VUMS - GUIDE, MyUI, VERITAS, VICON

Relationships VUMS cluster to other standardisation activities

admin — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 16:27:16 +0000

AALOA
AALOA (www.aaloa.org) is a recently founded open organisation that fosters research, collaboration, development impact and uptake in the area of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL). Fraunhofer is one of the main drivers in the AALOA association (also with the AALOA member projects GUIDE and universAAL), and could forward an invitation for collaboration to the Governing Board of AALOA. In a first response AALOA acknowledges the importance of standards in AAL, and also mentions the important role open source publication of reference implementations, as it is currently applied by VUMS with its public user model specification and reference user profiles. AALOA will help creating visibility among its members for the VUMS development, in order to stimulate collabration. VUMS has also offered to have a first online meeting of representatives of both initiatives.

W3C/WAI RDWG
The topic of user modelling has been suggested as a research topic to the Research and Development Working Group (RDWG) of W3C/WAI. There is an announcement on the public wiki of the group: http://www.w3.org/WAI/RD/wiki/User_modelling . It is planned to organise an online symposium about this topic.

ISO 24751
The VUMS cluster position and white paper has been presented to the German (DIN) and British (BSI) standardisation bodies related to the revision of ISO 24751. The revision of the standard is currently heavily driven by lead partners of the Cloud4All project who have a different perspective on user modelling than VUMS. The VUMS position will be supported in the ongoing standardisation process by active contributions in the access4all discussions and teleconferences, via the participation in the cloud4all project and finally, by official means via the ISO working group and the Britisch and German standardisation bodies.

Access4all
The VUMS White paper has been spread to the partners of the access4all group. Via the involvement in the Cloud4All project, VUMS cluster members will represent the VUMS position in ongoing access4all discussions and conference calls related to user model standardization.

ITU-T FG on Audio Visual Media Accessibility
The Working Group F Coordinator, Mr Pradipta Biswas (University of Cambridge, UK) introduced the WG F updated report contained in input document AVA I 0106. As being discussed in this Working Group, participation will be increasingly going towards the virtual media Internet connection because it consists of both audio media and also viewing the media and transmission of media. Input AVA-I-0107 “White paper of the VUMS “Virtual User Modelling and Simulation Standardization” cluster of projects” was also presented. This document is from the on-going work of a multi country research project on virtual user modelling and simulation standardization: how do we actually standardize simulators so they actually provide us with appropriate answers to design questions. The first step is to actually have simulators that reflect different groups or clusters of disabilities. Secondly is necessary to have some sort of consensus as to the kinds of things that the simulators have to be able to do before we start applying them. This document is a white paper of the VUMS cluster of projects.

GUIDE Workshop “Personalisable Media Systems & Smart Accessibility”

admin — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 12:31:56 +0000

The European research project GUIDE organises a workshop on Personalisable Media Systems & Smart Accessibility at this year’s Networked & Electronic Media (NEM) Summit 2012 in Istanbul, on October 17th, 2012. The workshop will present the latest achievements from the networked media- and e-Inclusion communities, and discuss how to integrate and manage personalisation features and accessibility mechanisms in future media systems, to provide improved experience and service access for all users, while at the same time efficiently supporting the industry in deploying individualized products.
The NEM Summit, with its community of over 700 members from academia and media business, is an excellent platform to present and discuss matters which directly concern the transition zone between research and industrial exploitation.

Call for papers & important deadlines

We invite experts from research and media industry to submit demo proposals, position papers, short- and full papers on topics including but not limited to:

Industrial applicability of personalisation and accessibility
Going from e-accessibility to personalised media experiences
Market opportunities through service & content personalisation
APIs and software frameworks
Smart e-Accessibility
Smart e-Inclusion
Personalisation of interaction
Human machine interaction
Adaptive interactive systems
User profiling & profile-based system configuration
Multi-modal interaction

Early bird registration @ NEM Summit: 31.07.2012
Paper submission: 17.08.2012
Notification of acceptance and paper review results: 07.09.2012
Submission of revised papers: 28.09.2012
Workshop webpage: http://guide.igd.fraunhofer.de/workshop

Busy agenda for VUMS next week in Linz at ICCHP2012

admin — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 11:56:32 +0000

Next week, VERITAS and VUMS partners will be attending the ICCHP 2012 (13th International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs) event in Linz, Austria. On the agenda:

