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CACTUS:

Context Aware Communications,

Terminal, and User

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CACTUS Project

Partners:

TU-Delft: Faculties of Information Technology and Systems, Technical Physics, Industrial Design

TNO: FEL (The Hague) and Human-Factors (Soesterberg)

Research volume (2 year’s basis):

TU-Delft: 9 MY staff/1st money stream, 16 MY OIO/Postdoc

TNO: 5 MY research staff

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CACTUS Project Overview (1)

Stationary node/Gateway

Stationary node/Gateway

nodes

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CACTUS Project Overview (2)

User-terminal interaction

Terminal-ad hoc network interaction

Context-awareness

Intelligence and AI-techniques

Trusted assistant

Optimized system

i-DEA device

CACTUS project

My personal assistant(intelligent Device acting as Electronic Assistant)

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CACTUS Project Objectives

Model, design, optimize, and evaluate intelligence and context-awareness of an i-DEA device:

• The interaction between an intelligent device and its user• to carry out specific tasks as a trusted assistant• Taking communication context into account• USEr-Terminal interaction work package

• The trade-offs and optimizations in computing and communications:• information processing and communications amongst neighboring

devices in an ad-hoc fashion, • taking usage context into account• TERMInal-NETwork interaction work package

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Common Scenario: Story Board

Situation Research Questions

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CACTUS UseT Illustrated (1)

User

User/Context model

Interface Services

trustconsistency

Context • tasks • situation • activity • mood • experience, history

TV guide email e-commerce

Agents

ProductContext Service

i-DEA

Scenarios

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CACTUS UseT Illustrated (2)

Research questions addressed:• Electronic assistant that is trusted by user• Electronic assistant that is consistent across

platforms and environments• Electronic assistant that adapts itself to user’s

context - User context: task, situation, activity, mood,

experience, history- System context: resources of network and

device, application’s needs, connectivity, …• Electronic assistant has a model of its user and

preferences• Electronic assistant learns from the user’s actions

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CACTUS TermiNet Illustrated (1)

PSTN/ISDN

PSTN/ISDN

InternetInternet

Stationary node/Gateway

PSTN/ISDN

PSTN/ISDN

InternetInternet

Stationary node/Gateway

Media (music, video)

Ad-hoc network

Multipath routing/streaming

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CACTUS TermiNet Illustrated (2)

Research questions addressed:

• System dynamically adapts routing in ad-hoc network depending on changing topology

• System optimizes QoS and democratic resource usage in ad-hoc networks

• Application level knows about underlying ad-hoc behavior and optimizes high-end application (media streaming)

• System uses a “context grid” to represent “communications and computing conditions history”

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Deliverables 2002-2004

• Scientific output: • Papers and Ph.D. Theses• Design rules • Functional descriptions and Algorithms for

interaction/intelligent/network software components

• Simulation of ad-hoc network and media streaming

• Platform using off-the-shelf components for testing user interfacing concepts

• Usability and Feasibility studies