Skip to main content
Log in

PERSONAF: framework for personalised ontological reasoning in pervasive computing

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Pervasive computing creates possibilities for presenting highly personalised information about the people, places and things in a building. One of the challenges for such personalisation is the creation of the system that can support ontological reasoning for several key tasks: reasoning about location; personalisation of information about location at the right level of detail; and personalisation to match each person’s conceptions of the building based on their own use of it and their relationship to other people in the building. From pragmatic perspectives, it should be inexpensive to create the ontology for each new building. It is also critical that users should be able to understand and control pervasive applications. We created the PERSONAF (personalised pervasive scrutable ontological framework) to address these challenges. PERSONAF is a new abstract framework for pervasive ontological reasoning. We report its evaluation at three levels. First, we assessed the power of the ontology for reasoning about noisy and uncertain location information, showing that PERSONAF can improve location modelling. Notably, the best ontological reasoner varies across users. Second, we demonstrate the use of the PERSONAF framework in Adaptive Locator, an application built upon it, using our low cost mechanisms for non-generic layers of the ontology. Finally, we report a user study, which evaluated the PERSONAF approach as seen by users in the Adaptive Locator. We assessed both the personalisation performance and the understandability of explanations of the system reasoning. Together, these three evaluations show that the PERSONAF approach supports building of low cost ontologies, that can achieve flexible ontological reasoning about smart buildings and the people in them, and that this can be used to build applications which give personalised information that can provide understandable explanations of the reasoning underlying the personalisation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agostini, A., Bettini, C., Riboni, D.: Loosely coupling ontological reasoning with an efficient middleware for context-awareness. In: MobiQuitous ’05: International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems: Networking and Services, pp. 175–182 (2005)

  • Alves, A., Hervàs, R., Pereira, F.C., Gervás, P., Bento, C.: Conceptual enrichment of locations pointed out by the user. In: Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems, pp. 346–353 (2007)

  • Apted T., Kay J.: MECUREO: ontology and modelling tools. WBES Int. J. Contin. Eng. Educ. Lifelong Learn. 14(3), 191–211 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashbrook D., Starner T.: Using GPS to learn significant locations and predict movement across multiple users. Person. Ubiquitous Comput. 7(5), 275–286 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Assad, M., Carmichael, D., Kay, J., Kummerfeld, B.: PersonisAD: distributed, active, scrutable model framework for context-aware services. In: 7th International Conference on Pervasive Computing, pp. 55–72 (2007)

  • Becker, C., Nicklas, D.: Where do spatial context-models end and where do ontologies start? A proposal of a combined approach. In: 1st International workshop on advanced context modelling, reasoning and management in conjunction with UbiComp 2004, pp. 48–53 (2004)

  • Bellotti V., Edwards K.: Intelligibility and accountability: human considerations in context-aware systems. Hum. Comput. Interact. 16, 193–212 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brank, J., Grobelnik, M., Mladenić, D.: A survey of ontology evaluation techniques. In: SiKDD ’05: Conference on Data Mining and Data Warehouses at Multiconference IS 2005 (2005)

  • Bright, A., Kay, J., Ler, D., Ngo, K., Niu, W., Nuguid, A.: Adaptively recommending museum tours. In: Workshop on Smart Environments and Their Applications to Cultural Heritage at UbiComp 2005, pp. 29–32 (2005)

  • Carmichael, D.J.: MyPlace: Supporting Scrutability and User Control in Location Modelling. Ph.D. thesis, University of Sydney (2008)

  • Carmichael D.J., Kay J., Kummerfeld B.: Consistent modelling of users, devices and sensors in a ubiquitous computing environment. User Model. User Adapt. Interact. 15(3–4), 197–234 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaffee, J., Gauch, S.: Personal ontologies for web navigation. In: CIKM ’00: 9th International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management. New York, pp. 227–234 (2000)

  • Chen, G., Kotz, D.: A Survey of Context-aware Mobile Computing Research. Technical Report TR2000-381, Department of Computer Science, Dartmouth College (2000)

  • Chen, H., Finin, T., Joshi, A.: Using OWL in a pervasive computing broker. In: Workshop on Ontologies in Agent Systems (2003)

  • Chen H., Finin T., Joshi A.: An ontology for context-aware pervasive computing environments. Knowl. Eng. Rev. 18(3), 197–207 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, H., Perich, F., Finin, T., Joshi, A.: SOUPA: Standard ontology for ubiquitous and pervasive applications. In: MobiQuitous ’04: Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems: Networking and Services, pp. 258–267 (2004b)

