Using the embedded sensors of mobile/wearable devices to provide customised navigation support and enhanced digital maps through crowdsourced informat
Lead Research Organisation:
Loughborough University
Department Name: Loughborough Design School
Abstract
The project is with the EPSRC CDT in Embedded Intelligence and the student is based in Loughborough Design School.
The provision of navigation information for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers currently provides little customisation/adaptation according to the context of use (route familiarity, mode etc.). In addition it provides little in the way of a feedback loop in order to enhance the content of the underlying digital maps (e.g. walking times according to time of day/crowds). This project will exploit the opportunities offered by ubiquitous personal devices (e.g. smartphones, wearable fitness wristbands/watches) to collect data about the person and environment through a range of current/future sensors (GPS, accelerometer, heartrate). The data can be intelligently combined to provide an enhanced user experience whilst crowdsourcing information to improve the attributes of digital geographic information.
The provision of navigation information for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers currently provides little customisation/adaptation according to the context of use (route familiarity, mode etc.). In addition it provides little in the way of a feedback loop in order to enhance the content of the underlying digital maps (e.g. walking times according to time of day/crowds). This project will exploit the opportunities offered by ubiquitous personal devices (e.g. smartphones, wearable fitness wristbands/watches) to collect data about the person and environment through a range of current/future sensors (GPS, accelerometer, heartrate). The data can be intelligently combined to provide an enhanced user experience whilst crowdsourcing information to improve the attributes of digital geographic information.
Planned Impact
Our CDT will deliver 87 PhD graduates. The industrial engagement in the design and delivery of the programme is a strong foundation upon which to build industrially relevant impact and shall significantly enhance the quality of their training.
1. The CDT contributes to a diverse range of industrial sectors in several ways:
> The CDT delivers to industry, graduates of sufficient breadth in technical and commercial experience and focused excellence in their chosen fields. These researchers are to build the foundations for the UK's embedded intelligence capabilities, as they become the practitioners, technologists and business leaders in this field;
> The CDT's application-led research elements will impact across a diverse range of sectors, for our Key Partners directly supporting the activities, the wider Cluster Partner memberships in HSSMI, ESP KTN and MTC as well as other manufacturing and service companies;
> The research outcomes in the point-technology solutions and applications-related activities of our cohort will see increased yield, performance, resilience or technical breakthrough for these products and processes in our key collaborators that can bridge the information gaps associated with inefficient supply chain integration and a lack of knowledge on product usage throughout lifecycles;
> For the Universities, this CDT further strengthens and broadens their expertise in embedded intelligence enabling technologies and applications-led research, extending and improving their collaboration opportunities and competitive advantage;
> The general public will be beneficiaries of CDT as, by developing more reliable and trackable products, an organisation can better control their costs and the end-users will benefit from more cost-efficient, intelligent and reliable products;
> Industry is contributing considerably to the industrial relevance of the CDT making it richer, appealing to the students and of direct use to companies. This is evident through: delivery of industrial case studies and technology requirements in the Foresight module; access to their facilities; participating in industry projects in the first year of the training and proposing Ph.D. project topics.
2. Communication and engagement
The academic team and cluster partners (MTC and HSSMI) have experience with international, national and local TV and radio and their respective Public Relations Offices, in coordination with the Universities involved, will facilitate the dissemination of the CDT's research highlights to local, national and international media outlets. Public engagement will also be pursued further by demonstrating the project work of the cohort at popular science conferences and fairs and could be demonstrated to engage school children during National Science Week. There shall be regular workshops and seminars for dissemination of the cohorts activities and an annual conference and Research to Industry (R2i) event, two activities that shall both help cement "the esprit de corps" of the cohort, their pride to belong to a unique Centre, and provide energetic engagement with industrial practitioners.
3. Exploitation
A core element of the taught training delivered through blended learning packages for this CDT's cohort will be enterprise, IP commercialisation and leadership. The students shall learn and be encouraged to value their intellectual capital and develop credible business propositions from their group projects and individual Ph.D. research activities. The students shall have the support of the University Enterprise offices to support development and protection of IP. We fully expect that our close engagement with industry and the end-user pull for technologies and applications will deliver a wealth of IP commercialisation opportunities. Both the MTC and HSSMI are developing business incubator activities to further support the realisation of any commercialisation-ready outputs from the students.
