One app to rule them all: collaborative injection of situations in an adaptable context-aware application

Abstract

Currently, we are living in the era of ubiquitous computing, that introduces the possibility to have an increasing number of mobile applications on different types of devices with ever-growing capabilities. Consequently, the continuous rise of mobile applications opens the door for an unmatched number of diverse possibilities of what users can do and expect to do. Due to the high demand for apps and the unstoppable growth of app stores, the computing world is slowly shifting towards an interconnected, distributed, and context-aware digital ecosystem. With so many possible use cases and such diverse user needs, is it desirable to have one single application that does it all? Has it become a necessity to have one application able to understand users and eliminate the need for other applications? Our vision of this single application is a context-aware distributed mobile application dedicated to everyday users. This app needs to offer to the users a high level of comfort and a better-customized user experience by replying both re-actively and pro-actively to the users’ needs without confusing them with the large diversity of apps and devices available. Nonetheless, no predefined application can predict or autonomously handle all the possible situations that could happen to the user in all different areas (shopping, work, travel, etc.), due to the infinite possibilities. Therefore, our proposal allows to dynamically add new use cases, by both non-experts (e.g., everyday users) and domain experts (e.g., a travel agent), into the user’s application.