Consistent Modelling of Users, Devices and Sensors in a Ubiquitous Computing Environment

This paper describes the use of an accretion-resolution user modelling representation to model people, places and objects. We explain the motivation for the key properties of the representation, especially those of particular importance for ubiquitous computing: firstly, for flexibility in interpreting the typically noisy and potentially conflicting evidence about users’ locations; secondly, to support users in scrutinising their user model, the processes that determine its contents and the way that it is used in the ubiquitous computing environment. A novel and important aspect of this work is our extension of the representation beyond modelling just users, using it also to represent the other elements such as devices, sensors, rooms and buildings. We illustrate our approach in terms of models we have been building for a system which enables users to gain personalised information about the sensors and services in a ubiquitous computing environment. We report experiments on the scalability and the management of inconsistency in modelling of location, based on accretion-resolution     

From user interface design to the support of intelligent and adaptive interfaces: an overhaul of user interface software infrastracture

Research on adaptive interfaces in the past has lacked support from user interface tools which allow interfaces to be easily created and modified. Also, current user interface tools provide no support for user models which can collect task-oriented information about users. Developing an adaptive interface requires a user model and an adaptation strategy. It also, however, requires a user interface which can be adapted. The latter task is often time-consuming, especially in relation to more sophisticated user interfaces.

The paper presents a user interface design environment, UIDE, which has a different software infrastracture. Designers use high-level specifications to create a model of an application and links from the application to various interface components. The model is the heart of all the design and run-time support in UIDE, including automatic dialog sequencing and help generation. UIDE provides automatic support for collecting task-oriented information about users, by the use of its high-level specifications in its application model as a basic construct for a user model. Some examples of adaptive interfaces and adaptive help are presented that use the information that is collectable in UIDE.     

3M: a user modelling interface of an expert system for X-ray topographic image interpretation

This paper discusses user modelling techniques and presents the design and implementation of the 3M user modelling interface of INTEREX. INTEREX is an expert system for X-ray topographic image interpretation which assists its users in identifying and analysing a number of defects that can occur in high-quality crystals. 3M consists of a monitor, a model and a modifier. It is used to adapt the consultation route and the explanations provided by INTEREX to three categories of users. It demonstrates the use-of an implicit, individual, dynamic and long-term user model to enable an expert system to accommodate users with different levels of expertise.     

The Society's Lecture 1987 The Use of Models in Human-Computer Interface Design

A user-centred approach to human-computer interface design requires that the designer has appropriate tools to aid in the design process and employs iterative design procedures which incorporate user evaluations. The concept of using models of the user as an interface design tool is discussed, and several approaches to user modelling are described. These approaches are divided into the broad categories of conceptual and quantitative models. Conceptual models deal primarily with representations of users1 cognitive processes, structures and strategies. Quantitative models include performance, ergonomic, computer simulation and statistical models. Examples of both a conceptual and a quantitative model are provided to illustrate human-computer interface design implications. Some unresolved issues pertaining to both categories of models are discussed, and recommendations are made to improve modelling as an interface design tool.     

Tailoring Automatically Generated Hypertext

This paper describes an approach for tailoring the content and structure of automatically generated hypertext. The implemented system HYLITE is based on applied Natural Language Generation (NLG) techniques, a re-usable user modelling component (VIEWGEN), and a flexible architecture with module feedback. The user modelling component is used by the language generation modules to adapt the hypertext content and links to user beliefs and preferences and to the previous interaction. Unlike previous adaptive NLG systems, which have their own, application-specific user models, HYLITE has re-used a generic agent modelling framework (VIEWGEN) instead. Apart from avoiding the development costs of a new model, this also enabled a more extendable system architecture. Another distinct feature of our approach is making NLG techniques adaptable by the user, i.e., providing users with control over the user model and the hypertext adaptivity.     

一个面向对象的交互式创作工具OOIAT的设计与实现

在开放交互式创伤工具过程中,常常会遇到这样的难题：如何表示和建立用户模型及操作的对象,并向用户提供可直接操作的交互方式;如何有效地表示和管理对象之间的关系。,为此,我们设计并实现了一个创伤工具OOIAT,它提供了一个可扩充的,用于表示用户模型并集成了事件模型的对象集,使用户只需定义对象,不必了解对象如何传递
动作,如何实现其功能,就能够处理在这些对象上的交互式直接创伤。     

Generic User Modeling Systems

The paper reviews the development of generic user modeling systems over the past twenty years. It describes their purposes, their services within user-adaptive systems, and the different design requirements for research prototypes and commercially deployed servers. It discusses the architectures that have been explored so far, namely shell systems that form part of the application, central server systems that communicate with several applications, and possible future user modeling agents that physically follow the user. Several implemented research prototypes and commercial systems are briefly described.     

