Realizzazione di un sistema di ricostruzione 3D su piattaforma mobile.

Porting dell'esecuzione dell'algoritmo KinectFusion su piattaforma mobile (Android).

Sviluppo di sistemi mobile ad alta densita basati su comunicazioni opportunistiche wireless

In questa tesi ci si pone l'obiettivo di sviluppare sistemi distribuiti composti da device mobile che si scambiano informazioni tramite comunicazioni opportunistiche wireless peer-to-peer. Vengono inizialmente analizzate le principali tecnologie di comunicazione wireless adatte allo scopo, soffermandosi sulle reti Wifi ad hoc, delle quali vengono studiate le performance in sistemi di larga scala tramite il simulatore di reti ns-3. Successivamente viene esposto lo sviluppo di componenti software, basati su Akka Stream, per la costruzione di campi computazionali tramite comunicazioni opportunistiche tra device Android, effettuate tramite reti Wifi ad hoc.

Two new rapid SNP-typing methods for classifying Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex into the main phylogenetic lineages

There is increasing evidence that strain variation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) might influence the outcome of tuberculosis infection and disease. To assess genotype-phenotype associations, phylogenetically robust molecular markers and appropriate genotyping tools are required. Most current genotyping methods for MTBC are based on mobile or repetitive DNA elements. Because these elements are prone to convergent evolution, the corresponding genotyping techniques are suboptimal for phylogenetic studies and strain classification. By contrast, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) are ideal markers for classifying MTBC into phylogenetic lineages, as they exhibit very low degrees of homoplasy. In this study, we developed two complementary SNP-based genotyping methods to classify strains into the six main human-associated lineages of MTBC, the "Beijing" sublineage, and the clade comprising Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium caprae. Phylogenetically informative SNPs were obtained from 22 MTBC whole-genome sequences. The first assay, referred to as MOL-PCR, is a ligation-dependent PCR with signal detection by fluorescent microspheres and a Luminex flow cytometer, which simultaneously interrogates eight SNPs. The second assay is based on six individual TaqMan real-time PCR assays for singleplex SNP-typing. We compared MOL-PCR and TaqMan results in two panels of clinical MTBC isolates. Both methods agreed fully when assigning 36 well-characterized strains into the main phylogenetic lineages. The sensitivity in allele-calling was 98.6% and 98.8% for MOL-PCR and TaqMan, respectively. Typing of an additional panel of 78 unknown clinical isolates revealed 99.2% and 100% sensitivity in allele-calling, respectively, and 100% agreement in lineage assignment between both methods. While MOL-PCR and TaqMan are both highly sensitive and specific, MOL-PCR is ideal for classification of isolates with no previous information, whereas TaqMan is faster for confirmation. Furthermore, both methods are rapid, flexible and comparably inexpensive.

Mobile Games for Learning

Today, pupils at the age of 15 have spent their entire life surrounded by and interacting with diverse forms of computers. It is a routine part of their day-to-day life and by now computer-literacy is common at very early age. Over the past five years, technology for teens has become predominantly mobile and ubiquitous within every aspect of their lives. To them, being online is an implicitness. In Germany, 88% of youth aged between 12-19 years own a smartphone and about 20% use the Internet via tablets. Meanwhile, more and more young learners bring their devices into the classroom and pupils increasingly demand for innovative and motivating learning scenarios that strongly respond to their habits of using media. With this development, a shift of paradigm is slowly under way with regard to the use of mobile technology in education. By now, a large body of literature exists, that reports concepts, use-cases and practical studies for effectively using technology in education. Within this field, a steadily growing body of research has developed that especially examines the use of digital games as instructional strategy. The core concern of this thesis is the design of mobile games for learning. The conditions and requirements that are vital in order to make mobile games suitable and effective for learning environments are investigated. The base for exploration is the pattern approach as an established form of templates that provide solutions for recurrent problems. Building on this acknowledged form of exchanging and re-using knowledge, patterns for game design are used to classify the many gameplay rules and mechanisms in existence. This research draws upon pattern descriptions to analyze learning game concepts and to abstract possible relationships between gameplay patterns and learning outcomes. The linkages that surface are the starting bases for a series of game design concepts and their implementations are subsequently evaluated with regard to learning outcomes. The findings and resulting knowledge from this research is made accessible by way of implications and recommendations for future design decisions.

