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Director and Principal Investigator  |  Dr. Sumi Helal

Mobile and Pervasive Computing Seminar Series


Seminar Series:



Your Wireless Network Knows Where You Are: Device-free Passive Localization for Wireless Environments

Moustafa Youssef, Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST)

Typical location determination systems, for example the satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS), require the presence of a physical device that is attached to the object that is being tracked. In addition, they usually require the tracked device to participate actively in the localization process by running part of the localization algorithm or by extracting the physical signals used in communication, such as signal strength or time. In this talk, we introduce the concept of Device-free Passive (DfP) localization for wireless networks. A DfP system is envisioned to be able to detect, track, and identify entities that do not carry any device, nor participate actively in the localization process. The system works by monitoring and processing changes in the received physical signals at one or more monitoring points to detect changes in the environment. Applications for DfP systems include intrusion detection and tracking, protecting outdoor assets, such as pipelines, railroad tracks, and perimeters, and enhancing the security of other detection systems. In this talk, we will describe the DfP system architecture and the challenges that need to be addressed to materialize a DfP system. We show the feasibility of the system by describing algorithms for implementing different functionalities of a DfP system that works with nominal WiFi equipment. We present two techniques for intrusion detection and a technique for tracking a single intruder. Our results show that the system can achieve high probability of detection and tracking with few false positives. We also identify different research directions for addressing the challenges of realizing a DfP system.

Short Bio:

Moustafa Youssef is an Assistant Professor at Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST), Egypt. He received his Ph.D. degree in computer science from University of Maryland, USA in 2004 and a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in computer science from Alexandria University, Egypt in 1997 and 1999 respectively. His research interests include location determination technologies, pervasive computing, sensor networks, and network security. Dr. Youssef is an Area Editor for the ACM Mobile Computing and Communications Review (MC2R) and has served co-Guest Editor for the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications Special Issue on Mission Critical Networking, among numerous organizing roles in the top international conferences such as Infocom, Mobicom, and Mobisys.Dr. Youssef is the recipient of the 2003 University of Maryland Invention of the Year award for his Horus location determination technology and the 2010 TWAS-AAS-Micrsoft Award, among others.



User Interfaces and the Environment: Exploiting Human Abilities to Improve Mobile Interaction

Antti Oulasvirta, Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT

In the field of human-computer interaction (HCI), user interfaces have been analyzed in terms of information exchange between the human user and the computer. In my work, I have started to investigate mobile interfaces as a special case in HCI where the environment plays a critical role. This talk first seeks to prove that, if approached within the traditional frameworks of HCI, mobile interfaces will remain inherently inferior in comparison to their desktop counterparts. I will then make a case for "embodied interaction"--i.e., leveraging users' knowledge of their environment, their ability to exploit its structure, and their ability to transform tasks by means of action. Mobile mixed reality interfaces is emerging as a promising area that puts the ideas of embodied interaction into practice, demonstrating ways in which mobile users can literally sense and act through digital information. To conclude, I will argue that embodied interaction 1) will eventually go beyond the rates of information throughput possible for traditional mobile interfaces and 2) may emerge as a key enabler for the next generation of mobile computers.

Short Bio:

Antti Oulasvirta is a Senior Researcher at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT where he directs the Ubiquitous Interaction group (http://www.hiit.fi/uix). His research focus lies at the intersection of human-computer interaction, mobile and ubiquitous computing, and cognitive psychology. Dr. Oulasvirta received his doctorate in Cognitive Science from the University of Helsinki in 2006, after which he was a Fulbright Scholar at the School of Information in UC Berkeley. During his postgraduate studies, he was an exchange student at UC Berkeley's Neuropsychology Lab and did an internship at T-Labs in Berlin. Dr. Oulasvirta is a docent (adjunct faculty) of computer science at the University of Helsinki and a docent of cognitive science at the University of Jyvaskyla.
For more information (full CV and publications), please see: http://www.hiit.fi/u/oulasvir



Transactional Pervasive Systems: Models and Mechanisms for Enhanced Safety of Pervasive Spaces

Chao Chen, Pervasive Computing Lab, University of Florida

afety is a critical aspect of pervasive spaces. However, the dynamic and diverse nature of pervasive computing systems has made it difficult to identify, assess, mediate and resolve safety risks. Among the major risk factors of pervasive spaces are failures and concurrency, which have been well researched in the area of transactional-based systems. By revisiting the ACIDity properties in the context of pervasive spaces, this presentation explores the opportunity to address the issue of safety by using models and mechanisms inspired by transactional-based systems.

