Mobile info point
For the mobile info point of the SEI company, the information system is to be transferred to a platform that enables mobile use as a pocket device and integrates the barrier-free interface. This platform has to be realized by a commonly available device, which is therefore available at an affordable price. A first proposal is the use of a personal digital assistant (PDA).
The information inventory is significantly enhanced by geographic references and device technology with a GPS for location determination. This means that the determined location information must be sent to the control center, where corresponding information must be sent back to the mobile info point. This communication should be based on wireless communication techniques, as this is the only way to enable the mobility of the device. For cost reasons, it is quite appropriate to integrate several network interfaces into the mobile info point so that the optimal technology can be selected in each case. In addition, the barrier-free terminals should be equipped with wireless network access technology so that they can serve as switching devices between the control center and the mobile info points.
Personal attendant
The personal attendant is a mobile terminal that is shaped and sized in such a way that the tourist, can easily integrate such a device into his environment without any additional aids. There are already a number of such devices available. These include PDAs (personal digital assistants) or handhelds, palmtops, smaller notebooks, webpads, mobile phones, etc. The personal companion is intended to serve the user as an access point to information of the tourist environment. To realize this functionality, the following objectives should be achieved. Based on the results obtained under the previous working point, general en devices shall be used as personal companions. Therefore, on the one hand a device independence is in the foreground, which has to be achieved by the fact that the developed mobile infopoint is modular and therefore only the device specific modules have to be changed. On the other hand, in the case of a personal companion, a much more detailed user profile can be created, which allows optimal adaptation of the information displayed and the information transmitted. This is especially important for multimedia information to be sent to the user. Only this allows for an easily understandable presentation of the transmitted information that can be used even by inexperienced users. From different possibilities for the localization of the tourist, e.g. with the help of GPS, tags, field strength measurements, a suitable and cost-effective variant is to be selected for the area to be technically developed. The different areas to be considered have to be categorized, because the technical realization of the localization has to be done differently in higher frequented tourist areas (e.g. sight) compared to lower frequented areas (e.g. hiking trail). Furthermore, the end devices are to be examined with regard to their usability. This includes the technical feasibility of the localization, the connection to the TAS network as well as a user-friendly operability of the end devices. For the connection to the network, different transmission methods will be investigated according to the geographical conditions and technical feasibility. Possible access variants here are GPRS (General Packet Radio Services), WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) or UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System). The first context-sensitive approaches are to be implemented for the personal companion. For example, it is conceivable that tour planning could be based on a person's degree of walking disability. In this case, the routing for a wheelchair user may not include stairs, high curbs, narrow gates or doors, while this is usually not a problem for a person without a walking disability. Likewise, solutions for the visually impaired (e.g., audio playback of information) must be implemented and verified. Finally, the system is also of interest to tradesmen. Through the addressed localization, it will be possible to draw the tourist's attention specifically to nearby offers (e.g. restaurants, souvenirs, etc.).
Personal assistant
The personal assistant has the same capabilities as the personal companion described above, but is extended by some functionalities. With the help of sensors and appropriate technical modifications, it can record the context of a tourist more extensively than described above. After analyzing this data, the tourist is provided with information specific to his or her current situation. This information can depend on the time of day, the weather, or the like. This makes it possible, for example, to guide tourists only to sights or museums that are open at the current time. Another example would be the weather. In case of rain, unpaved roads are simply avoided during route planning. It has to be investigated which contextual information is of interest and useful. Context awareness strategies need to be developed and implemented. The usability of the different end devices has to be verified. Since the interaction possibilities by the user are in the foreground here, with the mobile end device taking a back seat rather in the sense of ubiquitous computer use, new user interfaces are to be defined and context-sensitive services and adaptations are to be designed. For this purpose, the user profile defined in the previous work item must be refined once again and enriched with the aforementioned context data from the environment. This has just as effects on communication.
Conception of the networking of the individual components
In order for the information to be communicated between the control center, the accessible terminals and the mobile devices that the tourists will use (mobile info point, personal attendant, personal assistant), a concept for networking must first be created.
