Context-Awareness
Computing
What is a Context?
Context refers as a location, identities of nearby people and objects, and changes to
those objects
In similar definition, it is defined as a location, identities of people around the user, the
time of day, season, temperature, etc.
The user's location, environment, identity, and time.
Enumerated context is the user's emotional state, focus of attention, location and
orientation, date and time, and objects and people in the user's environment.
The subset of physical and conceptual states of interest to a particular entity.
Context defines some rules of inter-relationship of features in processing any entities as a
binding clause.
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What is a Context?
Context is any information that
can be used to characterized the
situation of an entity. An entity is
a person, place, or object that is
considered relevant to the
interaction between a user and
an application, including the user
and the application themselves.
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What is Context-Awareness Computing?
The term Context-Awareness in Ubiquitous Computing was introduced by
Mark Schilit (1994)
Context-awareness is the ability of a system or system component to gather
information about its environment at any given time and adapt behaviors
accordingly.
Context-aware computing uses software and hardware to automatically
collect and analyze data to guide responses.
Is the ability of computing devices to sense and react to their environment
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Example of Context-Awareness Computing
Pressure Light Identity
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Example of Context-Awareness Computing
Pressure Location Social
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Context Helps us to do things better
Context influence how we perceive information.
Context enables us to manage the vast amount of information that surrounds
us.
Context guides us through the information surrounding us.
Context allows to discriminate "what is important" and "what is not"
Context helps us to adopt to our surroundings.
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Context Categorization
Human Factors
information on the user (knowledge of habits, emotional state,
biophysiological conditions)
the user's social environment (co-location of others, social interaction,
group dynamics)
and the user's tasks (spontaneous activity, engaged tasks, general goals).
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Context Categorization
Physical Context
Active context: influences and behavior of the application.
where active context-awareness autonomously changes the application
behavior according to the sensed information.
Passive context: context that is relevant but not critical.
Passive context-awareness presents updated context or sensor information
to the user but lets the user decide how to change the application behavior.
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Context Categorization
Physical Context
Example:
❖ Physical Context
❖ Example
❖ Lighting
❖ Noise level
❖ traffic conditions
❖ temperature
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Context Categorization
Computing Context
Example:
Network Connectivity
Communication Bandwidth
Nearby Resources like printers, displays
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Context Categorization
User Context
Example:
User’s Profile
Location
Emotional State
People Nearby
Current Activity
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Context Categorization
Others
Example:
Time of Day
Month
Year
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Context Categorization
Primary Context Secondary Context
Location Distance
Identity Relationship
Time
Activity
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Common Context Awareness Features
Location: Apart from automatically adjusting the time and
date displayed on your mobile device when you move from
one time zone to another, it also changes the data on your
map application. Each time you turn on a map app, your
device immediately senses where you are, giving you the right
directions to wherever you want to go.
Weather: Your mobile device also instantly gives you weather
forecasts meant for your current location, allowing you to
adjust your wardrobe or plans.
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Common Context Awareness Features
Text spelling: Today’s computers and mobile devices also
predict what you’re typing and suggest the next words or
phrases, speeding up the process. All that’s left is for you to
choose among the suggestions and get the responses.
Health statistics: Smartwatches and fitness bands have built-in
sensors that track your heart rate, number of steps, and more,
telling you if you need to move or take a break.
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Common Context Awareness Features
Environmental state: Internet of Things (IoT) devices used for
farming, for instance, alert you when it’s time to water your
crops and so on, allowing you to optimize yields.
Health statistics: Smartwatches and fitness bands have built-in
sensors that track your heart rate, number of steps, and more,
telling you if you need to move or take a break.
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How Does Context Awareness Work?
STEP 1 : Data Flow
Information about the user's environment provided by the devices
built-in-sensor/s
STEP 2 : Interpretation
What the data means based on the interpretations listed in the
device's database
STEP 3 : Action
Recommended actions for the device's user
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