We present a context-aware middleware for mobile multimedia applications. The middleware offers functionality for service discovery, asynchronous messaging, publish/subscribe event management, storing and management of context information, building the user interface, and handling the local and network resources. It supports a wide range of context information including location, time, and user's preferences. Further, it allows controlling the connectivity of the device; the middleware is capable of switching traffic from one network connection to another. It can locate the services and software components as well. It facilitates development of multimedia applications by handling such functions as capture and rendering, storing, retrieving and adapting of media content to various mobile devices. The middleware offers facilities for media alerts, which are multimedia messages that are generated when predefined context is recognized. With these capabilities, it enables development of complex context-aware multimedia applications for mobile devices.

In this paper, we describe our work in developing an autonomic system that supports the composition of ubiquitous applications at run-time. The applications are composed and adapted accordingly to user preferences and user-provided criteria. We have designed a proof-of-concept prototype of the system and an example multimedia application. The application is a multimedia player which users can control on a large screen using the mobile phone's UI as the controller. We present a user evaluation of the prototype's feasibility and also determine what feedback and control mechanisms are required by the end-users. We report initial analysis of how user satisfaction and comfort level are affected by the autonomy of the system.

Ubiquitous computing environments advocate creating applications by plugging together various resources (mobile devices, displays, augmented everyday objects, and so on) and Web Services to support the user's everyday activities and needs. This approach is referred to as application composition, and such applications are called composite. Due to the dynamic nature of ubiquitous environments, application composition has to be supported at runtime, so that the applications are able to adapt to the situation within the environment and other contexts. Application composition is usually performed by autonomous context-aware mechanisms that provide limited or no control for users. Still, users need to be aware of their environments and be able to control and configure applications when they are composed and executed. Towards this goal we present in this article a context-aware application composition system based on the iCompose interface for composing and controlling applications at runtime. Users compose applications by simply touching the resources in the environment with their mobile devices, while the iCompose interface provides feedback and assists users by suggesting them possible further actions. The interface relies on a rule-based reasoner and utilizes various context sources to support users dynamically, according to the situation in which they compose applications. We present a complete implementation of the system and report the results of a user evaluation study conducted with 21 participants. This study assesses the issues of control, usability, feasibility and user acceptance of the iCompose interface for context-aware application composition and the prototype as a whole.Keywords: ubiquitous computing • interaction design • physical user interface design • application composition © Versita Sp. z o.o.

Recently, we have been witnessing how various social applications and networking services are being integrated more deeply into our daily lives. Until now, social interaction has been attributed exclusively to humans, while resources and the smart space have supported interaction as passive mediators only. However, the involvement of smart spaces as an active actor in the interaction process facilitates more flexible and user-centered applications for users. This article explores how knowledgebased technologies enable smart spaces to actively take part in the interaction. We argue that smart spaces should be able not only to adapt their behaviour according to the actions of humans and other participants, but also initiate interaction when it is necessary. In order to support this statement, we categorise the types of interaction from the participants' perspective, and review and evaluate the technologies enabling interaction in smart spaces. Furthermore, we present our constructive research on interaction in smart spaces: proof-of-concept prototype applications realizing different architectures and supporting various types of interaction in smart spaces.

The complex [Cu(en) 2 (H 2 O)](sy) 2 (en)(H 2 O) 2 has been synthesized and characterized by its electronic and vibrational spectra. The molecular structure of the complex has been determined by X-ray diffraction methods. The complex crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pnma with unit-cell parameters a = 10.7236 (5), b = 20.4660(10), c = 14.4523(11)Å and Z = 4. In the cation, the Cu(II) ion has a distorted square pyramidal coordination with two bidendate (en) ligands forming the basal plane and a H 2 O molecule in the apical position. The complex cations and syringate anions constitute chains along the b axis in -A-B-A-fashion. The members of the chains are linked by through N-H···O hydrogen bonds. The (en) molecules are responsible for connecting adjacent layers.

Pervasive Service Composition (PSC) incorporates service composition and pervasive computing into managing user's everyday activities. A generic Reference Model of Pervasive Service Composition (PSC-RM) is needed for guiding PSC architecture design and implementation. To design PSC-RM, we first investigate and present a user's generic activity model. Then we analyze characteristics of PSC and envision PSC applications. Based on these applications we present requirements and initial design of PSC-RM.

Purpose-Context-awareness is an essential property of any pervasive system perceiving its environment. Such a system captures and processes context, i.e. the features describing the relevant aspects of environment state and user behaviour. However, development of these systems still requires solving a number of research and engineering challenges. The purpose of this paper is to propose perception framework, a RESTful middleware which simplifies and accelerates the development of pervasive systems. Perception framework allows constructing services' application logic using rules and context. Moreover, it collects sensor data and produces the context information that is required for the rules. The authors present the architecture, design, complete implementation, and prototype-based verification of perception framework. Design/methodology/approach-Development of context-aware services is achieved with a novel architecture supporting building of the logic of web services using rules which directly manipulate the available elementary context represented with the Web Ontology Language (OWL) ontology. These rules are described using the Rule Interchange Format (RIF) with support for different rule languages. The implementation of this framework is aligned with RESTful principles, providing a lightweight and flexible solution for large-scale context-aware systems. Findings-The fully implemented prototype verifies the feasibility of constructing the logic of context-aware web services with the rules supported by perception framework. Originality/value-The contributions of this paper include: the requirement specification for a generic context-aware pervasive middleware; and the design and implementation of the framework (i.e. perception framework) supporting the development of context-aware web services. The perception framework includes a generic rule-based reasoner allowing developers to use several RIF-compliant rule description languages.

In this chapter, the authors introduce CADEAU, a prototype that addresses these challenges through a unique combination of autonomic mechanisms for application composition and methods for user interaction. These methods differ from each other in the degree to which the user is involved in the control of the prototype. They are offered so that users can choose the appropriate method according to their needs, the application and other context information. These methods use the mobile device as an interaction tool that connects users and resources in the ubiquitous space. The authors present the architecture, the interaction design, and the implementation of CADEAU and give the results of a user study that involved 30 participants from various backgrounds. This study explores the balance between user control and system autonomy depending on different contexts, the user’s needs, and expertise. In particular, the study analyses the circumstances under which users prefer to rely on certain interaction methods for application composition. It is argued that this study is a key step towards better user acceptance of future systems for the composition of ubiquitous applications.