=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=None
|storemode=property
|title=Multidimensional Context-Aware Adaptation of Service Front-Ends
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-970/paper1.pdf
|volume=Vol-970
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/casfe/CamineroGVPRRC012
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==Multidimensional Context-Aware Adaptation of Service Front-Ends==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-970/paper1.pdf
Multidimensional Context-Aware Adaptation of Service
Front-Ends
Javier Caminero1, Mari Carmen Rodríguez-Gancedo1, Jean Vanderdonckt2, Fabio Paternò3,
Joerg Rett4, Dave Raggett5, Jean-Loup Comeliau6, Ignacio Marín7
1
Telefónica R&D, Spain; 2 Université catolique de Louvain, Belgium; 3 Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy;
4
SAP AG, Germany; 5 GEIE ERCIM, France; 6 W4 S.A., France; 7 Fundación CTIC, Spain
Email: fjcg@tid.es, mcrg@tid.es, jean.vanderdonckt@uclouvain.be, fabio.paterno@isti.cnr.it, joerg.rett@sap.com,
dsr@w3.org, jean-loup.comeliau@w4global.com, ignacio.marin@fundacionctic.org
ABSTRACT voice, gesture, etc.), geographical location, social context,
The EU-funded Serenoa Project (www.serenoa-fp7.eu) is accessibility and user preferences.
creating a novel open platform for developing context- Finally, the underlying technologies involved in the
aware application user interfaces. Such user interfaces are development of user interfaces are multiple, keep changing
aware of the changes in the context and can react to them in and emerging at a rapid pace. Development therefore often
a continuous way. This includes adaptation to the user's requires technical experts, who are hard to find and retain.
devices, tasks, preferences and abilities, thereby improving As a matter of fact, most of the effort in a traditional project
the user's satisfaction and performance compared to is spent on infrastructure and technical tasks, and not on
traditional approaches to user interface design. An business issues. This often contributes to frustration of
additional benefit is a reduction in the cost and business stakeholders and end-users. There is also a steep
development time for creation and maintenance of user learning curve for each new platform that has to be
interfaces. mastered: Android with Java, iOS with ObjectiveC,
Windows with C#, Linux with C/C++, the Web with
HTML and JavaScript, and so forth. Translating user
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM interface designs into each of these platforms is time-
Even though software development environments, consuming and expensive.
standards and engineering methodologies have significantly
evolved and matured over the last decade, designing and
implementing context-aware application user interfaces is MODEL-BASED DESIGN
still complex, and therefore expensive. A variety of approaches have evolved in response to the
Businesses are seeing increasing diversity in the kinds of above challenges. These include the Eclipse Integrated
devices being used (i.e. workstations, desktops, laptops, Development Environment, the Java 2 Platform Enterprise
smart phones, tablets, embedded devices, etc.), but this is Edition (J2EE), W3C's HTML5, JavaScript libraries (e.g.
putting up the cost of developing and maintaining user jQuery), and OMG's Model-Driven Architecture (MDA).
interface designs. Aligning business and Information These have been supported by work on software
Technology (IT) is a constant challenge, not only because development methodologies, such as Model-Driven
of the constantly evolving standards and underlying Engineering (MDE) or Agile project methodologies, such
technologies, but also because of the accelerating pace at as Scrum or xP, or with UI design approaches such as User-
which functional requirements change throughout the Centred Design (UCD). When it comes to designing user
lifetime of applications. Business applications need to interfaces, Model-Based approaches bring many benefits by
adjust rapidly to fulfill changing requirements, and this filling the gaps where traditional approaches are inadequate
trend is accelerating as users require more and more for agile development, and struggle to cope with the reality
mobility. that requirements aren't fully understood at the outset of a
project, but rather emerge as designs are tried out and found
Moreover, implementing Human-Computer Interaction
found useful, relevant and necessary.
(HCI) systems requires forecasting user-driven interaction
combinations that are not always easy to anticipate. Adding Model-based user interface design is about separating out
context management to the HCI domain increases design concerns at different levels of abstraction using both
complexity further because it requires taking into account declarative and procedural knowledge. The declarative part
multimodality (i.e. keyboard & mouse, touch screens, is expressed as task models, abstract user interface (AUI)
models and concrete user interface (CUI) models, whilst
the procedural part is expressed with rule languages for
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for adaptation at both design-time and runtime.
personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are
not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies
bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise,
or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior
specific permission and/or a fee.
