Multimedia access to mobile environments using indoor semantic maps

In this paper, we present a semantic map model in order to represent multimedia environments using mobile devices. Our approach makes it possible defining indoor maps and locating the objects of interest. This model is based on an Ontology, which defines both semantic qualities and graphic forms of the objects that exist in the multimedia environment (rooms, doors, cameras, ...). The semantic of the maps enables to query and to reason the map content automatically. For example, in this work, we solve the indoor routing adding a heuristic that exploits the topology of the interior spaces, which has been evaluated by obtaining a significant improvement in indoor spaces. In addition, the proposed Ontology includes the location and the remote services of the multimedia resources, such as ambient cameras and microphones. Thus, users can access in real time to multimedia resources through the maps displayed on mobile devices. The mobile applications have been developed, tested and measured both in light devices and hand-held computers.