Privacy Panel: Usable and Quantifiable Mobile Privacy

The ever increasing popularity of apps stems from their ability to provide highly customized services to the user. The flip side is that in order to provide such services, apps need access to very sensitive private information about the user. This leads to malicious apps that collect personal user information in the background and exploit it in various ways. Studies have shown that current app vetting processes which are mainly restricted to install time verification mechanisms are incapable of detecting and preventing such attacks. We argue that the missing fundamental aspect here is a comprehensive and usable mobile privacy solution, one that not only protects the user's location information, but also other equally sensitive user data such as the user's contacts and documents. A solution that is usable by the average user who does not understand or care about the low level technical details. To bridge this gap, we propose privacy metrics that quantify low-level app accesses in terms of privacy impact and transforms them to high-level user understandable ratings. We also provide the design and architecture of our Privacy Panel app that represents the computed ratings in a graphical user-friendly format and allows the user to define policies based on them. Finally, experimental results are given to validate the scalability of the proposed solution.

Towards End-User Driven Power Saving Control in Android devices

Abstract. During the last decade mobile communications increasingly became part of people's daily routine. Such usage raises new challenges regarding devices' battery lifetime management when using most popular wireless access technologies, such as IEEE 802.11. This paper investigates the energy/delay trade-off of using an end-user driven power saving approach, when compared with the standard IEEE 802.11 power saving algorithms. The assessment was conducted in a real testbed using an Android mobile phone and high-precision energy measurement hardware. The results show clear energy benefits of employing user-driven power saving techniques, when compared with other standard approaches.

Dangers of ‘Facebook Login’ for Mobile Apps: Is There a Price Tag for Social Information?

Social networks offer horizontal integration for any mobile platform providing app users with a convenient single sign-on point. Nonetheless, there are growing privacy concerns regarding its use. These vulnerabilities trigger alarm among app developers who fight for their user base: While they are happy to act on users’ information collected via social networks, they are not always willing to sacrifice their adoption rate for this goal. So far, understanding of this trade-off has remained ambiguous. To fill this gap, we employ a discrete choice experiment to explore the role of Facebook Login and investigate the impact of accompanying requests for different information items / actions in the mobile app adoption process. We quantify users’ concerns regarding these items in monetary terms. Beyond hands-on insights for providers, our study contributes to the theoretical discourse on the value of privacy in the growing world of Social Media and mobile web.

Network Store: Exploring Slicing in Future 5G Networks

In this paper, we present a revolutionary vision of 5G networks, in which SDN programs wireless network functions, and where Mobile Network Operators (MNO), Enterprises, and Over-The-Top (OTT) third parties are provided with NFV-ready Network Store. The proposed Network Store serves as a digital distribution platform of programmable Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs) that enable 5G application use-cases. Currently existing application stores, such as Apple's App Store for iOS applications, Google's Play Store for Android, or Ubuntu's Software Center, deliver applications to user specific software platforms. Our vision is to provide a digital marketplace, gathering 5G enabling Network Applications and Network Functions, written to run on top of commodity cloud infrastructures, connected to remote radio heads (RRH). The 5G Network Store will be the same to the cloud as the application store is currently to a software platform.

