Distributed Sensor-Driven Web Applications through Multi-device Usage Patterns

Abstract

Abstract. To access their computer applications and services, people tend to use an increasing variety of consumer electronic devices. Devices range from laptops and netbooks, to smartphones and tablets, and even interactive television sets. In the context of mobile applications, this ubiquitous revolution allows for various multi-device use cases and scenarios that are based on a user's dynamic usage patterns. In this paper we discuss how people can access an application using multiple devices, both in sequence as well as in parallel. Moreover, we elaborate on the technological opportunities and challenges for such multi-device enabled applications. Keywords. Multi-device applications, dynamic usage patterns, ubiquitous web, HTML5 IntroductionThe increasing popularity of internet-enabled devices and technology is allowing people to access online content virtually anywhere, at anytime, and on any device. The available devices range from smartphones and tablets, to laptops and interactive television sets, etc. With the help of web technology, mobile applications can be built that are accessible by most of these device types (e.g., using web applications and widgets, or PhoneGap). Nevertheless, existing application solutions only partly succeed in providing end-users a convincing user experience. This issue is mainly due to the fact that most mobile applications are still tightly bound to the physical device on which they are being executed [1]. Existing application platforms barely take advantage of the diversity of devices owned by its users. The intended immersive and blended interaction aspect of such ubiquitous applications is thus mainly lost. In this paper we introduce a web-based platform that aims to be a generic enabler for such multi-device applications. The proposed platform does so by relying on standardized technology in order to maximize its value and impact, both towards application developers as well as consumers. The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. In Section 2, we describe opportunities and related work for dynamic usage patterns that arise in environments with ubiquitous consumer electronic devices. Section 3 presents the developed application platform and discusses the main technologi-

Multidevice mobile sessions: A first look

“…Taivalsaari et al [20] discuss liquid software as a general manifesto of guidelines that multidevice interaction should follow. Hamilton and Wigdor [21] present Conductor; a framework for the construction of multidevice applications, whereas Desrulle and Gielen [22] discuss the high level architectures of such systems in the context of web applications. Finally, Schreiner et al [23] present a versatile web based multidevice app framework that is agnostic to, for example, the underlying device to device communication method.…”