Configuration of smart environments made simple: Combining visual modeling with semantic metadata and reasoning

We present an approach that combines semantic metadata and reasoning with a visual modeling tool to enable the goal-driven configuration of smart environments for end users. In contrast to process-driven systems where service mashups are statically defined, this approach makes use of embedded semantic API descriptions to dynamically create mashups that fulfill the user's goal. The main advantage of the presented system is its high degree of flexibility, as service mashups can adapt to dynamic environments and are fault-tolerant with respect to individual services becoming unavailable. To support end users in expressing their goals, we integrated a visual programming tool with our system. This tool enables users to model the desired state of their smart environment graphically and thus hides the technicalities of the underlying semantics and the reasoning. Possible applications of the presented system include the configuration of smart homes to increase individual well-being, and reconfigurations of smart environments, for instance in the industrial automation or healthcare domains.

[1]  Stefan Saroiu,et al.  Home automation in the wild: challenges and opportunities , 2011, CHI.

[2]  Mohan Kumar,et al.  Dynamic Service Composition in Pervasive Computing , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems.

[3]  Vlad Trifa,et al.  Towards physical mashups in the Web of Things , 2009, 2009 Sixth International Conference on Networked Sensing Systems (INSS).

[4]  Richard Harper From Smart Home to Connected Home , 2012, The Connected Home - The Future of Domestic Life.

[5]  Dominique Guinard,et al.  Cloud computing, REST and Mashups to simplify RFID application development and deployment , 2011, WoT '11.

[6]  Tom Rodden,et al.  "Playing with the Bits" User-Configuration of Ubiquitous Domestic Environments , 2003, UbiComp.

[7]  Simon Mayer,et al.  Searching in a web-based infrastructure for smart things , 2012, 2012 3rd IEEE International Conference on the Internet of Things.

[8]  Roy Fielding,et al.  Architectural Styles and the Design of Network-based Software Architectures"; Doctoral dissertation , 2000 .

[9]  Athanasios V. Vasilakos,et al.  Web services composition: A decade's overview , 2014, Inf. Sci..

[10]  Wendy Hall,et al.  The Semantic Web Revisited , 2006, IEEE Intelligent Systems.

[11]  Rik Van de Walle,et al.  User-friendly configuration of smart environments , 2014, 2014 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communication Workshops (PERCOM WORKSHOPS).

[12]  José L. Martínez Lastra,et al.  Semantic web services in factory automation: fundamental insights and research roadmap , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics.

[13]  Freddy Lécué,et al.  End Users Developing Mashups , 2014, Web Services Foundations.

[14]  Richard Harper,et al.  The Connected Home: The Future of Domestic Life , 2012 .

[15]  Leila Takayama,et al.  Making technology homey: finding sources of satisfaction and meaning in home automation , 2012, UbiComp.

[16]  Erik Wilde,et al.  Linked Data and Service Orientation , 2010, ICSOC.

[17]  Kris Luyten,et al.  Pervasive maps: Explore and interact with pervasive environments , 2010, 2010 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications (PerCom).

[18]  Rik Van de Walle,et al.  Functional descriptions as the bridge between hypermedia APIs and the Semantic Web , 2012, WS-REST.

[19]  Stefan Saroiu,et al.  An Operating System for the Home , 2012, NSDI.

[20]  Michael Weber,et al.  homeBLOX: introducing process-driven home automation , 2013, UbiComp.

[21]  Rik Van de Walle,et al.  Functional Composition of Sensor Web APIs , 2012, SSN.

[22]  Frank M. Shipman,et al.  Which semantic web? , 2003, HYPERTEXT '03.