Towards a Task-Oriented Framework for Smart Spaces Chuong C. Vo, Torab Torabi , & Seng W. Loke Department of Computer Science & Computer Engineering La Trobe University, Australia 1 Speaker: Seng W. Loke C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
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Towards a Task-Oriented Framework for Smart Spaces Chuong C. Vo, Torab Torabi, & Seng W. Loke Department of Computer Science & Computer Engineering La.
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Towards a Task-Oriented Framework for Smart Spaces
Chuong C. Vo, Torab Torabi , & Seng W. LokeDepartment of Computer Science & Computer Engineering
La Trobe University, Australia
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Speaker: Seng W. Loke
C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
Outlines• Introduction
– Smart spaces– Usability problems with smart spaces– Task-oriented scenarios
• Approach: a task-oriented framework– Concepts & components
• Current implementation• Related work• Conclusion & future work
2C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
Introduction
• The first era of computer (past, many-one)– Mainframe: central, heavy, and expensive
• The second (now, one-many)– Personal computers: personal, light, inexpensive
• The third (now & future, many-many)– Post-PC: pervasive (everywhere, every time),
computers blend into environments .– Whole environments are computers.
3C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
Smart space
• What is a smart space?– Seamlessly integrating computational elements
into the fabric of everyday life…” [Weiser 1991],– Everyday objects and environments are aware of
their surroundings & peers and behave smartly.
• The aims:– Support our activities, complement our skills, add
to our pleasure, convenience, accomplishments [Norman 2007].
4C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
Usability problems with smart spaces
• Complexity of use: Variety of devices, UIs, remote controllers– Requires too many buttons and menus on UIs, exceeds capacity of UIs
for users to operate them intuitively [Rich 2009].– Users need to understand how to map devices' functions to their tasks
& sub-tasks.5
Slideshowcontroller
TV controller
A future smart space
Audio controller
Blind controller
TV
Video-conferenceDisplay Temperature
controller
Projector
DVD player
Printer
ComputerLightcontroller
Recorder
Smart phone
Door
Coffeemaker
C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
Usability problems (cont.)
• Invisibility & Overload of features– Technologies blend into environments.– Frequently adding/removing devices and services
to/from the spaces.– One device tens of features– Different combinations of devices
Hundreds of features
6MediaCup [Beigl et al. 2000]
C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
Usability problems (cont.)
• Inconsistency of user interfaces– Brand identification, product differentiation [Rich
2009; Oliveira 2008]
• Inconsistency of task executions– Same tasks but different operations/procedures
when being executed in different smart spaces.
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How to abate these usability problems?
Our approach is based on task-oriented computing.
C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
– “It’s 7p.m., it’s raining, and you’re walking in the centre of Melbourne. You consult your phone and it suggests ‘Dinner?’, ‘Taxi?’, ‘Bus?’.Selecting ‘Dinner?’ will present restaurants you’re apt to like and even dishes that you may want…”
• Pervasive university campus’s scenario– “You’re driving approaching La Trobe Uni. Campus,
the LCD on your car suggests ‘Campus map?’, ‘Find a place?’, ‘Parking spot?’. Selecting ‘Parking spot’ will guide you to find a parking spot.”
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Task-oriented scenarios (cont.)
• Pervasive personal office’s scenario– “You enter your office. The lighting, heating, and
cooling levels are automatically adjusted based on you electronic profile. The coffeemaker works to give you a cup of hot white coffee.”
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Our long term aim is to realize these scenarios!
C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
Task-Oriented Computing
• Our approach is based on task-oriented computing [Wang et al. 2000]:– A task is a user’s goal or objective [Loke 2009].– Users interact with/think of the computing in
terms of tasks instead of applications/devices’ functionality.
– Users focus on the tasks at hand rather than on the means for achieving those tasks [Masuoka2003].
– Application function is modeled as tasks and sub-tasks.
