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News (22 Dec 2005): The AmbieSense project
is now a company. The founders of the EU IST project have commercialised. They are both grateful and humble for the opportunity
that arose after the successful completion of the project. They have customers too. See the AmbieSense company web for more information...
The Project
AmbieSense was a project funded by the Information Society Technologies Programme
of the European Commission (FP5)
The AmbieSense looks into the future of the Ambient Intelligence Landscape. Miniature
and wireless context tags are mounted in everyday surroundings and situations. The tags are smart objects embedded in the
environment of people with mobile devices.
The project vision is:
- Relevant information to the right situation
and user
AmbieSense technology and applications have been a key inspiration to several of the newly funded FP6
projects.
Some refer to the project as turning the mobile operator model on its head. We just think it adds flexibility.
Project
outcome
The project has been successfully completed and achieved:
- Innovative applications and technologies
- Publicity
in TV, radio, news papers, web, and popular scientific magazines
- 15+ scientific publications
The scientific challenge
The main scientific
challenge is in the use of environmental context information and individual user context information to develop leading edge
personalised interactive information services for mobile users. The main technological challenge is in the combination of
ambient, context-sensitive and personalisation technologies.
The thesis of the project can be formulated as: "It
is impossible to provide mobile users with the Ambient Intelligence Landscape without making the surroundings around more
intelligent and adapted to the situation."
This will be enlightened via user scenarios. The AmbieSense project
will both develop and improve technology possessed by the technology providers in the project. The corner-stones of the AmbieSense
system are:
- wireless context tags
- mobile devices
- intelligent agents
- personalised and
context-sensitive information services
The AmbieSense concept was born in Summer 2001 during a workshop in User
Modelling 2001 conference, Sonthofen, Germany. SINTEF and RGU wanted to seek out the possibility of combining context technology
and RFID with multi-media content for mobile users.
The AmbieSense applications are based on the use of context
tags. These small electronic tags are a means of capturing and communicating information about the surroundings (i.e. info
about the environment). The context tags communicate with mobile devices. Additionally, the tags can also be updated with
information from remote.
The tags can be mounted everywhere - in buildings, within shops and restaurants, in vehicles,
hidden in furniture, in user clothes, and even outdoors. The context tags automatically send the contextual information about
the surroundings to the mobile users who travel. The effect is that the user is relieved from specifying the context around
him. Context tags can be networked and integrated with existing computers and wireless network infrastructures. Hence, a context
tag is smarter than an RFID tag.
The AmbieSense system
The system and reference architecture supports the development
of mobile information services that are ubiquitous, personalised and adapted to the situation. On the mobile devices one can
run both thin and think clients, and media-rich web content is delivered to the end users.
Context-aware applications
An AmbieSense application consists of context tags
mounted in the surroundings, mobile devices, and online content services. It builds upon state-of the-art wireless network
infrastructures and de facto software and hardware.
Ambient information access for travellers and tourists
Access to different
information depending of user’s interests and the current context and location. The applications was tested and demonstrated
for mobile users in Oslo airport and in Seville. The integrated AmbieSense applications was tested and evaluated in both realistic
and controlled environments. Commercial demos are available for interested parties.
Context middleware
This software component runs on mobile devices
and in the content service. It implements state-of-the art security and privacy mechanisms that mobile users need. A user
context is capable of describing the user’s interests, his state, the social setting, the spatio-temporal aspects, and
other entities in the surroundings.
Intelligent agents for mobile devices
Agent technology that personalises and adapts the
information system in terms of information extraction, retrieval, filtering, and presentation is also developed and tested.
Personalisation is achieved via the use of the context-sensitive technology. The intelligent agents help the mobile users
to get the right information to the right situation.
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The AmbieSense travel guide for Seville in
use on two Nokia handsets. Content from Lonely Planet, Sevilla Global, RGU, and SINTEF.
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