Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments - Volume 7, issue 4

Authors: Aghajan, Hamid | Augusto, Juan Carlos

Article Type: Editorial

DOI: 10.3233/AIS-150333

Citation: Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 393-395, 2015

Authors: Andrés, Amara | Pardo, Diego E. | Díaz, Marta | Angulo, Cecilio

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Research studies in Human Robot Interaction (HRI) with social robots usually gather observational data in order to explore the dynamics of short and long-term interactions. The most common approach for the analysis of observational data is the proposal of a small number of behavioural units which frequency and/or duration is captured. As a consequence, comparing results between studies is difficult. The present manuscript proposes a procedure to assess the complete human-robot interactive activity. Experiences with two different robots were analysed using the novel instrumentation, leading to further considerations. Finally, general guidelines extracted from experimentation are proposed to assess the interaction …quality between social robots and users. Further studies can be benefited from the proposed instruments, which are expected to be validated in different HRI contexts (e.g., school, hospitals, home) with different users (e.g., children, elderly, hospitalised people). Show more

Keywords: Human robot interaction, social robot, interaction assessment, observational methods

DOI: 10.3233/AIS-150331

Citation: Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 397-413, 2015

Authors: Pouryegan, Mohammad | Malek, Mohammad Reza

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Today’s internet and wireless networks have been improved and it has been possible to use various sensors like GPS and Accelerometer in mobile devices. Also considering other improvements of mobile devices, these devices have being changed from toys into tools. Mobile navigation services are those of the applications that help users in navigation process through determination their current location. Being of users in different contexts influences the way of presenting services, since different contexts need different navigation. In this paper, pedestrian navigation services have been classified into five categories: Location Finding, Optimal Path Finding, Orientation, Positioning and …Way-finding . Regarding analyses and surveys, all current navigation services can be one of these categories. Also by specifying of effective contexts in pedestrian navigation we considered four abstract classes: Mobile, Mobile Infrastructure, Movement and Motivation . Each of these classes has its own subclasses. The subclasses have their own attributes and methods that in action demonstrate effective contexts and some procedures of usingthem in pedestrian navigation systems. Considering some of usable and sensible contexts, we implemented a context-aware outdoor pedestrian navigation system. Our empirical implementation and its surveys corroborate the theoretical model for the context-aware map presentation in a pedestrian navigation system. Show more

Keywords: Mobile information system, context-aware computing, pedestrian navigation

DOI: 10.3233/AIS-150332

Citation: Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 415-424, 2015

Authors: Sanaullah, Muhammad | Corno, Fulvio | Razzak, Faisal

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Modern Smart Environments (SmE) are equipped with a multitude of devices and sensors aimed at intelligent services. The variety of devices has raised a major problem of managing SmE. An increasingly adopted solution to the problem is the modeling of goals and intentions, and then using artificial intelligence to control the respective SmE accordingly. Generally, the solution advocates that the goals can be achieved by controlling the evolution of the states of the devices. In order to automatically reach a particular state, a sophisticated solution is required through which the respective commands, notifications and their correct sequence can be discovered …and enforced on the real devices. In this paper, a comprehensive methodology is proposed by considering a ) the composite nature of the state of an individual device; b ) the possible variation of specific commands, notifications and their sequence based on the current states of the devices. The methodology works at two levels: design-time and runtime. At design-time, it constructs the extended data and control flow behavioral graphs of the devices by using the concepts of a model checking approach. Then, at runtime, it uses these graphs for finding the reliable evolution through which the desired goal can be fulfilled. The proposed methodology is implemented over the Domotic Effects framework and a home automation system, i.e. Domotic OSGi Gateway (Dog). The implementation and experimentation details indicate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Show more

Keywords: Intelligent device activation, high-level goals, device interface and behavioral modeling, statecharts, model checking, Domotic Effects

DOI: 10.3233/AIS-150329

Citation: Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 425-448, 2015

Authors: Frederiks, Kyra | Croes, Misha | Chen, Wei | Bambang Oetomo, Sidarto | Sterkenburg, Paula

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Parents of children with the Prader-Willi syndrome have shown to experience difficulties in interpreting their child’s signals and experience a lack of interest from their child, which causes a risk for a disrupted bonding process between the child and his or her parents. Evidence suggests that this is mainly due to the fact that these children are excessively sleepy, hardly cry and express movement to a lesser extent. In this paper an intelligent biofeedback system is proposed to support parents in their interaction with their child. The proposed system – called Sense – uses a galvanic skin response sensor to …monitor the child’s arousal response and visually communicates this to the parents. A prototype of the system is created and evaluated with users. Furthermore, thirteen tests are carried out with Prader-Willi patients to validate whether the galvanic skin response sensor provides a meaningful output signal for the system. The results from the tests show that galvanic skin response is a valuable biofeedback source to provide more information about the child’s emotions and reaction to the environment. As a result of evaluating the intelligent system, parents expect Sense will improve the interaction and bonding between parents and their child with the Prader-Willi syndrome. Show more

Keywords: Prader-Willi syndrome, biofeedback system, smart environment, stimulating interaction, bonding