Selecting among five common modelling approaches for integrated environmental assessment and management

The design and implementation of effective environmental policies need to be informed by a holistic understanding of the system processes (biophysical, social and economic), their complex interactions, and how they respond to various changes. Models, integrating different system processes into a unified framework, are seen as useful tools to help analyse alternatives with stakeholders, assess their outcomes, and communicate results in a transparent way. This paper reviews five common approaches or model types that have the capacity to integrate knowledge by developing models that can accommodate multiple issues, values, scales and uncertainty considerations, as well as facilitate stakeholder engagement. The approaches considered are: systems dynamics, Bayesian networks, coupled component models, agent-based models and knowledge-based models (also referred to as expert systems). We start by discussing several considerations in model development, such as the purpose of model building, the availability of qualitative versus quantitative data for model specification, the level of spatio-temporal detail required, and treatment of uncertainty. These considerations and a review of applications are then used to develop a framework that aims to assist modellers and model users in the choice of an appropriate modelling approach for their integrated assessment applications and that enables more effective learning in interdisciplinary settings.     

DaisyViz: A model-based user interface toolkit for interactive information visualization systems

While information visualization technologies have transformed our life and work, designing information visualization systems still faces challenges. Non-expert users or end-users need toolkits that allow for rapid design and prototyping, along with supporting unified data structures suitable for different data types (e.g., tree, network, temporal, and multi-dimensional data), various visualization, interaction tasks. To address these issues, we designed DaisyViz, a model-based user interface toolkit, which enables end-users to rapidly develop domain-specific information visualization applications without traditional programming. DaisyViz is based on a user interface model for information (UIMI), which includes three declarative models: data model, visualization model, and control model. In the development process, a user first constructs a UIMI with interactive visual tools. The results of the UIMI are then parsed to generate a prototype system automatically. In this paper, we discuss the concept of UIMI, describe the architecture of DaisyViz, and show how to use DaisyViz to build an information visualization system. We also present a usability study of DaisyViz we conducted. Our findings indicate DaisyViz is an effective toolkit to help end-users build interactive information visualization systems.     

Design and evaluation of an adaptive icon toolbar

As information systems become increasingly important in many different domains, the potential to adapt them to individual users and their needs also becomes more important. Adaptive user interfaces offer many possible ways to adjust displays and improve procedures for a user's individual patterns of work. This paper describes an attempt to design an adaptive user interface in a computer environment familiar to many users. According to one classification of adaptive user interfaces, the adaptive bar described in this paper would be classified as a user-controlled self-adaptation system.At the user's convenience, the adaptive bar offers suggestions for adding or removing command icons, based on the frequency and probability of specific commands. It also implements these changes once the user has agreed to them. Beyond the adaptive bar, the general behavior of the whole user interface does not change, thereby allowing the user to maintain a clear general model of the system. This paper describes the decision-making algorithm implemented in the bar. It also describes the bar's self-adaptive behavior of displaying the frequency of each icon's use through the icon's size. Finally, we present some encouraging preliminary results of evaluations by users.     

Elderly user experience to improve a Kinect-based game playability

When it comes to using computers, older people experience many barriers, which are a considerable hurdle to overcome in order to enable them to accept technological aids. Thus, computer interface design and development must support elderly end users by avoiding many usability issues which lead to negative impacts on them. This paper describes the combination of a computer game design for the elderly and its implementation with user experience considerations embedded in the process. In this way, a positive gaming experience is provided to the end user. This game uses the Kinect device, enabling users to interact intuitively with the computer without any intermediary controller, and its main purpose is to promote at the same time cognitive and physical activities for healthy living. Feedback was taken from physiotherapists’ written observations and user experience questionnaires, which allowed the game to be adapted to their needs, obtaining 86.25% satisfaction. The effectiveness of this study opens the door to new developments in ICT that not only improve quality of life but also reduce the existing digital divide for the elderly.     

Collaborative user modeling for enhanced content filtering in recommender systems

Recommender systems, which have emerged in response to the problem of information overload, provide users with recommendations of content suited to their needs. To provide proper recommendations to users, personalized recommender systems require accurate user models of characteristics, preferences and needs. In this study, we propose a collaborative approach to user modeling for enhancing personalized recommendations to users. Our approach first discovers useful and meaningful user patterns, and then enriches the personal model with collaboration from other similar users. In order to evaluate the performance of our approach, we compare experimental results with those of a probabilistic learning model, a user model based on collaborative filtering approaches, and a vector space model. We present experimental results that show how our model performs better than existing alternatives.     

