Understanding human behavior in intelligent environments: A context-aware system supporting mountain rescuers

Abstract

Intelligent environments provide people-centered computing to support people in their daily lifes. Understanding human behavior and context information is crucial to provide context-aware and pro-active services for all actors of smart spaces. On the other hand, mobile phone network data, collected by suppliers, provide valuable information about human locations and behaviors. This paper presents a unified approach comprising both informal (use cases) and more formal (algorithms) elements which enable obtaining a common framework that use information encoded into pervasive datasets to generate, through context-based reasoning, decisions which support actors operating in a smart space. The system is designed to support mountain rescuers. It provides pro-active decision taking or warning about dangerous situations on the mountain trails. In this way, the system supports rescuers and makes tourist staying in the mountains more safe.