Context-Aware Communication

Patrick Malatack

Key Idea

• Communication is a killer app for ubicomp• Example activities:

– Staying in touch– Coordinating with friends and family– Being aware of activities of friends and family

• Non-ubicomp evidence– Popularity of Social Networking web sites– Popularity of sharing sites– Popularity of Blogs / Message boards

Problems with Keeping in Touch• Irrelevant messages

– Vacation mail, surveys, junk email• Interruptions

– During meetings, concerts, movies, dinner, driving• Lack of awareness on callee side

– Phone tag, time zone issue (oops!)• Information overload

– Can make it hard to find useful messages (ex. delayed flight)• Device overload

– Fax, email, landline phone, mobile phone, IM

Readings• Context Aware Computing

– 2002, looked at field of context-aware communication specifically and attempted to define and characterize field.

– Presented history of devices and inventions in the field– Articulated design principles for C-A Communication

• Social Disclosure of Place: From Location Technology to Communication Practices– 2005, designed, developed, evaluated a system for

disclosing you location to other people based on user defined settings

– Out of PlaceLab

Context-Aware Communication• Main idea:

– Use sensors and other pieces of context…– to improve awareness of and communication with others…– while minimizing overload, irrelevancy, and interruptions

“C-A Comm” Working Definition• “C-A Communication” applications apply knowledge

of people’s context (and activities) to reduce person-to-person communication barriers

• C-A Communication is subset of C-A Computing– Does not include, e.g., control of environment, or apps that

filter information about nearby restaurants and printers• Information versus communication

– Is the chirping Lovegety an information or communication device?

• Article takes broad view of communication

Context-Aware Comm Dimensions

Less Common Sense

Less

Priv

acy

C-A Communication Research

Grouped by application types

• Routing• Addressing• Messaging• Caller Awareness• Screening

directing communication to nearby & appropriate devices

• Following Callers on PARC’s Etherphone System• Olivetti’s Active Badge Aiding a Telephone Receptionist• Ubiquitous Message Delivery

Routing

PARC Etherphone (Swinehart, et al. 1987)

• 50 Etherphones• Location registered by

– Logging in– “Visiting”

• Distinctive ring tones

• Etherphone 1– Autonomous routing (action)– Manual sensing

• Etherphone 2– Autonomous routing (action)– Autonomous sensing

• More brittle• New defaults for visitors

1 2

ORL Active Badge “Aid to a receptionist” (Want & Hopper 1992)

• Infrared emitting badges and network of receivers

• Initial application was an “Aid for a telephone receptionist”

• Give a person info for tracking down callee

• Receptionist 1– Autonomous sensing– Manual routing

• Receptionist 2– Autonomous sensing– Autonomous routing

• Less intelligent• People wanted to control based on who

they were with, where they are, etc. -> more work

targeting communication at appropriate people

• Context-Aware Mailing List• PARCTAB Virtual Whiteboard

Addressing

Context-Aware Mailing List(Dey, Abowd & Salber 2001)

• In-out board using iButton RF tags• Dynamic e-mail list for directing

email to people who are in the building– “let’s get lunch”– “talk in 5 minutes”

• C-A Mailing List– Triggered autonomous action– (could be) Autonomous sensing

providing the right message at the right time

• Contextual Reminder Messages in CybreMinder• MIT’s Active Messenger

Messaging

CybreMinder(Dey 2000)• To-do items associated

with location and context• Can be sent to other

people• Context include “forecast is

for rain and Bob is leaving home.”

• CybreMinder– Autonomous sensing– Autonomous action

(delivery)

Providing Awareness

• Awareness with AwareNex• Audio Aura• Triggering Real World

Meetings with Roomotes• LoveGety

Allows others to determineavailability to talk

Erfolg’s LoveGety (Awareness)• A Japanese toy (circa 1998) for

meeting people, beeps when a compatible partner is nearby.

• Detects other devices in a 15 foot range and “bleep”

• Blue and Pink models (blue only responds to pink and vice versa)

• 3 Modes:– Chat mode: if you're interested in

meeting someone for conversation– Karaoke mode: if you're looking

for a "playmate," – Get-get mode: for those looking to

move straight away into something a bit more intimate.

Many spinoffs likeParty Bapp-X andMedia Lab’s Meme Tag

Audio Aura(Mynatt 1999)

• Auditory cues as people walk around an office place

• Going to an empty office creates an audio cue about how long it has been empty

• A “group pulse” if people are meeting– Automated sensing– Little automated

communication

Users determine wether or not they want to talk

• Calls.Calm making Caller-Callee Calm• Context-Call

Screening

Calls.Calm (Pedersen 2001)

• Calls.Calm uses web phones to mediate communication with subscribers.

• A person (a) selects who to call and • (b) is greeted by the callees contact page contextualized and

customized for the caller; or if the caller is unknown, • (c) a generic page.

5 Design Considerations

1. Improving relevance– Deciding when a communication is relevant to the person’s

current (or near future) situation. – For example, getting notification about an email from your

travel agent regarding itinerary changes while packing to leave for the airport.

2. Minimizing disruption3. Improving awareness4. Reducing overload5. Selecting channels

5 Design Considerations

1. Improving relevance2. Minimizing disruption

– Deciding when and how to notify people that they have a communication.

– For example, your phone should vibrate and not ring, when you are at the symphony (unless it is truly urgent).

3. Improving awareness4. Reducing overload5. Selecting channels

8/26/02 context-aware communication 23

5 Design Considerations

1. Improving relevance2. Minimizing disruption3. Improving awareness

– Deciding what information and mechanisms can help people make intelligent communication decisions.

– For example, the caller should be told you are at the movies before the call goes through.

4. Reducing overload5. Selecting channels

8/26/02 context-aware communication 24

5 Design Considerations

1. Improving relevance2. Minimizing disruption3. Improving awareness4. Reducing overload

– Deciding how to reduce the number of communications that don’t apply given your context.

– For example, filtering out emails about going to lunch when you are away from the office (or already at lunch).

5. Selecting channels

8/26/02 context-aware communication 25

5 Design Considerations

1. Improving relevance2. Minimizing disruption3. Improving awareness4. Reducing overload5. Selecting channels

– Deciding which communication device should be used to get in touch with somebody.

– For example, routing calls to your home phone instead of your cell phone when you are at home and cellular reception is poor.

Social Disclosure of Place• Reno

– J2me application– Nokia 6600– Cell tower based

location estimation

– Always on– “avoid real privacy

threats”– Minimize

deployment barriers

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (LZW) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Social Disclosure of Place• Study design

– 8 members– Project members or

families– 5 were members of

the team– Disclosure based on

relationship– Accidental

disclosures occurred– 8 disclosures a day

on average

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (LZW) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.