User modelling for adaptive computer systems: a survey of recent developments

User modelling is becoming an important sub-area of Artificial Intelligence with both theoretical and practical consequences. The theoretical foundations of user modelling are to be found in key areas of AI, such as knowledge representation and plan recognition, while its practical applications impinge on the construction of intelligent user interfaces and adaptive systems. This paper provides a survey of current work in user modelling. The paper begins by distinguishing between AI approaches, which are the subject of this survey, and those of HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) and then considers the major issues in user modelling such as: types of user modelling system, the sorts of information modelled, how the information is acquired, represented and used. The paper concludes by examining some of the more problematic aspects of user modelling as well as indicating areas for future research.     

一个智能用户接口Agent设计与实现

文章主要介绍了DOLTRI-Agent(distance and open learning training resource information retrieval agent)系统中的用户接口Agent(NanDa user interface agent, 简称NDUIA)的设计和实现的关键技术.此系统扩展了memory-based reasoning技术,采用了多个记忆模型和多个分析模型,通过对不同用户使用经验的分析产生该用户专用的用户兴趣模型;同时根据用户兴趣模型和特定场景的使用经验共同作用来提供主动的智能服务,包括信息导引、搜索结果的预处理、智能即时帮助和分类信息的修改等,从而实现软件与人的协作.     

The role of user models in cooperative interactive systems

For interactive systems to communicate in a cooperative manner, they must have knowledge about their users. This article explores the role of user models in such systems, with the goal of identifying when and how user models may be useful in a cooperative interactive system. User models are classified by the types of knowledge they contain, several user modelling characteristics that serve as dimension for an additional classification of user models are presented, and user model representations are discussed. These topics help to characterize the space of user modelling in cooperative interactive systems-addressing how they can be used-but do not fully address when it is appropriate to include a user model in an interactive system. Thus, a set of design considerations for user models is presented, while a final example illustrates how these topics influence the user model for a hypothetical investment consulting system.     

An Assumption-based Truth Maintenance System in Active Aid for UNIX Users

This paper deals with the problem of assigning meaning to the interaction of a user with a command-driven system such as UNIX. This research is part of the construction of an active intelligent help system that monitors users in order to offer spontaneous help when they are facing problems. In order to ensure this, the help system must build and maintain a model of the user. We describe a mechanism that is used by the user modelling component of such a help system. This mechanism makes explicit assumptions about the user which account for different hypotheses about what the user is actually thinking at every stage of the interaction. The consistency of these assumptions is managed by an Assumption-based Truth Maintenance System (ATMS). The selection between a number of different user models is based on the information which is extracted from the feedback that UNIX provides in response to user actions. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

支持界面生成的扩展对象模型和交互模型

基于模型的用户界面分析和表达是实现界面工程设计的出路所在。FMP是一个涵盖需求、结构和实现的界面模型。该文重点讨论了FMP的内在模型Model部分和对界面实现的作用。指出内在模型由参与界面操作的扩充对象模型和它们的交互模型构成。对象模型给出了界面的局部布局。交互模型给出了界面的功能和对象构成以及它们之间的交互关系,在界面模板的支持下,可以给出界面的宏观布局并支持界面的自动生成。     

Adaptive hypertext navigation based on user goals and context

Hypertext systems allow flexible access to topics of information, but this flexibility has disadvantages. Users often become lost or overwhelmed by choices. An adaptive hypertext system can overcome these disadvantages by recommending information to users based on their specific information needs and preferences. Simple associative matrices provide an effective way of capturing these user preferences. Because the matrices are easily updated, they support the kind of dynamic learning required in an adaptive system.HYPERFLEX, a prototype of an adaptive hypertext system that learns, is described. Informal studies with HYPERFLEX clarify the circumstances under which adaptive systems are likely to be useful, and suggest that HYPERFLEX can reduce time spent searching for information by up to 40%. Moreover, these benefits can be obtained with relatively little effort on the part of hypertext authors or users.The simple models underlying HYPERFLEX's performance may offer a general and useful alternative to more sophisticated modelling techniques. Conditions under which these models, and similar adaptation techniques, might be most useful are discussed.     

Integrating part and assembly modelling

Current modelling systems adequately support either modelling of parts or modelling of assemblies, whereas ideal modelling systems should adequately support both. To achieve this, a new modelling system has been developed, which uses enhanced multiple-view feature modelling. This advanced modelling approach provides specialised interpretations of a product for different development phases, by means of so-called feature views, and ways to keep these interpretations consistent, i.e. to make sure that they all represent the same product. The paper concentrates on the views that support detail design of parts and assembly design of the whole product, and the way these views are related and kept consistent. It describes the features and the tools that can be used to build and maintain the feature models of the views. An example modelling session is given to illustrate the benefits of such integrated modelling.