Our research in this area has focused on two aspects of Context-Aware Computing:
- Evaluation of Context-Aware Systems in Real-World Use -- creating context-
aware systems that are stable enough to be used by people is still quite a challenge.
We implement very simple context-aware systems, ones that involve
limited but novel functionality (such as location detection) and then allow users
to test these systems. We are interested in looking at the unique usability challenges
of context-awareness. We also hope this type of research will help to discover what
scenarios are the most compelling to users.
- Collective Definition of Context by Users -- to date no context-aware
systems have taken advantage of the collective knowledge of the people who inhabit
an environment. We are developing systems that allow the users to contribute
information about a context of use (both implicitly and explicitly) that other
users can benefit from. This concept taps into research on social navigation.
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