Thesis DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ONTOLOGY FOR MODELING USERS PROFILE IN PERVASIVE COMPUTING APPLICATIONS

1. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ONTOLOGY FOR
MODELING USERS PROFILE IN PERVASIVE COMPUTING
APPLICATIONS
• EFSTATHOPOULOS AGGELOS-SERAFEIM REG. NUMBER 649
• PROFESSOR: GOUMOPOULOS CHRISTOS
SEPTEMBER 19 2013 PATRAS
TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE OF PATRAS
SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS
DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS PLANNING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
THESIS

2. Pervasive Computing
• Envisioned by Mark Weiser.
• Evolution of mobile computing .
• Integration of microprocessors in environmental objects.
• Ubiquitous systems with the use and interconnection of
wired and wireless networks and sensors(for example
internet).
• Rapid development due to the popularity of laptops
smartphones ,laptops, tablets .

3. Characteristics of pervasive systems
• Invisibility. Ideally the complete disappearance of the system
by the user . The system serves the user without being
distracting .
• Development capability. Users increase, technologies
(internet bandwidth, processors ) are improving, the system
must be developed accordingly.
• Customize evenly in various environments of varying
complexity , organization and intelligence - needs ( eg offices,
factories )
• Context awareness. Knowledge of features, user needs and
the surrounding environment (eg name , surname, residence ,
daily habits and contacts ) .

4.  Pervasive Computing Technologies
• It is one or more computer programs that are moving freely in a
system (mobile agent platform) performing missions by the system
or user.
• Decentralizes the classic client -server systems , balancing the
workload .
• Just for this is ideal for pervasive systems.
Mobile security agent
• System security agent for threats coming from another agent or
from the system or outside of it.
Mobile agent platforms
• Various platforms with different uses, like Grasshopper, Alma beans
, Aglets(java based), Pervasive Information Community
Organization (PICO) and others.
1. Mobile agent

5. 2. Sensor Networks
• Development and implementation of smart environmental data
detection devices in an area ( from a house up to space)
• Extremely useful in pervasive systems , which are also called nodes
• Cheap, low processing power , send data (eg temperature ,
pressure) wired or wirelessly to more powerfull base station for
processing.
• Applications for monitoring data on the battlefield , in seismic
surveys, dangerous for fire forests , public works (bridges ) ,
hospitals, habitats , etc.
Software sensor network systems
• They are programming dynamic sensor nodes using virtual
machines and mobile agents .
• There are several , such as Mate, SensorWare, Deluge, Agilla etc.

6. 3. Applications
1. Pervasive volcano
monitoring system
OASIS
•OnSite temperature , pressure and
vibration monitoring with wireless
sensors of St. Helens volcano.
•Cooperation with GPS and ground
based Sensorweb software of Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and satellite
Earth Observer-1.
2. Pervasive personalized
higher education platform
• Adjusts the content of the courses to
the needs , interests and student's
background.Uses the Mobile agent
system PICO.
• Agents are self- organized exchanging
data and helping the system to create
the student degree program.

7. Ontologies
Ontology is a formal, explicit specification of a common devise .
•First mention by Plato, Parmenides , Aristotle.
•Optical visualizing of the system operation .
Categories by
i.Expression ( highly / partially Informal, partially / strict Standard )
ii.Technical Modeling with (1st
class Logic, Descriptive Logic eg OWL,
UML software and OCL language, ER Database diagrams).
iii.Knowledge use(Workplace, Target ontologies, Area ontologies,
Generic ontologies).
iv.Internal structure(Simple Vocabularies, Glossaries , Thesauri ,
Informal / Formal hierarchies , Frames , Limiting value / logic ) .

8. Ontology Characteristics
i. Classes or concepts with subclasses (e.g. the concept car
/saloon).
ii. Roles or properties of classes ( e.g. Peugeot 508).
iii. Role properties limitations (e.g. does not fly ) .
iv. Relationships (between concepts ie saloons belong to cars).
Ontologies Lifecycle.

9. Design principles
i. Clarity (clear objective terms , formalism).
ii. Cohesion consistency of findings with their definitions.
iii. Scalability without revising existing terms .
iv. Simple Coding devised for use by mobile operators .
v. Limited specificity ( to be performed by each user later ).
vi. Show related concepts with the same principles.
vii. Standardization of names according to the nomenclature .

10. Ontology Development Tools
Programming languages
From CyCL (1990) to OWL
(2003)which we will use here.
Special Software
Several exist like EvoOntis,
Altova SemanticWorks, Amine,
The Apelon DTS, DOME, FlexViz,
Knoodl but here we will use
Protégé.

11. Modeling pervasive environment user profiles
We use OWL and Protégé for the ontologies and project Atraco for the
environment design.
Environment Design Phases
i. Specifications
ii. Realization
iii. Review
We see beside
i.Classes (orange)
ii.Object Properties(blue)
iii.Data type properties
(green)

12. Static user features
User profile has
i.A permanent sub-profile
(name, weight, sex, disabilities,
neighbors)
ii. Many temporary sub-profiles
(depending of the user action,
application preferences,
environment etc,
Depending upon the user’s place,
time, mood etc.
(user context)

13. Extended User preferences
Below we see the User Preferences (ie music services) and their
mutual relations in full expansion.

14. Navigation system user profile modeling
Navigation system modeling.
User’s skills
i. Conscious navigation with knowledge
of the environment.
ii. Spatial Ability, orientation,
visualization and relationships.
iii.Wayfinding, especially in unknown
space.

15. General system architecture
i. Navigation service (user interface
with the rest of the system) .
ii. Navigation Ontology (spatial
navigation concepts).
iii. Navigation user’s ontology
(classifying users based on
characteristics)
iv. User’s destination Symbolic
Positioning System .
v. Internal space topology
(indoor space visualization).
vi. Routing algorithm(calculate optimal
route between two points).

16. Navigation user properties
Below we see user ontology concepts properties ( e.g. name,
age , blindness , pregnancy etc).
Concept name Properties Relationship Description
User hasName
canWalk
isBlind
hasCardiopathy
isLazy
isPregnant
hasAge Describes
basic
characteristics
of the user
LazyUser It’s a
specialization
of class User
(defined
class)
BlindUser «
PerceptuallyResctrictedUser «
PhysicallyResctrictedUser «
HandicappedUser «
PregnantUser «
CardiopatheticUser «

17. Navigation user properties
i. General elements (age, sex, residence etc).
ii. Cognitive characteristics (consciousness, orientation capability,
memory, calculation execution).
iii. Sensory abilities (visual acuity, audio perception).
iv. User Mobility(fully controllable or with the help of a third person
or a wheelchair).
v. Navigation User Preferences (e.g. shortest route preferences ).
vi. User interface preferences(depending on the device, mobile
phone, information form digital , printed etc).

18. The End!!