A preference modelling approach to support intelligibility in pervasive applications

Context-aware applications do not always adapt their behaviours in ways that users expect due to a variety of reasons. Applications that lack intelligibility are often incapable of offering explanations to users as to why they decided to adapt their behaviours in certain ways, and providing feedback mechanisms for users to take control of any unwanted adaptation. This can lead to loss of user trust, satisfaction and acceptance of these applications. However, providing intelligibility and user control in applications are non-trivial; it involves exposing internal working components that influence the adaptation decisions, rendering them understandable to non-technical users, and enabling user modifications to those components to correct unexpected adaptations. This paper describes a user preference model regarding application adaptations. The goal is to support intelligibility in applications by facilitating users in generation of clear mental models that enable them to understand the links between particular contextual situations and various adaptive actions. It also aims to support user control of application behaviours by assisting developers in the creation of appropriate feedback mechanisms. These are essential in preventing user frustration at erratic application behaviours.

[1]  Anind K. Dey,et al.  Assessing demand for intelligibility in context-aware applications , 2009, UbiComp.

[2]  Tsutomu Terada,et al.  Ubiquitous Chip: A Rule-Based I/O Control Device for Ubiquitous Computing , 2004, Pervasive.

[3]  Jadwiga Indulska,et al.  Exposing Contextual Information for Balancing Software Autonomy and User Control in Context-Aware Systems , 2008 .

[4]  Zahir Tari,et al.  On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems. OTM 2018 Conferences , 2018, Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

[5]  Peter F. Patel-Schneider,et al.  Enabling context-aware and privacy-conscious user data sharing , 2004, IEEE International Conference on Mobile Data Management, 2004. Proceedings. 2004.

[6]  Oliver Brdiczka,et al.  Learning Situation Models for Providing Context-Aware Services , 2007, HCI.

[7]  Jadwiga Indulska,et al.  Using context and preferences to implement self‐adapting pervasive computing applications , 2006, Softw. Pract. Exp..

[8]  Jadwiga Indulska,et al.  Towards a common context model for virtual community applications , 2004 .

[9]  Claudio Bettini,et al.  Hybrid reasoning in the CARE middleware for context awareness , 2009, Int. J. Web Eng. Technol..

[10]  Jadwiga Indulska,et al.  Tool support for designing CML based context models in pervasive computing , 2010, ICPS 2010.

[11]  Tao Gu,et al.  Ontology based context modeling and reasoning using OWL , 2004, IEEE Annual Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications Workshops, 2004. Proceedings of the Second.

[12]  Anind K. Dey,et al.  Toolkit to support intelligibility in context-aware applications , 2010, UbiComp.

[13]  Roy H. Campbell,et al.  Use of Ontologies in Pervasive Computing Environments , 2003 .

[14]  Terry A. Halpin,et al.  Automated Verbalization for ORM 2 , 2006, OTM Workshops.

[15]  Jadwiga Indulska,et al.  An Autonomic Context Management System for Pervasive Computing , 2008, 2008 Sixth Annual IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications (PerCom).

[16]  Jadwiga Indulska,et al.  Towards a hybrid approach to context modeling, reasoning and interoperation , 2004 .

[17]  Claudio Bettini,et al.  Profile aggregation and policy evaluation for adaptive Internet services , 2004, The First Annual International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems: Networking and Services, 2004. MOBIQUITOUS 2004..

[18]  Anind K. Dey,et al.  Is Context-Aware Computing Taking Control away from the User? Three Levels of Interactivity Examined , 2003, UbiComp.

[19]  Frank Dürr,et al.  On location models for ubiquitous computing , 2004, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing.

[20]  Rakesh Agrawal,et al.  A framework for expressing and combining preferences , 2000, SIGMOD '00.

[21]  C. Becker.  Where do spatial context-models end and where do ontologies start ? A proposal of a combined approach , .

[22]  J.G.M. van der Heijden,et al.  Ubiquitous computing, user control, and user performance: conceptual model and preliminary experimental design , 2003 .

[23]  Jadwiga Indulska,et al.  A survey of context modelling and reasoning techniques , 2010, Pervasive Mob. Comput..

[24]  Jadwiga Indulska,et al.  Vertical handovers as adaptation methods in pervasive systems , 2003, The 11th IEEE International Conference on Networks, 2003. ICON2003..