Context in Computing: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach for Modeling the Real World

571 Pages·2014·10.849 MB·English

by  Patrick Brézillon, Avelino J. Gonzalez (eds.)

Context in Computing
Patrick Brézillon (cid:129) Avelino J. Gonzalez
Editors
Context in Computing
A Cross-Disciplinary Approach
for Modeling the Real World
Foreword by GeorgeA. Papadopoulos
2123
Editors
PatrickBrézillon AvelinoJ.Gonzalez
Laboratoired’InformatiquedeParis6(LIP6) ComputerScienceDivision
UniversityPierreandMarieCurie(UPMC) UniversityofCentralFlorida
Paris Orlando,Florida
France USA
ISBN978-1-4939-1886-7 ISBN978-1-4939-1887-4(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-1-4939-1887-4
SpringerNewYorkHeidelbergDordrechtLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014954621
© SpringerScience+BusinessMediaNewYork2014
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Foreword
Thedimensionofcontexthasplayedanimportantroleinmanydisciplines,suchas
Psychology,Philosophy,Sociology,Medicineand,indeed,ComputerScience.Inthe
latter, ithasfoundapplicabilityinmanyareasofcontemporaryComputerScience
research,suchasHCI,CSCW,Ubiquitous,MobileorDistributedSystems,etc.
Itisunavoidableandunderstandablethatsuchawellresearched,interdisciplinary
andmultidisciplinarynotionhasgeneratedmanydefinitions,basedonwhatsomeone
considersasbeingthemostimportantfacetsofcontext.Probablythemostacceptable
definitionisthatbyDey(2001):
Contextisanyinformationthatcanbeusedtocharacterizethesituationofanentity.An
entityisaperson,place,orobjectthatisconsideredrelevanttotheinteractionbetweena
userandanapplication,includingtheuserandapplicationsthemselves.
Thenatureofcontextcanbe,forexample,spatial(location,orientationorspeed),
temporal(date,timeorseason),environmental(temperature,light,noise),andsocial
(people and their activities). It can have direct applicability to Computer Systems,
such as context related to computation or network resources. It can also be of a
different nature, such as physiological (blood pressure, body temperature or heart
rate)andpsychological(emotions,orpreferences).Oftencontextisbeingunderstood
asbeinginternalinnatureandcapturedfromauser’sinteractionactivity(e.g.user’s
goals or emotions) or external and measured by sensors (e.g. location, light, or
sound).
As a consequence of the involvement of context we have the so-called context
awaresystems.Dey(2001)givesthefollowingdefinition:
Asystemiscontext-awareifitusescontexttoproviderelevantinformationand/orservices
totheuser,whererelevancydependsontheuser’stask.
Hereitisworthpointingoutthatthereisanongoingdebateastowhetheracontext-
awaresystemissufficienttosimplyrecordandusecontextorwhetheritshouldalso
beabletoadaptitselftocontext(FerreiraandAlves2014). Inanycase, acontext-
awaresystemwilltypicallybeabletopresentinformationtousersaugmentedwith
contextual information, execute services based on the current context or associate
digitaldatawiththeuser’scontext.
v
vi Foreword
Context-awareness is closely related to the vision of ubiquitous computing, as
describedbyWeiser,whoadvocatedaworldwherecomputingisavailableanywhere,
anytimeandforeverybodybutinsuchawaythatcomputersthemselvesare«hidden»
in the background and go unnoticed by the users. Other similar notions related
to context and context-awareness are pervasive computing, proactive computing,
adaptivecomputingandambientintelligence.
Therehasbeenmuchresearchincontextandcontextawaresystems(seeforin-
stancethesurveypaperbyHongetal. 2009). However, thisresearcharearemains
veryactiveinthegeneralfieldofComputerScience,duetorecentdevelopmentsin
AdvancedSoftwareEngineering,CloudandServiceOrientedComputing,Intelligent
Systems,CSCWandSocialComputing.Consequently,thisvolumepresentsacon-
temporary view of state-of-the-art interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research
in many aspects of context-based systems. I therefore applaud the editors Patrick
Brézillon andAvelino J. Gonzalez for having assembled and organized a number
of high quality and divergent in topic papers, into this very exciting volume that
promisestodelivertothereadersabroadviewofhowcontextisusedincomputing.
