The word “context” has appeared several times in our ETEC523, such as Experience Design | ETEC523: Mobile and Open Learning (ubc.ca), Week 1: Mobility Perspectives | ETEC523: Mobile and Open Learning (ubc.ca)

What is the context, and what can context-aware do for us?

The “context” means information or environment related to users, such as a user’s identity, preference, geographic location, motion, browsing history, as well as applications, networks and environments where the user is operating, interacting and situated in. Context-aware refers to the computing technology that is aware of users, devices, infrastructures and environments where users are ( Gajjar. M. J, 2017, Chapter 2, Context-aware Computing ), and trigger certain application behaviors based on the recognized context (Context Awareness, Wikipedia, n.d.).  

Actually, for someone technologically naïve, like me, it is difficult to make sense of context-aware computing because of its complicated technologies including sensors built in mobile devices, policies, algorithms of processing decision making, etc.. However, I personally like Gajjar offered the four categories (Gajjar. M. J, 2017, Chapter 10, Usability ) of the usages from the perspective of user experience, which is easier to be understood.

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Know me: the system can recognize users by their identity, location, preference or history of making decisions. You may be familiar with the reference function provided by Google Map, which can list the restaurants nearby with the information of certain cuisine you would like and the distance from you. Apparently, Google Map has known you.

Free me: the system recognizes the user’s voice, body motion, performance, working condition, etc., automatically perform tasks on user behalf, such as eliminating inputting password, opening an application; or turning off the display while the mobile device is in pocket.

Link me: with acquisition of a user’s information, such as social network, location, or browser history, the system helps the user connect to another person, a specific social community, or external world including other devices, facilities and networks.

Express me: the system recognizes a user’s gesture, facial expression, mood and so forth, helps the user to express themselves without manually operating the device, or suggests the user an event based on his/her mood/routine/time/location, as well as sends a message to an authorized person, such as a health consultant or an instructor.

In recent years, context-aware technologies have been pervasively used in mobile devices. What is even more prominent is human psychophysiological activities, such as eyes movement, facial muscles, and heart rate, brain wave, etc., detected by wearable/mobile devices, are taken as indexes to evaluate users’ cognitive and emotional condition in specific circumstances and employed in interface design in order to enhance user experience. Here I’d like to list the following applications which can potentially be employed in educational context.

Nissan presented the Brain-to-Vehicle in CES 2018, which is the world’s first system for assistant or automatic driving by detecting and analyzing brain activities relating to driving experience in real-time. The system can predict or detect a driver’s intention and comfortableness in different road conditions, assistantly or automatically drive the vehicle aligning with the driver’s expectation and enjoyment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98s1WOBYL7M

In the research by Lindlbauer, D. el at, 2019, the Mixed Reality Interface, carrying users’ cognitive load recognition by the index of pupillary activities, automatically controls when and where the applications are shown in the user’s visual area, and how much interface elements are shown, in order to decrease user’s operation when they shift their working task or environment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heAGuCsWs9o

An open source software of Assistive Context-aware Toolkit (ACAT) by Intel Labs enables users with severe disabilities “to easily communicate with others through keyboard simulation, word prediction and speech synthesis”. The system also can support users “to perform a range of tasks such as editing, managing documents, navigating the web and accessing emails” by reading user’s facial muscles, eyes movement or other behaviors. ACAT was originally developed for Dr. Stephen Hawking, then tuned to serve for large uses in different conditions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=573wGfKryS8

Definitely, context-aware technologies have been used in education. Take an example of our Canvas email notification. It is a simple context-aware system that sends us emails related to chosen courses based on personal email preferences and daily activities that happen in real-time. Meanwhile, context-aware technologies can also help users deepen interactions, strengthen collaborations on a platform by Linking me and Expressing me. Much more extensively, acquisition of users’ cognitive and emotional condition by wearable/mobile devices makes it possible that a system can assist an instructor to deliver information, or do it autonomously, in flexible ways and in suitable amounts based on the receptors’ working condition. Context-aware technologies have great potential in building smart environments for online learning and working.

Reference:

Gajjar, M. J., (2017). Mobile sensors and context-aware computing. Morgan Kaufmann, Canmbridge, MA.

Intel Corporation (n.d.). About ACAT. https://01.org/acat/

Nissan Brain-to-Vehicle technology redefines future of driving (2018, January 3). Global. Nissannews. Retrieved February 15, 2021. from https://global.nissannews.com/en/releases/180103-01-e?source=nng

Lindlbauer,D., Feir,A.& Hilliges,O..(2019,Oct.16). Context-Aware Online Adaptation of Mixed Reality Interfaces. https://ait.ethz.ch/projects/2019/computationalMR/

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