9 July: VUMS Cluster meeting 13-17.00 CET
10 July: Scientific Advisory Board meeting 9-12.15 CET
10 July: VUMS Workshop 13-17.00 CET (agenda): Virtual User Models for Designing and Using of Inclusive Products – open, afternoon (Tuesday only). Chairs: Konstantinos Moustakas and Dimitrios Tzovaras, CERTH/ITI, GR – Room: K 224 B
11-12 July: VERITAS project meeting
11 July: Session C 16:30 – 18:30 – Track III – Virtual User Models for Designing and Using Inclusive Products
11 July: Session C 16:30 – 18:30 – Track III – Virtual User Models for Designing and Using Inclusive Products

All the meetings will take place at the campus of the Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU), Altenberger Strasse 69, 4040 Linz, Austria.

Following events are also planned to take place at ICCHP 2012:

VUMS STS: This STS calls for papers and presentations of: research and development work; prototypes and products; concepts and; evaluation of usability and applicability of generic interoperable user models that describe the relevant characteristics of users, who will interact with products and user interfaces. These include physical cognitive, and sensory attributes, habits, preferences and accessibility capabilities.
VUMS workshop: This workshop presents prototypes and discusses concepts of generic interoperable user models that describe the relevant characteristics of users, who will interact with products and user interfaces. These include physical cognitive, and sensory attributes, habits, preferences and accessibility capabilities. With such a model designers can define as many user interaction profiles as needed to address the whole range of requirements from a target population. It will also help designers and developers to maximize the level of accessibility of products and services by providing a comprehensive set of Human Factors design guidelines, which could be used in virtual spaces to visualize accessibility and usability issues.

Registration details can be found on:

Link to STS page: http://www.icchp.org/node/349

Link to ICCHP workshop page: http://www.icchp.org/node/348

VUMS white paper

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:44:38 +0000

This position paper aims to provide input to the standardisation of user models. Finally it targets at helping designers and developers to maximize the level of usability and accessibility of products and services by providing appropriate user models. Moreover they are intended to be used for the generation and adaptation of user interfaces during runtime.
It presents general term definitions and a concept of generic interoperable user models that describe the relevant characteristics of users, who will interact with products and user interfaces. These include physical, cognitive, and sensory attributes, habits, preferences and accessibility capabilities.
The produced tables with user characteristics are being provided for other research groups and standardization bodies to advance the discussions in this area.
Download paper (pdf) and presentation (pdf).

The variable table of the VUMS model can be accessed here.

VUMS at national workshop on E-Learning and standards

admin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 06:45:57 +0000

The German mirror committee for ISO/IEC JTC1 SC36 “IT for Learning, Education and Training” will hold a national workshop on E-Learning and standards in Berlin, 18 Nov 2011. A main objective of this workshop will be the identification of future topics for standardization in ISO SC36. Matthias Peissner (MyUI coordinator, Fraunhofer IAO) will present the VUMS White Paper on User Modelling Standardisation and suggest to adopt the VUMS position as an official German input to ISO 24751 (Information technology — Individualized adaptability and accessibility in e-learning, education and training) which shall be developed further to cover a more general perspective on user modeling and individualization.

VUMS STS @ ICCHP 2012

admin — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 09:56:35 +0000

VUMS STS at the 13th International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs, organised on July 11-13, 2012 (Pre-Conference July 09-10, 2012) at the University of Linz, Altenbergerstraße 69, 4040 Linz, Austria.

This STS, organised by four EU-funded projects VICON, VERITAS, GUIDE and MyUI building the VUMS cluster VUMS (Virtual User Modelling and Simulation Cluster) , calls for papers and presentations of:

research and development work
prototypes and products
concepts and
evaluation of usability and applicability

of generic interoperable user models that describe the relevant characteristics of users, who will interact with products and user interfaces. These include physical cognitive, and sensory attributes, habits, preferences and accessibility capabilities.

With such a model designers can define as many user interaction profiles as needed to address the whole range of requirements from a target population. It will also help designers and developers to maximize the level of accessibility of products and services by providing a comprehensive set of Human Factors design guidelines, which could be used in virtual spaces to visualize accessibility and usability issues. All user models depend heavily on their specific use cases. There are a number of reasons for this:

A complete model of the user, meaning a model that includes facets according to the state of the art would be rather complex and inefficient in use for both simulation purposes and even more for implementation in a product’s user interface.
Existing devices might not be able to handle complicated user models.
Not all facets are needed for the specific use case. E.g. modelling some severe visual impairment is not relevant when designing a car.
Specific requirements might require modifications in existing user models.
Ways of measuring variables might differ among use cases.