Short Bio:

Chao Chen is Ph.D. candidate in the Mobile & Pervasive Computing Lab at the University of Florida. He receives his B.S. degree in Computer Sciences from Nanjing University, China in 2006



An Introduction to CAMUS - A Context-Aware Middleware for URC Systems

Kang-Woo Lee, Electornics and Communications Research Institute (ETRI)

Due to their mobility, service robots are considered to be enabling factors for more proactive ubiquitous services. However, the software supports for service robots have not been studied so far, compared to the traditional industry robotics. In this talk I will introduce CAMUS; a context-aware middleware for network-based service robot applications, and present some key features of CAMUS, which include PLANET (communication middleware), SCM (component-based service container), and AsyncOperation (a uniform interface to long-duration operations which are common in robotic services). I am also going to show some selected demonstration video clips.

Short Bio:

Kang-Woo Lee is a senior researcher in Electornics and Communications Research Institute (ETRI), Korea. He received his BS, MS and PhD degrees in Computer Science and Statistics from Seoul National University in 1991, 1993, and 2000, respectively. His research interests are in the area of distributed middleware for robotic application and ubiquitous applications.



Programming Languages for Context Data Management and Other Issues

Eun-Sun Cho, Chungbuk National University

Ubiquitous applications usually involve highly interactive context data management. Traditional general-purpose programming languages are not sufficient for use in this domain, as they do not have the capability to manage such data effectively. This talk is mainly about a scenario-based programming language, which is a Java-based prototyping language for ubiquitous application development. We have implemented PLUE on top of CAMUS (Context-Aware Middleware for Ubiquitous Robotic Companion System), a framework for context-aware applications that was originally developed for network-based robots.

Short Bio:

Eun-Sun Cho is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea. Before joining Chungnam National University in 2006, she worked for Chungbuk National University, Korea from 2002 to 2005 and Ajou University, Korea in 2001. She also joined KAIST, Korea as a researcher from 1999 to 2000. Eun-Sun Cho received her BS, MS and PhD degrees in Computer Science and Statistics from Seoul National University in 1991, 1993, and 1998, respectively. Her research interests are in the area of programming languages and program analysis related issues, especially for ubiquitous systems. She is now also working on securing ubiquitous computing environments.



Brain Machines: Robots, Free Will & Science Fiction Prototypes

Brian David Johnson, Intel Digital Home Group

One of the most important (if not the most important) skills to learn in science is how to think about the broader context surrounding our research and development. What are the realistic implications? What are the ways the science might fail, or might not address the "real" problem? How will emerging research and experiments interact with the surrounding ecosystem of people, governments and other technologies? How might the world evolve around a technology and create unanticipated deployment scenarios? Science Fiction Prototyping is a new development tool that utilizes the symbiotic relationship between science fact and science fiction to explore the implications of emerging research and theory. This talk explains the theory behind sci-fi prototyping and gives an example of its application to the field of domestic robotics.

Short Bio:

As a Consumer Experience Architect Brian David Johnson develops future products for the Intel Corporation, a global microprocessor manufacturer. He speaks and writes extensively about future technologies in articles and scientific papers as well as in science fiction novels (Fake Plastic Love, the forthcoming This is Planet Earth) and short stories. He has directed two feature films; one that features a girl from Mars (POP) and is an illustrator and commissioned painter.

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Email: helal AT cise DOT ufl DOT edu

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