ... (last changed by JoseFaria)2012-05-02T13:16:55ZJoseFariaDescription
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/Description
Project Description Plan and Methods The core problem addressed by this proposal is that of being able to test design ideas for ubiquitous environments during the ... (last changed by JoseCampos)2011-02-11T00:47:39ZJoseCamposProjectSummary
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/ProjectSummary
The project in a Nutshell Ubiquitous computing (Ubicomp) technologies are providing exciting new opportunities for enhancing physical spaces to support the needs and ... (last changed by JoseCampos)2011-02-10T10:53:11ZJoseCamposWebCss
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebCss
.natMiddle .natExternalLink:after { margin left:0px; margin right:0px; content:""; } .natRevision { width:0px; height:0px; overflow:hidden; } .natBreadCrumbs ... (last changed by JoseBacelarAlmeida)2008-01-16T01:12:30ZJoseBacelarAlmeidaWebChanges
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebChanges
(last changed by TWikiContributor)2006-11-15T19:43:52ZTWikiContributorWebIndex
http://wiki.di.uminho.pt/twiki/bin/view/Research/APEX/WebIndex
(last changed by TWikiContributor)2006-11-15T19:43:52ZTWikiContributor
New paper accepted for publication at Int. J. Human-Computer Studies: Prototyping and Analysing Ubiquitous Computing Environments using Multiple Layers.
New paper at EAI Endorsed Transactions on Ambient Systems, A Virtual Environment based Serious Game to Support Health Education.
Two new MSc thesis: 3D Virtual Environments' Generation by Tiago Gomes and Responsive Web Design by Ana Isabel Sampaio.
Award: José Luís Silva's thesis won the Best Iberian Thesis Award! Congratulations.
New MSc thesis: Simulating Ubiquitous Computing Environments by Samuel Moreira
New PhD: Rapid Prototyping of Ubiquitous Computing Environments by José Luís Silva. Congratulations José!
Two new papers at SEW: Guidelines for Modelling Reactive Systems with Coloured Petri Nets by Gonçalves and Fernandes; and A Java based PSM/PIM and pattern inference approach by Couto el al.
New paper at MOMPES: MapIt: A model based pattern recovery tool by Couto et al.
New paper accepted for publication at Int. J. Human-Computer Studies: Prototyping and Analysing Ubiquitous Computing Environments using Multiple Layers.
New paper at EAI Endorsed Transactions on Ambient Systems, A Virtual Environment based Serious Game to Support Health Education.
Two new MSc thesis: 3D Virtual Environments' Generation by Tiago Gomes and Responsive Web Design by Ana Isabel Sampaio.
Award: José Luís Silva's thesis won the Best Iberian Thesis Award! Congratulations.
New MSc thesis: Simulating Ubiquitous Computing Environments by Samuel Moreira
New PhD: Rapid Prototyping of Ubiquitous Computing Environments by José Luís Silva. Congratulations José!
Two new papers at SEW: Guidelines for Modelling Reactive Systems with Coloured Petri Nets by Gonçalves and Fernandes; and A Java based PSM/PIM and pattern inference approach by Couto el al.
New paper at MOMPES: MapIt: A model based pattern recovery tool by Couto et al.
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