DepartmentofComputerScience GeorgeA.Papadopoulos
UniversityofCyprus
References
Dey,A.K.:Understandingandusingcontext.Pers.Ubiquit.Comput.5(1),4–7(2001)
Ferreira,P.,Alves,P.:DistributedContext-AwareSystems.Springer(2014)
Weiser,M.:TheComputerforthe21stCentury.ScientificAmerican(1991)
Hong,J.,Suh,E.,Kim,S.:Context-awaresystems:Aliteraturereviewandclassification.Expert
SystemsandApplications.Elsevier(2009)
Preface by the Editors
The word context is used commonly in our vernacular. It is a concept that cuts
across all the domains, cultures and languages. Context and our recognition of it
haveservedtomakecommunicationamongusefficient.Context,furthermore,can
define expected behavior while one is in a particular context, as well as provide
expectations of what may or may not happen. On the other hand, the absence of
a shared or commonly accepted context between communicants can often lead to
misunderstandings.Forexample,inthecaseofapersonarrivingonthefirstdayof
anewpositionwithanewcompany,itisexpectedthathe/shehavetheappropriate
professionalbackgroundtocarryouttheassignedduties. However, alsoimportant
is that the person soon learns the corporate culture (i.e., strictly hierarchical, open
communication, etc.) as well as the implicit social rules of the company, such as
havingadailycoffeebreakwithcolleagues,participatingingolforbowlingleagues,
afterworkhappyhour,etc.Notunderstandingthissocialcontextcanoftenmakeit
difficulttocarryoutdutiesinspiteofhavingprofessionalcompetence.
Nevertheless,asfamiliarastheconceptofcontextistous,thereisnosingletheory
ofcontextthatcrossesdomainsandapplications.Thisisactuallyagoodthing,asit
allowseachofustodefinecontextinawaythatbestservesourspecificrealworld
application.Thisbookillustratestherichnessofthisconcept,andwehopetakesus
furthertowardsthegoalofusingcontextasamodelingtoolforawiderrangeofhuman
activities.However,theconceptofcontextasamodelingtoolhasnotbeenwellunder-
stoodbythelargercomputingresearchcommunity.Ithasnotbeenextensivelyused
possiblybecausethenatureofcontextiscontinuallymisrepresentedwithrespectto
knowledgeandreasoning.Forexample,inknowledgemanagement,contextiseither
(a)ignored,or(b)relatedstrictlyto“management”,butpracticallyneverassociated
withknowledge.Contextdependsonthefocusofanactor(onewhoexperiencesthe
context). That is, a piece of knowledge at one step may become a contextual ele-
mentinasubsequentstep.Nevertheless,theencouragingnewsforuswhoworkwith
contextisthattheconceptofcontexthasbeenincreasinglyfoundinthecomputing
researchliteratureoverthelastseveralyears.Contexthasbeenlatelyusedtogreatad-
vantageincomputing,especiallywhenhumanknowledgeand/orbehavioraretobe
modeled,representedandexercised.Thismaybebecause,whileitmaybehardtode-
fine,wecaninstantlyrecognizeacontextwhenweseeit.Contexthasbeenassociated
vii
viii PrefacebytheEditors
withdata,information,knowledgeandreasoning,aswellasinthefieldsofcognitive
science and linguistics. More practically, context has been applied to managing
data (context awareness), managing information (context sensitivity), managing
knowledge (contextual knowledge), representing tactical agent behavior (context
driven), intelligent reasoning (context-based), decision support, machine learning,
anddialoguemanagementforvirtualhumans,aswellasforseveralotherthings.
Aslongtimefriends, co-authorsinseveralpublicationsandnowco-editors, our
visionforthiseditedvolumewastocreate,alongwithouroutstandingcontributing
authors,whatwehopewillbethedefiningworkinthefieldofcontextandcomputing.
This field of research is relatively young (20–30 years), and encompasses many
different and rich points of view. The volume compiles and describes the ideas,
concepts, technology and research from the leaders in this field. The fundamental
theme of this volume is how context has been and can be used in computing to
model human behaviors, actions and communications as well as manage data and
knowledge. This contributed volume, therefore, provides a broad as well as deep
treatmentofcontextincomputingaswellasinrelatedareasthatdependheavilyon
computing (e.g., cognitive science, medicine, engineering, law and many others).