Other Model-Based approach benefits include interface implementation. The adaptation engine
simplification through automation and code generation, a determines the optimal adaptation for the current context of
clean separation of concerns, e.g., IT and business issues, use, based upon the context models and adaptation rules.
and the fact that the model becomes a common language To achieve this goal, the context manager provides
for all project stakeholders and helps IT align with information related to all the possible contextual
business. Designers vary in how they approach the dimensions (i.e. the user preferences, the environment,
challenges of user interface design. We would not take social relationships, etc.) The run- time engine generates
advantage of the true potential of Model-Based user the final interactive application according to the context.
interface design if we only supported a top-down Currently, this module is composed of a set of sub-modules
methodology. A significant number of designers find it which cover several modalities (i.e. mobile web
easier to start at the concrete level and refine the abstract applications, vocal interfaces, avatar- based interaction or
level later. Subsequent revisions to the abstract level should desktop business applications). In fact, ‘Applications
be possible without throwing away the design work done at prototypes’ showing the functionality of these sub-modules
the concrete level. However, traditional Model-based and the whole Serenoa framework are under development.
design also suffers from a lack of attention to adaptation to
the context of use, and this is exacerbated by a lack of
standards for expressing adaptation rules. AUTHORING TOOLS
Authoring tools help designers, engineers and web authors
to easily create context-sensitive user interfaces for
DESCRIPTION OF THE SOLUTION different platforms and different interaction modalities, e.g.
visual, aural and tactile. The authoring tools will be usable
by non-expert programmers, and fulfill some additional key
success factors, including the usability of the graphical
interface, the availability on multiple platforms and the
support for concurrent work by multiple users (business
experts, user interface designers and programmers working
as a team) appear as very important requirements. The
authoring tools will support editing of model-based
descriptions at both abstract and concrete levels, together
with context-dependent transformation rules. Two types of
authoring tools are being developed as proof of concept for
the Serenoa architecture:
Figure 1. Serenoa’s architecture
Serenoa’s proposed architecture for supporting user • Eclipse-based Plug-in: this type is a 'plug-in' for
interface adaptation is depicted in Figure 1. Eclipse, one of the most widely used Integrated
Development Environments (IDEs) in the research and
Firstly, at design-time, ‘Authoring tools’ are used to industrial communities for software development. Since
support the design of model-based user interfaces. The most of the open source and research based authoring
authoring tools support Serenoa’s abstract user interface environments/tools, i.e. MARIA and LEONARDI and other
description language, as well as the Serenoa language for related libraries are developed in Java, we have also chosen
expressing adaptation rules (see ‘Languages’). For those the Java programming language for Serenoa's authoring
developers who find it easier to start the definition of the environment and tools.
interface at the concrete level and then refine the abstract • HTML5-based Browser Application: the second
level as they go, there is a design-time adaptation engine type being developed is an HTML5-based web browser
which makes it possible to work at both levels. application that operates on the models that are held on the
Secondly, the ‘Theoretical framework’ consists of the web server side. This approach allows live concurrent
reference models and the ontology. These reference models editing by multiple users, so that they could see and discuss
are aimed at guiding developers and designers during the the changes which a remote user is making in real time. A
complete software life-cycle, listing alternative possibilities server-based design-time adaptation engine allows
for implementing context-aware adaptation, and permitting designers to work at different levels of abstraction,
the analysis and comparison of adaptive and adaptable synchronising changes in a cooperative workflow.
applications. The ontology, based on the reference models, Thus, Model-Based languages, i.e. MARIA, UsiXML, and
is intended to gather all the knowledge involved in IDEAL2 have been used as basis for not only developing
advanced adaptation logic for user interfaces. It is used to the abstract UI and adaptation logic languages, but also the
inform developers as well as to support adaptation generation of Abstract/Concrete UIs.
processes in the runtime.
Finally, the runtime phase will transform the description
and associated rules of user interfaces into a final user
LANGUAGES performance, reliability or rules that promote or demote
The languages developed in Serenoa will cover the sets of second-order rules).