10C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
Approach: a task-oriented framework
Problem Proposed solutionComplexity of use Task-based user interfacesInvisibility & overload of features
Context-aware task recommendation
Inconsistency of UIs & task executions
Abstraction of task models
11C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
Overview of the task-oriented framework
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Developer/Designer
Task modelTask modelTask models
Task Repository
Context-Aware Task Recommender
Task Execution Engine
Context Information Manager
User(s)
(1) P
ublis
hes
(2a) Advertises
task models
(2b)
Pro
vide
s
cont
ext
(3) Recomm
ends
tasks
(4a)
selec
ts
task
s
(4b) Provides
context
Devices
Services
(5) invoke
C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
Task description language
• Syntax and semantics for describing tasks.• Some requirements:
– Abstraction– Interpretability– Support for inter-task dependencies– Support for proactive task guidance:
• What should I do next? How do I do <task>? When should I do <task>? Why did you do <task>? Did <task> succeed? Why did the task failed? How to fix the problem?...
C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University13
Task description repository
• Manage and advertise task model descriptions• Challenges:
– Effective mechanisms for searching and matching task models
– indexing techniques and task description queries
14C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
Context-aware task recommendation• A combination of the following methods:
C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
Current implementation
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• Executing tasks
Power line
Task Execution EngineW
irele
ssly
exe
cute
task
s
We’ve implemented some simple tasks
using X10 technology
Kettle
Light
C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
Future work
• Design a comprehensive task description language• Develop a graphical editor for authoring task descriptions• Extend the task execution engine• Develop mechanisms for effectively publishing and
• Address conflicts of task executions in multi-user environments….
31C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
Related work• Situation-aware application recommendation [Cheng et al. 2008]
– They recommend applications <> We recommend tasks (multi-apps)– They use pure situation similarity <> We use task based similarity
• Homebird system [Rantapuska et al. 2008]– It recommends tasks based on features of devices discovered– However, because this approach does not consider user situation, it can recommend feasible
tasks which may be not relevant.• InterPlay [Messer et al. 2006]
– For device integration and task orchestration in a networked home.– It asks user to express their intended tasks and assumes that the users have knowledge about
feasible tasks.– In contrast, our approach can recommend relevant, feasible tasks without these
requirements.• Context-dependent task discovery [Ni et al. 2006]
– Discovering active tasks by matching current context with required context of tasks.– This can discover feasible tasks but potentially irrelevant tasks.
• Task retrieval [Fukazawa et al. 2005]– Ask user to specify target names (e.g., cafe shop, theatre) for retrieving tasks which are
associated with these names.– Our system has integrated this knowledge into place/devices-related task repository.
32C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
Conclusion
• Defined usability problems with smart spaces: Complex of use, Invisibility & overload of features, and Inconsistency of UIs & tasks.
• Presented the task-oriented framework with components: Task description language, task repository, context-aware task recommender, task execution engine…
• Given an early implementation & applications.• Outlined the research agenda.
33C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University
ReferencesM. Weiser, “The computer for the 21st century,” Sci. American, 3(265), pp. 94–104, 1991.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. Loke. Context-aware task recommendation. In ICPCA-09, Taiwan, 2009.Z. Wang & D. Garlan, “Task-driven computing,” School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Tech.
Rep., 2000.D. Garlan et al. “Project Aura: toward distraction-free pervasive computing,” Pervasive Computing, IEEE, 1(2), pp.
22–31, 2002.R. Masuoka et al. “Task computing – the semantic web meets pervasive computing,” The SemanticWeb, pp. 866–
881, 2003.D. Magnusson & B. Ekehammar, “Similar situations–similar behaviors? a study of the intraindividual congruence
between situation perception and situation reactions,” J. of Research in Personality, 12, pp. 41–48, 1978.A. K. Dey, “Understanding and using context,” Per. and Ubi. Computing, 5(1), pp. 4–7, 2001.D. Cheng et al. “Mobile situation-aware task recommendation application,” in The 2nd Int. Conf. on Next
Generation Mobile App., Services, and Tech., 2008.A.Messer et al. “InterPlay: A middleware for seamless device integration and task orchestration in a networked
home,” in PERCOM’06. 2006, pp. 296–307.H. Ni et al. “Context-dependent task computing in pervasive environment,” Ubi. Comp. Sys., pp. 119–128, 2006.Y. Fukazawa et al. “A framework for task retrieval in task-oriented service navigation system,” in OTM Workshops
2005, pp. 876–885.O. Rantapuska and M. Lahteenmaki, “Homebird–task-based user experience for home networks and smart
spaces,” in PERMID 2008, 2008.
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Questions?
Thank you!
35C.C. Vo, T. Torabi, and S. W. Loke - La Trobe University