  • Christopoulou E., Kameas A.: GAS ontology: an ontology for collaboration among ubiquitous computing devices. Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud. 62(5), 664–685 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cimiano P.: Ontology learning and population from text: algorithms, evaluation and applications. Springer, Berlin (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cimolino L., Kay J., Miller A.: Concept mapping for eliciting verified personal ontologies. Int. J. Contin. Eng. Educ. LifeLong Learn. 14(3), 212–228 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Consolvo, S., Smith, I.E., Matthews, T., LaMarca, A., Tabert, J., Powledge, P.: Location disclosure to social relations: why, when, & what people want to share. In: CHI ’05: SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, pp. 81–90 (2005)

  • Czarkowski M., Kay J.: Giving learners a real sense of control over adaptivity, even if they are not quite ready for it yet. In: Magoulas, G.D., Chen, S.Y. (eds) Advances in Web-based Education: Personalized Learning Environments, pp. 93–125. IDEA Group Publishing, Hershey (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  • Dey A.K.: Understanding and using context. Pers. Ubiquitous Comput. 5(1), 4–7 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dieng, R., Hug, S.: Comparison of personal ontologies represented through conceptual graphs. In: ECAI: 13th European Conference on Artificial Intelligence, pp. 341–345 (1998)

  • Dix, A., Katifori, A., Poggi, A., Catarci, T., Lepouras, G., Mora, M.: From information to interaction: in pursuit of task-centred infornation management. In: 1st International DELOS Conference on Digital Libraries: Research and Development (2007)

  • Ejigu, D., Scuturici, M., Brunie, L.: An ontology-based approach to context modeling and reasoning in pervasive computing. In: PerComW’07: Pervasive Computing and Communications Workshops. White Plains, pp. 14–19 (2007)

  • Forte M., de Souza W.L., do Prado A.F.: Using ontologies and web services for content adaptation in ubiquitous computing. J. Syst. Softw. 81(3), 368–381 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gauch S., Chaffee J., Pretschner A.: Ontology-based personalized search and browsing. Web Intell. Agent Syst. 1(3–4), 219–234 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  • Gauch S., Speretta M., Pretschner A.: Ontology-based user profiles for personalized search. In: Sharman, R., Kishore, R., Ramesh, R. (eds) Ontologies: A Handbook of Principles, Concepts and Applications in Information Systems, Vol. 14 of Integrated Series in Information Systems, pp. 665–694. Springer, US (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  • Golemati, M., Katifori, A., Vassilakis, C., Lepouras, G., Halatsis, C.: Creating an ontology for the user profile: method and applications. In: RCIS: 1st International Conference on Research Challenges in Information Science, pp. 407–412 (2007)

  • González, V.M., Mark, G.: Constant, constant, multi-tasking craziness: managing multiple working spheres. In: CHI ’04: SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, pp. 113–120 (2004)

  • Gruber T.R.: A translation approach to portable ontology specifications. Knowl. Acquis. 5(2), 199–220 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gu T., Pung H.K., Zhang D.Q.: A service-oriented middleware for building context-aware services. J. Netw. Comput. Appl. 28(1), 1–18 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guarino, N.: Formal ontologies and information systems. In: FOIS ’98: 1st International Conference on Formal Ontology in Information Systems, pp. 3–15 (1998)

  • Hatala M., Wakkary R.: Ontology-based user modeling in an augmented audio reality system for museums. User Model. User Adapt. Interact. 15(3–4), 339–380 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hatala M., Wakkary R., Kalantari L.: Rules and ontologies in support of real-Time ubiquitous application. J. Web Semant. 3(1), 5–22 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckmann D.: Ubiquitous User Modeling. Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft Aka GmbH, Germany (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckmann, D., Schwartz, T., Brandherm, B., Schmitz, M., von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, M.: GUMO—the general user model ontology. In: UM ’05: 10th International Conference on User Modeling, pp. 428–432 (2005)

  • Hightower, J.: From position to place. In: Workshop on Location-Aware Computing (2003)

  • Hightower J., Borriello G.: Location systems for ubiquitous computing. Computer 34(8), 57–66 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hightower, J., Borriello, G.: Particle filters for location estimation in ubiquitous computing: a case study. In: UbiComp 2004: 6th International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing, pp. 88–106 (2004)

