Information Technology Reference
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cONtEXt
A crucial work that backs up these notions of
more interactive and reliable context awareness,
especially when it comes to the surrounding en-
vironment, can be found in Clarkson, Mase, and
Pentland (2000). Although this work may now
be slightly dated, the principles and techniques
employed in their work are effective and provide
good examples of the type of contextual informa-
tion that can be acquired by using simple sensor
input. Their work investigates how context, such
as whether the user is on a train or at work and
whether they are in conversation or not, can be
estimated from sensor input, primarily a camera
and microphone. Such work provides a strong basis
from which to lead into more specific analysis of
context that is relevant to the current activity or
software application. This is further elaborated
upon in the context of mobile device usage by
Tamminen, Oulasvirta, Toiskallio, and Kankainen
(2004), who consider determining contextual
information in mobile computing scenarios.
Computers, gaming consoles and mobile
devices have all become much more powerful in
recent years and interface with a range of local and
remote information sources. These information
sources range from the traditional tactile input
devices to accelerometers, touch screens, cameras,
microphones and so on. The Nintendo Wii and
Apple iPhone and iPod are prime examples of such
low-cost, sensor-rich, powerful computational
devices. The technology available in these devices,
as well as those devices that can be further added
into the chain, mean a wide range of contextual
information can potentially be extracted from a
game player, be they mobile or static.
We consider that the foremost sources of con-
textual information come from the user themselves
and from the surrounding environment in which
the user is currently immersed. This is further
ratified by Reynolds, Barry, Burke, and Coyle
(2007) who also consider the importance and
usage of contextual input parameters from these
two domains in their own research.
Context awareness also provides opportunities for
a heightened user experience with digital media
systems, particularly those that hold large data
sets, the content of which may only be relevant
to a user in certain usage scenarios. We believe
the incorporation of contextual information into
digital devices provides a more tailored experience
for users. Contextual information can be consid-
ered as an added extra in digital media systems,
allowing more defined information about the user
to be brought into software systems. Recommen-
dation systems, for example, are a great example
of where contextual data can be included.
Schmidt and Winterhalter's (2004) work in e-
learning is a good example of how context aware-
ness can be incorporated into digital, computer-
based communication media. In their field, the
context of the user is particularly important as it
allows greater control and focusing of learning and
teaching materials in order to engage at a deeper
level with the user. Their work emphasises that
the key stages of context awareness are in first
acquiring contextual information and then building
a suitable user-context model so as to estimate the
current context of the user. Schmidt and Winter-
halter also reinforce notions that good contextual
modelling comes by acquiring information from
a range of sources. Most importantly, in discus-
sions of the importance of user context, Schmidt
and Winterhalter hit upon the key questions that
context awareness is able to begin to address:
“How do we know what the user currently does,
or what he intends to do?” (p. 42).
Schmidt and Winterhalter choose to employ
more passive mechanisms for contextual data
acquisition, such as those which passively track
user progress through tasks and record commonly
accessed information. This is perfectly suitable for
e-learning applications but, in the field of computer
games and interactive entertainment, we feel that
something a bit more fortuitous is required.
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