New findings may result in changes and updates of models.

STS Chair: Fraunhofer FIT: Yehya Mohamad, Manfred Dangelmaier, Matthias Peissner, Carlos Velasco;
Pradipta Biswas

Submission: Contributions to a STS have to be submitted using the standard submission procedures of ICCHP. When submitting your contribution please make sure to select this STS under “STS/Session”.
Contributions to a STS are evaluated by the Programme Commitee of ICCHP and by the chair(s) of the STS.
Please get in contact with the STS chairs for discussing your involvement and pre-evaluation of your contribution.

Submission Deadline: February 1, 2012

Link to STS page: http://www.icchp.org/node/349

VUMS workshop @ ICCHP2012 – Virtual user models for designing and using of inclusive products

admin — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:00:00 +0000

VUMS workshop at the 13th International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs, organised on July 11-13, 2012 (Pre-Conference July 09-10, 2012) at the University of Linz, Altenbergerstraße 69, 4040 Linz, Austria

This workshop at ICCHP 2012, organised by four EU-funded projects VICON, VERITAS, GUIDE and MyUI building the VUMS cluster VUMS (Virtual User Modelling and Simulation Cluster), presents prototypes and discusses concepts of generic interoperable user models that describe the relevant characteristics of users, who will interact with products and user interfaces. These include physical cognitive, and sensory attributes, habits, preferences and accessibility capabilities. With such a model designers can define as many user interaction profiles as needed to address the whole range of requirements from a target population. It will also help designers and developers to maximize the level of accessibility of products and services by providing a comprehensive set of Human Factors design guidelines, which could be used in virtual spaces to visualize accessibility and usability issues.

All user models depend heavily on their specific use cases. There are a number of reasons for this:

A complete model of the user, meaning a model that includes facets according to the state of the art would be rather complex and inefficient in use for both simulation purposes and even more for implementation in a product’s user interface.
Existing devices might not be able to handle complicated user models.
Not all facets are needed for the specific use case. E.g. modelling some severe visual impairment is not relevant when designing a car.
Specific requirements might require modifications in existing user models.
Ways of measuring variables might differ among use cases.

New findings may result in changes and updates of models.

Workshop Chairs: Dr. Dimitris Tzovaras, Dr. Konstantinos Moustakas, CERTH/ITI
Background, Experiences:
Dr. Dimitrios Tzovaras is a Senior Researcher A’ (Full Professor) at CERTH/ITI. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Imperial College London. His research activity has led to the coauthoring of more than 250 papers in refereed journals and international conferences. He has been very active in the field of accessibility serving as the coordinator of the ACCESSIBLE project and the Technical Coordinator of VERITAS, while being also the Principal Investigator in AEGIS, OASIS, APSIS4ALL, ATIS4ALL, CLOUD4ALL.
Dr. Konstantinos Moustakas is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at CERTH/ITI. During the latest years, he has been the (co)author of more than 75 papers in refereed journals, edited books, and international conferences, many of them in the field of accessibility. He has been also involved in ten research projects funded by the EC and the Greek secretariat of Research and Technology, among them VERITAS, AEGIS, OASIS.

Co-Chairs: Fraunhofer FIT: Manfred Dangelmaier, Matthias Peissner, Carlos Velasco; Pradipta Biswas

Participation: open

Duration: 3 hours

Time: to be announced

Room: to be announced

Link to ICCHP workshop page: http://www.icchp.org/node/348

VUMS cluster glossary of terms

admin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:31:24 +0000

VUMS cluster released a glossary of terms.

4th VUMS cluster meeting in Nottingham

admin — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 05:03:32 +0000

VERITAS organised a successful 4th VUMS Cluster Meeting in Nottingham, UK on the 21st September 2011 with the participation of all VUMS partner projects.

VUMS Cluster at ISO Meeting

admin — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 09:24:42 +0000

On Sunday, 11th September 2011, the VUMS cluster has been presented to the working group 7 of ISO/IEC JTC1 SC36 committee at their meeting at Shanghai, China. The ISO/IEC JTC1 SC 36 committee works on Information technology for learning, education and training, while the WG 7 considers issues on individualized adaptability. The committee found the VUMS approach interesting and felt it can contribute to existing standards. In particular, they think the user description variables developed in VUMS as independent of a disease/disability can be useful for the second part of ISO/IEC 24751 standard and they are looking forward to work with the VUMS cluster.