Coordinating Platform-Based Multi-Sourcing: Introducing the Theory of Convention

Spurred by the consumer market, companies increasingly deploy smartphones or tablet computers in their operations. However, unlike private users, companies typically struggle to cover their needs with existing applications, and therefore expand mobile software platforms through customized applications from multiple software vendors. Companies thereby combine the concepts of multi-sourcing and software platform ecosystems in a novel platform-based multi-sourcing setting. This implies, however, the clash of two different approaches towards the coordination of the underlying one-to-many inter-organizational relationships. So far, however, little is known about impacts of merging coordination approaches. Relying on convention theory, we addresses this gap by analyzing a platform-based multi-sourcing project between a client and six software vendors, that develop twenty-three custom-made applications on a common platform (Android). In doing so, we aim to understand how unequal coordination approaches merge, and whether and for what reason particular coordination mechanisms, design decisions, or practices disappear, while new ones emerge.

Carbohydrate Estimation by a Mobile Phone-Based System Versus Self-Estimations of Individuals With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Comparative Study

Background: Diabetes mellitus is spreading throughout the world and diabetic individuals have been shown to often assess their food intake inaccurately; therefore, it is a matter of urgency to develop automated diet assessment tools. The recent availability of mobile phones with enhanced capabilities, together with the advances in computer vision, have permitted the development of image analysis apps for the automated assessment of meals. GoCARB is a mobile phone-based system designed to support individuals with type 1 diabetes during daily carbohydrate estimation. In a typical scenario, the user places a reference card next to the dish and acquires two images using a mobile phone. A series of computer vision modules detect the plate and automatically segment and recognize the different food items, while their 3D shape is reconstructed. Finally, the carbohydrate content is calculated by combining the volume of each food item with the nutritional information provided by the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. Objective: The main objective of this study is to assess the accuracy of the GoCARB prototype when used by individuals with type 1 diabetes and to compare it to their own performance in carbohydrate counting. In addition, the user experience and usability of the system is evaluated by questionnaires. Methods: The study was conducted at the Bern University Hospital, “Inselspital” (Bern, Switzerland) and involved 19 adult volunteers with type 1 diabetes, each participating once. Each study day, a total of six meals of broad diversity were taken from the hospital’s restaurant and presented to the participants. The food items were weighed on a standard balance and the true amount of carbohydrate was calculated from the USDA nutrient database. Participants were asked to count the carbohydrate content of each meal independently and then by using GoCARB. At the end of each session, a questionnaire was completed to assess the user’s experience with GoCARB. Results: The mean absolute error was 27.89 (SD 38.20) grams of carbohydrate for the estimation of participants, whereas the corresponding value for the GoCARB system was 12.28 (SD 9.56) grams of carbohydrate, which was a significantly better performance ( P=.001). In 75.4% (86/114) of the meals, the GoCARB automatic segmentation was successful and 85.1% (291/342) of individual food items were successfully recognized. Most participants found GoCARB easy to use. Conclusions: This study indicates that the system is able to estimate, on average, the carbohydrate content of meals with higher accuracy than individuals with type 1 diabetes can. The participants thought the app was useful and easy to use. GoCARB seems to be a well-accepted supportive mHealth tool for the assessment of served-on-a-plate meals.

The Impact of Mobile Technology on the Viewing Experience of the Avid Sports Fan

Viewing sports on television is a very different experience than viewing a game in-person. Sports commentators on television are seemingly able to pull up random statistics as soon as something unexpected happens during a game. Because these statistics are discussed on television, any sports fan who wants to watch a game in-person misses out on the opportunity to hear them during the game. This study identifies what statistics, both common and uncommon, are considered important or interesting by avid sports fans who watch a particular sport at least two times per week. In addition, it considers the rise of mobile technology and the effects that this change of trend will have on business opportunities and experiences. The purpose of the project is to find a way to mimic the television viewing experience for fans who are watching in-person through the use of mobile technology, and in particular through the use of iPhone applications.