Itscoverageisbroadbecauseofitscross-disciplinarynatureanddeepbecauseeach
chaptertreatsitstopicinsufficientdepthtopermitareadertoimplementcontextin
his/hercomputationalendeavors.Wehopeitwillbethedefiningworkoncontextfor
computing.
The process used to invite, review the contributions, and publish what we have
herenowhasbeenalongandeffortfulprocess,bothonourpartsaswellasthatofthe
contributingauthors.Wehadconceivedaproposedtableofcontentsandpublishedit
attheoutsetofourefforttocreatethisbook.Thisbeganduringthesummerof2013
whenwerequestedtwo-pageextendedabstractsfromourwellknowncolleaguesas
well as several newly known ones. We asked our potential contributors to select a
topicandaddressitintheirextendedabstracts.However,wealsoacceptedabstracts
fromotherswhochosetofocusonrelatedtopicsthatwerenotinthepublishedToC.
Aslongasthetopicsdescribedinthesetwopageswereinlinewithourvisionfor
thebook,weacceptedthemandrequestedfull-lengthmanuscriptsfromtheauthors,
offering some feedback as to how best direct their contributions to be in line with
theobjectivesofthisbook.
Nearly six months later (February 2014), the full-length submissions were re-
ceived.Eachproposedcontributionwascarefullyreviewedbyusaswellasbytwo
outside reviewers. Many of the contributors served as reviewers and for that, we
thankthem.Theircommentsresultedinimprovedpapersallthroughout.
After receiving the comments by the reviewers as well as our own documented
comments,wedeterminedwhichofthesubmissionstoacceptandprovidedfurther
feedbacktotheauthors.FinalmanuscriptswerereceivedinlateMayandearlyJune
of2014,whichallowedustomeetthestringentdeadlineofJuly15.
Lastly, the accepted papers you will see in this volume necessarily caused us
to modify the table of contents to reflect the actual contents. In the Introduction
(Chap.1),wedescribetheclassificationofthecontributionsandtheorganizationof
thevolume.
PrefacebytheEditors ix
Wethankthecontributingauthorsfortheirparticipationincreationofthisvolume,
bothasauthorsaswellasinmanycases,reviewers.Withoutthem,therewouldbeno
book.Secondly,wethankthoseotheroutsidereviewerswho,withoutcompensation
of any kind, agreed to help us in the review process and provided thoughtful and
insightfulreviews.Lastly,wethankthestaffatSpringerformakingthepublication
processaseasyaspossibleforus.
Finally, the wide applicability of context in the many disciplines makes it one
of the most cross-disciplinary areas of research, especially in computing and all
disciplines that depend on computing for critical support (i.e., a large number of
domains,especiallynowwithnewpersonalcommunicationtechnologygrowingat
arapidpace).Itisexactlythisusefulnessandwideapplicabilityofcontextthatwe
hopethatthisvolumeemphasizes.
Contents
1 Introduction.................................................. 1
AvelinoJ.GonzalezandPatrickBrézillon
PartI ContextinSoftwareandSystems
2 TheCSSDesignProcess:OnSupportingContext-Sensitive
SystemsDevelopment.......................................... 9
VaninhaVieira,PatríciaTedescoandAnaCarolinaSalgado
3 Context-DrivenTestingontheCloud ............................ 25
FerasA.Batarseh
4 Context-BasedSearch,RecommendationandBrowsing
inSoftwareDevelopment....................................... 45
BrunoAntunes,BarbaraFurtadoandPauloGomes
5 ContextAwareandAdaptiveSystems............................ 63
AlanColman,MahmoudHussein,JunHanandMalindaKapuruge
6 Context-AwareMiddleware:AReview .......................... 83
HamedVahdat-Nejad
7 Context-CenteredToolsforIntelligentAssistantSystems .......... 97
PatrickBrézillon
PartII ContextintheComputingEnvironment
8 ContextandMachineLearning................................. 113
CynthiaL.Johnson
9 ABayesianFrameworkforLife-LongLearninginContext-Aware
MobileApplications ........................................... 127
ArunKishoreRamakrishnan,DavyPreuveneersandYolandeBerbers
10 ContextandNLP ............................................. 143
VictorHung
xi