SOPHIE Context Modelling and Control

Abstract

Context is an important information that can be used to enrich the existing computer applications generating several benefits. For instance, it provides new computing power in terms of an extended interaction with the user. Moreover, by automating the acquisition of the relevant information it can reduce the need to interrupt the user. In the field of information environments, context information can be used to enrich the existing content. Consequently, it will enable the smart delivery of information to the right person at the right time. Although context-awareness has been investigated initially for ubiquitous computing applications, there are numerous other areas of computer science that can take several advantages from context-awareness. In this work we focus in particular on the field of information environments. The goal of this work is to present a comprehensive data model for context that can be used to describe context in database applications. The proposed model is very general and flexible, so that it is possible to add new contextual characteristics at any time. Moreover, our solution provides a mechanism for defining how to control the context information from its acquisition by means of appropriate sensors, to the delivery of the relevant contextual information to the interested entities by means of events. Our model describes context in a general way and provides mechanisms that allow to control it. The whole system is driven by the database application, thus it is not necessary to hard-code the functionality on the application side. Moreover, it is possible to reuse several components. We demonstrate the generality and flexibility of our solution by means of a prototype implementation.