specification of adaptive SFEs at different abstraction
layers, and of the context-dependent transformation rules to
be applied on the user interfaces. With the Serenoa THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
solution, the exploitation of both these languages will be The Theoretical ground of the Serenoa Project is structured
supported not only at design time but also at runtime. At in three main components: a Context-aware Reference
design time, the authoring tools will help the designers, Framework (CARF), a Context-aware Design Space
engineers and web authors to easily create and edit context- (CADS) and a Context-aware Reference Ontology
sensitive SFEs for different platforms (at both abstract and (CARFO). The CARF provides to stakeholders the core
concrete levels) and relevant context-dependent concepts for defining and implementing adaptive and
transformations rules. At runtime, the logical descriptions adaptable systems. The CADS provides means to analyze,
of the SFEs and of the adaptation rules will be transformed evaluate and compare multiple applications regarding their
in a final, adapted user interface implementation. coverage level of adaptation, especially concerning certain
specific dimensions (such as: modality types). The CARFO
• The Advanced Service Front-End Description
not only formalizes the core concepts defined by CARF and
Language (ASFE-DL) is aimed at enabling the
their relationships, but also enables the request and retrieval
development and authoring of context-aware SFEs. The
of relevant information for defining and executing the
user interfaces modeled through this language will be
adaptation process. Both industrial and scientific domains
adapted to the context by exploiting the rules defined
can benefit of these theoretical models, once they provide
through the Advanced Adaptation Logic Description
support for the whole development life-cycle of adaptive
Language (AAL-DL). By leveraging on past expertise on
and adaptable applications, i.e. design, specification,
user interface languages that Serenoa members have
implementation and evaluation.
already authored or co-authored, and on previous
experiences they gathered by working in relevant industrial
case studies to support requirements of most modern APPLICATION PROTOTYPES
service-based user interfaces, the Serenoa consortium plan The Warehouse-Management Scenario for the intelligent
to build a more complete language that will allow ASFE- picking prototype is aimed at providing a seamless context
DL to meet the Serenoa requirements and to go beyond the (environment and task) adaptation experience to users in
state-of-the-art in this field. The ASFE-DL has been one of the partner's Living Lab facilities in the field of
already specified at the Abstract user interface level: it Future Retail Concepts (FRC). This scenario motivates how
describes the UI through a number of abstract interaction proactive applications can provide unobtrusive and
units and associated connections in a modality-independent adequate help (e.g. missing parts, location of necessary
manner. In the next months the Serenoa project plans to parts, etc.) when the user needs it. Thereby, the service time
cover also the Concrete user interface level. The ASFE-DL can be reduced while increasing the quality of service. At
is currently being submitted as an input to standardization the FRC, the supply chain continues to Retail Management
work at W3C. with five demos, e.g. on price strategy and smart vending
• The Advanced Adaptation Logic Description and concludes in Retail with eight demos, e.g. on Mobile
Language (AAL-DL) is a high-level language intended to Payment and RFID Shelves. This opens up the possibility,
express advanced adaptation logic in a declarative manner. while following the modular design of the Serenoa
The basic idea is that the user interfaces modeled through components, to create further prototypes, moving from
ASFE-DL will be adapted to the context by exploiting the Logistics to Sales scenarios.
rules defined through the AAL-DL. The AAL-DL rules With the E-commerce Scenario, we aim at illustrating how
have been expressed through an Event-Condition-Action different online end-users can take advantage of adaptive
(ECA)-based format where: i) events are changes that can SFEs while connecting to both a front-end application and a
occur in the context state or in the UI state; ii) conditions back-end application. Typical user roles involved in the
are Boolean predicates referring to context state or UI state; scenario include online shoppers and employees, acting
iii) actions are changes affecting the interactive application. either as supervisors or customer representatives in charge
In the current specification of the AAL-DL we have of following-up with online orders. Based on their roles,
considered the definition of first-order adaptation rules such users can access different features, but their UIs are
(simple adaptation rules like e.g., adapt this service front- capable of adapting based on different factors such as
end for this platform) and second-order adaptation rules language, colour- blindness or type of device (either a
(those that govern the application of adaptation rules by e.g. home computers or a mobile device).
selecting first-order rules: the action part of a rule can be in
turn another rule). In the next version of this language we The E-Health Scenario is intended to be shown through the
will consider third-order adaptation rules (strategies that improvement of two existing developments:
privilege some adaptation approach for usability, • The SARA project, intended to provide a user
interface for chronic disease patients self-monitoring in the
form of a (Windows based) tablet PC. The project wants to domains. Besides this, Serenoa tries to establish a formal
evolve to provide multi-device support (Android tablet link between the research community and the industry (for
devices, smartphones, etc.) and an expressive virtual instance by means of standardization and dissemination
assistant in order to engage patients in the usage of the actions).
application. This project is now in a pre-market phase, after As a part of the individual exploitation strategies the
successful field tests using real patients from the consortium members demonstrate the Serenoa
Andalusian health system. ‘Applications prototypes’ and Development Tools to
• The HealthDrive project, aiming to leverage on product groups, customers and partners. This aims at
consumer devices such as computers, tablet PCs and encouraging these industrial stakeholders for an adoption of
phones to provide its users access to their personal file on the Serenoa technologies to enhance their existing products
the Andalusian health system. In order to do so, all medical or to create new ones.
