Sensor-driven computing

A context-aware computing system is one that can deduce the state of its surroundings using input from sensors and can change its behaviour accordingly. Context-aware devices might personalise themselves to their current user, alter their functionality based on where they were being used, or take advantage of nearby computing and communications resources. Location-aware systems, whose behaviour is determined by the positions of objects in the environment, represent a practical subset of the context-aware computing paradigm, and several systems of this nature have already been demonstrated. The location sensors used by those systems, however, report the positions of objects to only a room-scale granularity, limiting the extent to which devices and applications can adapt to their surroundings. Sensor technologies that can provide more detailed information about the locations of objects must therefore be investigated. This dissertation describes a new ultrasonic location sensor, which may be deployed in indoor environments such as o ces and homes. The sensor can provide ne-grain, three-dimensional position and orientation information, and its characteristics are well suited to the demands of location-aware computing|the sensor is simple, low-powered and unobtrusive. Furthermore, the location system is scalable, in both the number of objects that it can track and the volume within which they may be monitored. A thorough assessment of the sensor's performance is presented in the dissertation, so that location-aware applications can be tailored to its properties. Subsequently, a software architecture that can e ciently distribute negrain location information to applications is described. The software system provides support for the types of query that will be made frequently by location-aware applications, such as those concerning the spatial relationships between objects and their proximity to one another. The dissertation concludes by examining the use of the ultrasonic location sensor and software architecture to implement a set of novel location-aware applications.

[1]  Thomas Ertl,et al.  Computer Graphics - Principles and Practice, 3rd Edition , 2014 .

[2]  Michel Beaudouin-Lafon,et al.  Charade: remote control of objects using free-hand gestures , 1993, CACM.

[3]  K.M. Banks.  DATATRAK automatic vehicle location and position reporting system , 1989, Conference Record of papers presented at the First Vehicle Navigation and Information Systems Conference (VNIS '89).

[4]  Gregory D. Abowd,et al.  Cyberguide: A mobile context‐aware tour guide , 1997, Wirel. Networks.

[5]  M. Lamming,et al.  "Forget-me-not" Intimate Computing in Support of Human Memory , 1994 .

[6]  Marvin Theimer,et al.  Architectural considerations for scalable, secure, mobile computing with location information , 1994, 14th International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems.

[7]  Steven K. Feiner,et al.  Knowledge-based augmented reality , 1993, CACM.

[8]  Lawrence C. Lynnworth,et al.  Ultrasonic Measurements for Process Control: Theory, Techniques, Applications , 1989 .

[9]  M. D. Addlesee,et al.  The ORL Active Floor , 1997 .

[10]  James C. Lin,et al.  Biological aspects of mobile communication fields , 1997, Wirel. Networks.

[11]  Lawrence G. Roberts.  The Lincoln WAND , 1966, AFIPS '66 (Fall).

[12]  Refik Molva,et al.  A Method Providing Identity Privacy to Mobile Users During Authentication , 1994, 1994 First Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications.

[13]  Liqiang Feng,et al.  Where am I? : sensors and methods for autonomous mobile robot positioning , 1994 .

[14]  Andy Hopper,et al.  The active badge location system , 1992, TOIS.

[15]  Devesh K Bhatnagar.  Position trackers for Head Mounted Display systems: A survey , 1993 .

[16]  Andy Hopper,et al.  Active badges and personal interactive computing objects , 1992 .

[17]  JEAN BACON,et al.  Location-oriented multimedia , 1997, IEEE Wirel. Commun..

[18]  R. Morgan.  Mobile radio communications. , 1982, Hospital engineering.

[19]  James H. Aylor,et al.  Computer for the 21st Century , 1999, Computer.

[20]  Robert D. James,et al.  Ultrawideband technology for vehicle-to-vehicle communication and sensing , 1995, Other Conferences.

[21]  Jun Rekimoto,et al.  Matrix: a realtime object identification and registration method for augmented reality , 1998, Proceedings. 3rd Asia Pacific Computer Human Interaction (Cat. No.98EX110).

[22]  Lee N. Bolen,et al.  Ultrasonic background noise in industrial environment , 1985 .

[23]  Frank J. Ferrin.  Survey of helmet tracking technologies , 1991, Medical Imaging.

[24]  Hanan Samet,et al.  Orthogonal Polygons as Bounding Structures in Filter-Refine Query Processing Strategies , 1997, SSD.

[25]  Gerald Q. Maguire,et al.  Using location and environment awareness in mobile communications , 1997, Proceedings of ICICS, 1997 International Conference on Information, Communications and Signal Processing. Theme: Trends in Information Systems Engineering and Wireless Multimedia Communications (Cat..

[26]  W I Acton,et al.  The effects of industrial airborne ultrasound on humans. , 1974, Ultrasonics.

[27]  Claudio S. Pinhanez,et al.  Intelligent Studios Modeling Space and Action to Control TV Cameras , 1997, Appl. Artif. Intell..

[28]  Kurt Zimmerman,et al.  Differential Carrier Phase GPS Techniques for Space Vehicle Rendezvous , 1994 .