  • Hightower, J., Consolvo, S., LaMarca, A., Smith, I., Hughes, J.: Learning and recognizing the places we go. In: UbiComp 2005: 7th International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing, pp. 159–176 (2005)

  • Holden, S., Kay, J.: Automatic extraction of ontologies from teaching document metadata. In: Workshop on Concepts and Ontologies in Web-based Educational Systems, pp. 1555–1556 (2002)

  • Horvitz, E., Koch, P., Subramani, M.: Mobile opportunistic planning: methods and models. In: UM ’07: 11th International Conference on User Modeling, pp. 228–237 (2007)

  • Hu, P., Indulska, J., Robinson, R.: An autonomic context management system for pervasive computing. In: PerCom 2008: 6th IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications, pp. 213–223 (2008)

  • Huhns M.N., Stephens L.M.: Personal ontologies. IEEE Int. Comput. 3(5), 85–87 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kang J.H., Welbourne W., Stewart B., Borriello G.: Extracting places from traces of locations. SIGMOBILE Mob. Comput. Commun. Rev. 9(3), 58–68 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katifori, A., Vassilakis, C., Daradimos, I., Lepouras, G., Ioannidis, Y., Dix, A., Poggi, A., Catarci, T.: Personal ontology creation and visualization for a personal interaction management system. In: Workshop on Personal Information Management, in CHI 2008 (2008)

  • Katifori, V., Poggi, A., Scannapieco, M., Catarci, T., Ioannidis, Y.: OntoPIM: How to rely on a personal ontology for personal information management. In: 1st Workshop on The Semantic Desktop (2005)

  • Kay, J., Lum, A.: Ontologies for Scrutable Student Modelling in Adaptive E-Learning. In: Workshop on Semantic Web for E-Learning in AH ’04 (2004)

  • Kay, J., Kummerfeld, B., Lauder, P.: Personis: A server for user models. In: AH ’02: International Conference on Adaptive Hypermedia and Adaptive Web-based Systems, pp. 203–212 (2002)

  • Kay, J., Niu, W., Carmichael, D.J.: ONCOR: ontology- and evidence-based context reasoner. In: IUI ’07: 12th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces. New York, pp. 290–293 (2007)

  • Kim, S., Hall, W., Keane, A.: Using document structures for personal ontologies and user modeling. In: UM ’01: 8th International Conference on User Modeling (2001)

  • Kröner, A., Heckmann, D., Wahlster, W.: SPECTER: building, exploiting and sharing augmented memories. In: KSEL ’06: Workshop on Knowledge Sharing for Everyday Life, Kyoto, pp. 1–8 (2006)

  • Krumm, J.: Inference attacks on location tracks. In: 5th International Conference on Pervasive Computing, pp. 127–143 (2007)

  • Lenat D.B.: CYC: a large-scale investment in knowledge infrastructure. Commun. ACM 38(11), 33–38 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maedche, A., Staab, S.: Ontology learning for the semantic Web. IEEE Intell. Syst. 16(2), 72–79 (2001). Special Issue on Semantic Web

    Google Scholar 

  • Middleton S.E., Shadbolt N.R., Roure D.C.D.: Ontological user profiling in recommender systems. ACM Trans. Inf. Syst. 22(1), 54–88 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naaman, M., Song, Y.J., Paepcke, A., Garcia-Molina, H.: Automatic organization for digital photographs with geographic coordinates. In: Joint ACM/IEEE Conference on Digital Libraries, pp. 53–62 (2004)

  • Niles, I., Terry, A.: The MILO: a general-Purpose, mid-Level ontology. In: IKE ’04: International Conference on Information and Knowledge Engineering, pp. 15–19 (2004)

  • Niu, W., Kay, J.: Location conflict resolution with an ontology. In: PERVASIVE ’08: 6th International Conference on Pervasive Computing, pp. 162–179 (2008a)

  • Niu, W., Kay, J.: Pervasive personalisation of location information: personalised context ontology. In: AH ’08: International Conference on Adaptive Hypermedia and Adaptive Web-based Systems, pp. 143–152 (2008b)

  • Noh, S., Seo, H., Choi, J., Choi, K., Jung, G.: Classifying web pages using adaptive ontology. In: IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, pp. 2144–2149 (2003)