Analyzing Business Models for Mobile Augmented Reality

Nowadays, a wide offer of mobile augmented reality (mAR) applications is available at the market, and the user base of mobile AR-capable devices -smartphones- is rapidly increasing. Nevertheless, likewise to what happens in other mobile segments, business models to put mAR in value are not clearly defined yet. In this paper, we focus on sketching the big picture of the commercial offer of mAR applications, in order to inspire a posterior analysis of business models that may successfully support the evolution of mAR. We have gathered more than 400 mAR applications from Android Market, and analyzed the offer as a whole, taking into account some technology aspects, pricing schemes and user adoption factors. Results show, for example, that application providers are not expecting to generate revenues per direct download, although they are producing high-quality applications, well rated by the users.

Mobile gaming: Industry challenges and policy implications

Mobile games are a prime example of a successful mobile application and demonstrate the increasing range of platforms for the media and entertainment industries. Against this convergent background, this paper introduces the basic features of the mobile gaming market and its industrial ecosystem together with its main actors and activities. The focus of the paper lies in the challenges ahead for the evolution of mobile applications into a potentially dominant game platform and the possible disruptions along this road. The deep personal relationships between users and their mobile devices are considered to further explore the link between mobile games, players’ strategies and pending techno-economic developments. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of some policy options to assist with the development of this domain.

Multiprotocol Android Application for Smart Control and Monitoring in Buildings

This paper presents a multiprotocol mobile application for building automation which supports and enables the integration of the most representative control technologies such as KNX, LonWorks and X-10. The application includes a real-time monitoring service. Finally, advanced control functionalities based on gestures recognition and predefined scenes have been implemented. This application has been developed and tested in the Energy Efficiency Research Facility located at CeDInt-UPM, where electrical loads, blinds and HVAC and lighting systems can be controlled.

Servicio Web para gestión de juego cooperativo sobre desarrollo humano

Este Proyecto Fin de Carrera (PFC) tiene como objetivos el análisis, diseño e implementación de un sistema web que permita a los usuarios familiarizarse con el Índice de Desarrollo Humano (IDH), publicado anualmente por Naciones Unidas, ofreciendo un servicio de gestión y descarga de una aplicación móvil relacionada con dicho índice. La aplicación móvil es un juego educativo basado en preguntas sobre el IDH de los países, desarrollada en paralelo con este proyecto. El servicio web implementado en este proyecto facilita tanto la descarga, administración y actualización de contenidos como la interacción entre los usuarios. El sistema está formado por un servidor web, una base de datos de usuarios y contenidos y un portal web desde el cual puede descargarse la aplicación móvil, realizar consultas sobre estadísticas de juego y conocer el IDH sin necesidad de jugar. El buscador avanzado que ha sido desarrollado para conocer el IDH permite al usuario adquirir destrezas y entrenarse por sí solo para mejorar sus resultados de juego. Los administradores del sistema tienen la capacidad de gestionar el contenido del portal, los usuarios que solicitan darse de alta y la funcionalidad ofrecida, es decir, actualización del juego, foros y noticias. La instalación del sistema implementado en un servidor web ha permitido su verificación exitosa así como la provisión del servicio de información y sensibilización sobre el IDH, actualizado mediante la información de Naciones Unidas, motivación original del proyecto. ABSTRACT This Final Year Project takes as targets the analysis, design and implementation of a web system that allows to the users to familiarize with the Human Development Index (HDI), published annually by United Nations, offering a service of management and download a mobile application associated with that index. The mobile application is an educational game based on questions on the IDH of the countries, developed in parallel with this project. The web service implemented by means of this Project facilitates download, administration and update of contents and the interaction between the users across the cooperative game. The system consists of a web server, a database of users and content and a web portal from which you can download the mobile application, perform queries on game statistics, or discover the HDI without need for play. The advanced search engine that has been developed for the HDI allows the user to purchase and train for skills to improve their game results. System administrators have the ability to manage the content of the portal, users requesting register and the functionality offered, i.e., update to the game, forums and news. The installation of the system that was implemented has allowed successful verification and the provision of an information and awareness on the HDI, updated with the information from the United Nations, original motivation of the project.