[29]  Max Donath,et al.  The Minnesota Scanner: a prototype sensor for three-dimensional tracking of moving body segments , 1989, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[30]  A. Hopper,et al.  A Distributed Location System for the Active O ceAndy , 1993 .

[31]  Marvin Theimer,et al.  Customizing Mobile Applications , 1993, Symposium on Mobile and Location-Independent Computing.

[32]  Sean P. Engelson.  Active place recognition using image signatures , 1992, Other Conferences.

[33]  W. Richard Fright,et al.  The Effects of Metals and Interfering Fields on Electromagnetic Trackers , 1998, Presence.

[34]  S. Wray,et al.  The Medusa applications environment , 1994, 1994 Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Multimedia Computing and Systems.

[35]  Abigail Sellen,et al.  Design for Privacy in Ubiquitous Computing Environments , 1993, ECSCW.

[36]  Steve T. Bryson.  Measurement and calibration of static distortion of position data from 3D trackers , 1992, Electronic Imaging.

[37]  Risto A. Myllylae,et al.  Laser-radar-based three-dimensional sensor for teaching robot paths , 1995 .

[38]  Joseph A. Paradiso.  The Interactive Balloon: Sensing, Actuation, and Behavior in a Common Object , 1996, IBM Syst. J..

[39]  J. Finney,et al.  FLUMP : The FLexible Ubiquitous Monitor Project , 1996 .

[40]  Andy Hopper,et al.  Virtual Network Computing , 1998, IEEE Internet Comput..

[41]  George W. Fitzmaurice,et al.  Situated information spaces and spatially aware palmtop computers , 1993, CACM.

[42]  F. Raab,et al.  Magnetic Position and Orientation Tracking System , 1979, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.

[43]  William Noah Schilit,et al.  A system architecture for context-aware mobile computing , 1995 .

[44]  Ronald Azuma,et al.  A demonstrated optical tracker with scalable work area for head-mounted display systems , 1992, I3D '92.

[45]  R. H. Myers.  Classical and modern regression with applications , 1986 .

[46]  P. A. Godwin,et al.  A prison guard Duress alarm location system , 1993, 1993 Proceedings of IEEE International Carnahan Conference on Security Technology.

[47]  Ronald Azuma,et al.  A Survey of Augmented Reality , 1997, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[48]  Francis Seeley Foote,et al.  Surveying theory and practice , 1940 .

[49]  Alex Pentland,et al.  Pfinder: real-time tracking of the human body , 1996, Other Conferences.

[50]  G. J. Sonnenberg,et al.  Radar and electronic navigation , 1970 .

[51]  T. Pratt,et al.  A local area position location system , 1989 .

[52]  Bill N. Schilit,et al.  Context-aware computing applications , 1994, Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications.

[53]  Mike Spreitzer,et al.  Providing Location Information in a Ubiquitous Computing Environment , 1994, Mobidata.

[54]  Thad Starner,et al.  The locust swarm: an environmentally-powered, networkless location and messaging system , 1997, Digest of Papers. First International Symposium on Wearable Computers.

[55]  Andy Harter,et al.  The Implementation of a Distributed Framework to support ‘Follow Me’ Applications , 1998 .

[56]  Richard Hayton.  OASIS - an open architecture for secure interworking services , 1996, Technical Report / University of Cambridge / Computer Laboratory.

[57]  U. Kaiser,et al.  A low power transponder IC for high performance identification systems , 1994, Proceedings of IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference - CICC '94.

[58]  Craig A. Will,et al.  Review of Virtual Environment Interface Technology. , 1996 .

[59]  Ron Frederick,et al.  Audio aura: light-weight audio augmented reality , 1997, UIST '97.

[60]  Lawrence G. Roberts,et al.  ALOHA packet system with and without slots and capture , 1975, CCRV.

[61]  H. P. Varma,et al.  A Data Structure for Spatio-Temporal Databases , 1990 .

[62]  Gerald C. Nelson,et al.  Context-aware and location systems , 1998 .

[63]  Karel Zikan,et al.  Videometric head tracker for augmented reality applications , 1995, Other Conferences.

[64]  Andy Hopper,et al.  Teleporting in an X Window System Environment , 1994 .

[65]  John H. Murphy.  Tracking and location technologies for the criminal justice system , 1995, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[66]  Peter J. Brown,et al.  Context-aware applications: from the laboratory to the marketplace , 1997, IEEE Wirel. Commun..

[67]  Fernando Figueroa,et al.  A Robust Navigation System for Autonomous Vehicles using Ultrasonics , 1993 .

[68]  Bill N. Schilit,et al.  An Infrared Network for Mobile Computers , 1993, Symposium on Mobile and Location-Independent Computing.

[69]  A. Harter,et al.  A distributed location system for the active office , 1994, IEEE Network.

[70]  L. B. rno.KC.  Ultrasonic sensors , 1988 .

[71]  J. Challis.  A procedure for determining rigid body transformation parameters. , 1995, Journal of biomechanics.