information is digitized and shared by the institutions, with
a publicly accessible interface for each user in which she From the point of view of the academic community, several
can interact with doctors and see their health records. The branches of knowledge are involved with research of
inclusion of ECAs (Embodied Conversational Agents) context-aware adaptation. As the closest related ones, we
technology for guiding the navigation through all this can highlight: Human-Computer Interaction, Software
personal information is also being considered. Engineering and Architecture, Distributed Systems and
Ubiquitous Computing. In the context of Serenoa project,
the scientific field may benefit from: concrete requirements
ADDED VALUE AND IMPACT for designing and implementing adaptive systems,
In a general way, the Serenoa project may contribute to the authoring tools and languages that support the creation of
following aspects: adaptive applications, theoretical frameworks that provide a
• Faster time-to-market: given the support provided catalogue of information to support the research in the
by the Serenoa technologies (i.e. authoring tools, adaptation field, evaluation criteria and possible architectural
languages and models) the implementation of adaptive and approaches.
adaptable applications will be easier and more efficient. Furthermore, releasing some Serenoa components as open
• Reduction of development effort: instead of source facilitates the adoption of the results by other
spending a lot of resources looking for knowledge about members of the community, even any other projects,
context-aware adaptation, stakeholders can rely in a communities, organizations or anyone interested in this
centralized information source and a dedicated focused area. This issue implies that any of them could take
development platform, provided respectively by the the results and evolve them into something more complete,
theoretical framework, and by the technological framework allowing to increase the impact of the project outside the
(i.e. tools, languages, etc.). community of the project. Specifically, Serenoa is expected
to produce three types of results: theoretical frameworks,
• Promote re-use: by means of standards and a
languages, and application prototypes.
consistent terminology, the applications can be
implemented in a more flexible manner, i.e. with the • Theoretical frameworks: the reference models
integration of components and with the extension and (CARF and CADS) will be made available for the public
updates of existing applications. by means of written documents (as deliverables and
scientific papers). They will also include a detailed
• Efficient solutions: Serenoa is filling a gap in
description about their methodology, creation, and
context-aware adaptation systems by allowing non-expert
application available online by means of a web page. The
developers to develop efficient solutions. This is achieved,
Ontology will be developed based on this theoretical
in particular, by adopting a model-based approach.
framework.
• Increased agility: Because context is often
• Languages: the XML schemas describing the
dynamic by nature, adaptation needs to be tuned little by
languages developed in Serenoa will be made public by
little (and sometimes continuously), based on the feedback
putting them available on the project web site. In addition,
provided by the different stakeholders, starting with the
such results will be submitted to W3C for standardization.
end-user. Therefore, the capability for systems to change its
The W3C working group on Model-Based User Interfaces
behaviour rapidly and to take into account new adaptation
(MBUI) has started its work and various Serenoa partners
rules, thus fitting new contexts, is essential. Serenoa's
are involved in this group.
adaptation engine adds substantial agility to the
development process of context-aware systems, which can • Application prototypes: the applications, which
provide great benefits. will illustrate the Serenoa framework, lay on various
software modules: context manager, adaptation engine,
• Joining efforts: By analyzing the technological
runtime engine and the rest of components. In general, the
landscape and the current status of the market, Serenoa
software prototypes will be made publicly available. We
identifies actual users' needs and orient its efforts in order
envision various policies for making them public: open
to progress simultaneously in both scientific and industrial
source, public executable code, videos, etc. The way how The project provides various scenarios as proofs of concept,
they will be made public depends on the organization that including a warehouse management application, an
is developing them and the type of prototype. example of e-commerce application and an avatar-based e-
In order to accomplish these results and to arouse interest in health project. The project outcomes are expected to
the scientific and industrial community, an action planning accelerate time-to-market of context-aware systems, in
has been envisaged. Firstly, on August-September 2012, a order to increase agility and to promote reuse.
delivery of the final version of the Serenoa's architecture Dissemination and exploitation efforts are expected to
and the second release of the modules will be available for impact the tools used in the industry in the ICT sector and
the evaluation. From then to the end of the project to influence academic actors.
(September 2013) the development efforts will be mainly ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
focused on the final release of the Serenoa's components This work received funding from the European
and tools, the exploitation of them in the Serenoa use cases Commission’s Seventh Framework Program under grant
and the final evaluation. agreement number 258030 (FP7-ICT-2009-5).
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