Novel Services and Applications Demand Intelligent Software

Abstract

The idea of using context for enhancing application and service behavior toward humans is not new, and has its roots in the human mind and how it works, i.e. many decisions, perceptions and understanding of information we make as humans are based on the context we are in. A concrete example from the wireless communication world is how sometimes we find ourselves in need to exchange files between two mobile phones, and yet, having so much trouble finding the right settings to exchange this file when the devices are just there in front of us, if the file transfer is possible at all due to incompatible air interfaces!

It seems so simple to us humans, just think about exchanging an apple between two people. At first glance this requires only little thinking, but in fact a lot of things go on after all; a person first figures out he/she wants an apple, then this person notices the apple at the hand of the another person. Following this step, both person needs to communicate that they desire to exchange the apple (assuming the person does not just steal it or stretch it!) by some means, e.g. oral or by body language. Much of this part of the process does involve also understanding of the given context; e.g. does the person with the apple appears to be giving out the apple, selling it, or keeping it for personal use? Such observations easily simplify our decisions without even having to communicate then; say the person with the apple is eating it, or that the price of the apple is very high then maybe the person will not even ask for the apple, saving energy on the communication. Once the involved persons agree on the exchange, the actions follow by movements of hands. We do these types of processes everyday, and in fact our brains are so used to this that we do not even think about the involved steps for performing these types of actions.