  • Noy, N.F., McGuinness, D.L.: Ontology development 101: a guide to creating your first ontology. Technical Report KSL-01-05, Stanford KSL (2000)

  • Nurmi, P., Bhattacharya, S.: Identifying meaningful places: the non-parametric way. In: PERVASIVE ’08: 6th International Conference on Pervasive Computing, pp. 111–127 (2008)

  • Pink, G., Carmichael, D., Kay, J., Kummerfeld, B.: Middleware framework for flexible integration of new sensor types. In: CAPC: Workshop on Context-Aware Pervasive Communities: Infrastructures, Services and Applications (2008)

  • Ranganathan, A., Campbell, R.H.: A middleware for context-aware agents in ubiquitous computing environments. In: International Conference on Middleware (2003)

  • Ranganathan A., McGrath R.E., Campbell R.H., Mickunas M.D.: Use of ontologies in a pervasive computing environment. Knowl. Eng. Rev. 18(3), 209–220 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rehman, K., Stajano, F., Coulouris, G.: Visually interactive location-aware computing. In: UbiComp 2005: 7th International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing, pp. 177–194 (2005)

  • Rich E.: User modeling via stereotypes. Cogn. Sci. 3, 329–354 (1979)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, I., Consolvo, S., Lamarca, A., Hightower, J., Scott, J., Sohn, T., Hughes, J., Iachello, G., Abowd, G.D.: Social disclosure of place: from location technology to communication practices. In: PERVASIVE ’05: 3rd International Conference on Pervasive Computing, pp. 134–151 (2005)

  • Sowa, J.F.: A dynamic theory of ontology. In: 5th International Conference on Formal Ontology in Information Systems. Amsterdam, pp. 204–213 (2006)

  • Strang, T., Linnhoff-Popien, C., Frank, K.: Applications of a context ontology language. In: SoftCom ’03: International Conference on Software, Telecommunications and Computer Networks, pp. 14–18 (2003)

  • Tennison, J., Shadbolt, N.R.: APECKS: a tool to support living ontologies. In: Workshop on Knowledge Acquisition, Modeling and Management (1998)

  • Tennison J., O’Hara K., Shadbolt N.: APECKS: using and evaluating a tool for ontology construction with internal and external KA support. Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud. 56(4), 375–422 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torre, I.: Adaptive systems in the era of the semantic and social web, a survey. User Model. User-Adap. Inter. (2009). doi:10.1007/s11257-009-9067-3

  • Trajkova, J., Gauch, S.: Improving ontology-based user profiles. In: Recherche d’Information Assiste par Ordinateur (2004)

  • Tullio, J., Dey, A.K., Chalecki, J., Fogarty, J.: How it works: a field study of non-technical users interacting with an intelligent system. In: CHI ’07: SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, pp. 31–40 (2007)

  • Uschold M., Grüninger M.: Ontologies: principles, methods and applications. Knowl. Eng. Rev. 11(2), 93–136 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vildjiounaite, E., Kallio, S.: A layered approach to context-dependent user modelling. In: Advances in Information Retrieval, pp. 749–752 (2007)

  • Vildjiounaite, E., Kocsis, O., Kyllönen, V., Kladis, B.: Context-dependent user modelling for smart homes. In: UM ’07: International Conference on User Modeling, pp. 345–349 (2007)

  • Wang, X.H., Zhang, D.Q., Gu, T., Pung, H.K.: Ontology based context modeling and reasoning using OWL. In: 2nd IEEE Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications Workshops (2004)

  • Weiser M.: The computer for the 21st century. Sci. Am. 256(3), 94–104 (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiser M.: Hot topics—ubiquitous computing. Computer 26(10), 71–72 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wishart, R., Henricksen, K., Indulska, J.: Context privacy and obfuscation supported by dynamic context source discovery and processing in a context management system. In: UIC ’07: International Conference on Ubiquitous Intelligence and Computing, pp. 929–940 (2007)

  • Zhou C., Frankowski D., Ludford P., Shekhar S., Terveen L.: Discovering personally meaningful places: an interactive clustering approach. ACM Trans. Inf. Syst. 25(3), 12 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to William T. Niu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Niu, W.T., Kay, J. PERSONAF: framework for personalised ontological reasoning in pervasive computing. User Model User-Adap Inter 20, 1–40 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11257-009-9068-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11257-009-9068-2

Keywords

Navigation