DOI: 10.3233/AIS-150327

Citation: Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 449-459, 2015

Authors: Ganapathy, Kirupa | Vaidehi, V. | Poorani, Dhivya

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The increase in demand of remote health monitoring for elderly motivates the development of a novel framework for decision making under realistic conditions. Existing works on health monitoring focuses more on sensor development, security, data collection and feature extraction. But, there is no solution for analyzing multidimensional physiological parameters and activity recognition integrated in a single system. Existing systems compromises either on accuracy or detection time. To overcome these issues, this paper proposes a new idea for an automated Sensor based Decision Making (SbDM) framework that categorizes activity, vital parameters and uses Open Geo-spatial Consortium (OGC) standard for web enablement …of sensor data. Two schemes such as abnormality detection in vital parameters and activity recognition are proposed in SbDM. SbDM combine generative Hidden Markov Model for activity prediction and discriminative Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System for accurate activity classification. These two modules are combined for early detection and accurate activity recognition. Combined activity recognition systems help to improve the reliability of the system and reduce false decision. SbDM also implements Decision Tree Pruning for abnormality detection in vital parameters. Activity and vital parameters measurements are closely related for future decision making or alert generation. Show more

Keywords: Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), Sensor Web Enablement (SWE), Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference Systems (ANFIS), Hidden Markov Model (HMM), Decision Tree Pruning (DTP)

DOI: 10.3233/AIS-150330

Citation: Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 461-481, 2015

Authors: Braun, Andreas | Wichert, Reiner | Kuijper, Arjan | Fellner, Dieter W.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: To create applications for smart environments we can select from a huge variety of sensors that measure environmental parameters or detect activities of different actors within the premises. Capacitive proximity sensors use weak electric fields to recognize conductive objects, such as the human body. They can be unobtrusively applied or even provide information when hidden from view. In the past years various research groups have used this sensor category to create singular applications in this domain. On the following pages we discuss the application of capacitive proximity sensors in smart environments, establishing a classification in comparison to other sensor technologies. …We give a detailed overview of the background of this sensing technology and identify specific application domains. Based on existing systems from literature and a number of prototypes we have created in the past years we can specify benefits and limitations of this technology and give a set of guidelines to researchers that are considering this technology in their smart environment applications. Show more

Keywords: Evaluation, capacitive proximity sensing, smart environments, guidelines

DOI: 10.3233/AIS-150324

Citation: Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 483-510, 2015

Authors: Pons, Patricia | Catala, Alejandro | Jaen, Javier

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Smart environments are becoming a reality in our society and the number of intelligent devices integrated in these spaces is increasing very rapidly. As the combination of intelligent elements will open a wide range of new opportunities to make our lives easier, final users should be provided with a simplified method of handling complex intelligent features. Specifying behavior in these environments can be difficult for non-experts, so that more efforts should be directed towards easing the customization tasks. This work presents an entirely visual rule editor based on dataflow expressions for interactive tabletops which allows behavior to be specified in …smart environments. An experiment was carried out aimed at evaluating the usability of the editor in terms of non-programmers’ understanding of the abstractions and concepts involved in the rule model, ease of use of the proposed visual interface and the suitability of the interaction mechanisms implemented in the editing tool. The study revealed that users with no previous programming experience were able to master the proposed rule model and editing tool for specifying behavior in the context of a smart home, even though some minor usability issues were detected. Show more

Keywords: Rules, behavior definition, event-based systems, customization, smart environment, interactive tabletop, visual language

DOI: 10.3233/AIS-150328

Citation: Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 511-533, 2015

Authors: Wang, Xian | Bernardos, Ana M. | Besada, Juan A. | Metola, Eduardo | Casar, José R.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: A key issue when making spaces smart is the availability of satisfying and personalized interaction methods, for the user to comfortably manage the physical and virtual resources in the environment. Among the multiple interaction approaches that are nowadays being explored with this objective, gesture-based ones seem to have a great potential. In this line, this research describes a gesture-based interaction method that uses a specific grammar to control and network objects in a smart space. The method’s grammar establishes that the user has to identify the object to interact with by performing an individuation gesture primitive (the object’s initial letter), …then using an action gesture primitive to indicate the action to perform. The action may involve a second object, which will be identified as the first one. The user will be able to personalize the action gestures in the vocabulary, and to configure the commands assigned to gestures, and the system will provide interaction cues for the user not to feel lost. The main component of the system is a gesture recognition module based on an adapted Dynamic Time Warping algorithm. This module works sharply on acceleration or position data inputs, being suitable to deploy device instrumented or infrastructure-based solutions for gesture recognition (i.e. smartphone or Kinect-based ones). The average recognition rate is 93.63% for smartphone-based recognition and 98.64% for Kinect-based one, respectively. The paper also details the architecture and software tools that enables the interaction method to work in a real environment. Show more

Keywords: Natural interaction, mobile applications, smart objects, smart spaces, pattern recognition, gesture recognition

DOI: 10.3233/AIS-150325

Citation: Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 535-562, 2015

Authors: Giuberti, Matteo | Martalò, Marco | Ferrari, Gianluigi

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of a hybrid radio/accelerometric approach to perform arm posture recognition. A radio fingerprinting-based approach, through measurements of the Received radio Signal Strengths (RSSs) from anchor nodes, is first used to localize the positions (among a set determined during a training phase) of target nodes properly placed on a user arm. Accelerometric signals generated by the target nodes are then used to estimate the pitch of every device in order to refine the radio fingerprinting results and perform posture recognition, i.e., “continuous” estimation of the positions of the target nodes. We experimentally investigate, through …a SunSPOT wireless sensor network testbed, different fingerprinting-based localization algorithms, namely deterministic and probabilistic. In each case, the system parameters are optimized by minimizing a properly defined Position Error (PE). Finally, a comparison between the performance of the proposed system and that of a low-cost optical arm posture recognition system (namely, Kinect) is presented. Show more

Keywords: Radio fingerprinting, accelerometers, arm posture recognition, experimental testbed, Kinect

DOI: 10.3233/AIS-150326

Citation: Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 563-578, 2015