1. The CDT contributes to a diverse range of industrial sectors in several ways:
> The CDT delivers to industry, graduates of sufficient breadth in technical and commercial experience and focused excellence in their chosen fields. These researchers are to build the foundations for the UK's embedded intelligence capabilities, as they become the practitioners, technologists and business leaders in this field;
> The CDT's application-led research elements will impact across a diverse range of sectors, for our Key Partners directly supporting the activities, the wider Cluster Partner memberships in HSSMI, ESP KTN and MTC as well as other manufacturing and service companies;
> The research outcomes in the point-technology solutions and applications-related activities of our cohort will see increased yield, performance, resilience or technical breakthrough for these products and processes in our key collaborators that can bridge the information gaps associated with inefficient supply chain integration and a lack of knowledge on product usage throughout lifecycles;
> For the Universities, this CDT further strengthens and broadens their expertise in embedded intelligence enabling technologies and applications-led research, extending and improving their collaboration opportunities and competitive advantage;
> The general public will be beneficiaries of CDT as, by developing more reliable and trackable products, an organisation can better control their costs and the end-users will benefit from more cost-efficient, intelligent and reliable products;
> Industry is contributing considerably to the industrial relevance of the CDT making it richer, appealing to the students and of direct use to companies. This is evident through: delivery of industrial case studies and technology requirements in the Foresight module; access to their facilities; participating in industry projects in the first year of the training and proposing Ph.D. project topics.
2. Communication and engagement
The academic team and cluster partners (MTC and HSSMI) have experience with international, national and local TV and radio and their respective Public Relations Offices, in coordination with the Universities involved, will facilitate the dissemination of the CDT's research highlights to local, national and international media outlets. Public engagement will also be pursued further by demonstrating the project work of the cohort at popular science conferences and fairs and could be demonstrated to engage school children during National Science Week. There shall be regular workshops and seminars for dissemination of the cohorts activities and an annual conference and Research to Industry (R2i) event, two activities that shall both help cement "the esprit de corps" of the cohort, their pride to belong to a unique Centre, and provide energetic engagement with industrial practitioners.
3. Exploitation
A core element of the taught training delivered through blended learning packages for this CDT's cohort will be enterprise, IP commercialisation and leadership. The students shall learn and be encouraged to value their intellectual capital and develop credible business propositions from their group projects and individual Ph.D. research activities. The students shall have the support of the University Enterprise offices to support development and protection of IP. We fully expect that our close engagement with industry and the end-user pull for technologies and applications will deliver a wealth of IP commercialisation opportunities. Both the MTC and HSSMI are developing business incubator activities to further support the realisation of any commercialisation-ready outputs from the students.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Tracy Ross (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Matthew Smith (Student) |
| Title | Carver |
| Description | A carriable device that collects environmental data, GPS, and colour for use in data physicalisation. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | None so far. |
| Title | Himilco |
| Description | An in-home data physicalisation device that can change its size, rotation and colour. Uses data from Carver. Will "die" if not fed enough data. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | None so far. |
| Description | Workshop on Exploring Physical-Digital Devices and Data Through Thing-Centred Design |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This workshop aimed to use methods inspired by co-design to explore, provoke, and speculate on the limits and potential alternate avenues for data and physical-digital devices from a thing-centred perspective. It discussed the outputs of ongoing research in these topics as a means of obtaining expert perspectives on the work. It aimed to be a fun and engaging session that hoped to make participants think and may have led to new ideas in their own research. It involved discussions, critique, and the presentation of, ideas, the conceptualisation of new products/objects and scenarios of use, and an introduction into a particular form of thing-centred design. It was also a great opportunity to meet and network with like-minded practitioners of design, HCI, HDI, IoT, and similar areas. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdN3x1aioeton6QemfaPvz55tb_UcYoqudRs2WAKLE7mFDq0Q/viewform |