Contextual Computing

Contextual computing research aims to develop systems incorporating awareness of and the ability to adapt to user context. A dictionary definition of context may state: "the context of an idea or event is the general situation that relates to it and which helps it to be understood." In contextual computing, context should include information to enable systems to achieve timely and precise understanding users and their situation, the system providing users with more personalised and contextual services than is normal. Currently, various innovative techniques and applications in contextual computing have emerged and continue to emerge in a number of fields such as health care, e-commerce and e-learning etc. Medical telemetry, used in the monitoring of ambulatory patients while in transit can be easily managed with wireless systems (Senses, 2003). An example in this field is wireless ECG (electrocardiograph) developed by Duke University. This system monitors a patient's cardiac symptoms offering rapid and reliable transmission of data to a clinician prior to the patient's admission (Liu et al., 2006). A further example is AmbieSense (Feichtner et al.). The purpose of AmbieSense is to provide personalised, context-sensitive information to the mobile user. An ambient information environment is provided by a combination of context tag technology, a software platform to manage and deliver the information and personal computing devices to which the information is served. The project aims to deliver information to the mobile citizen at the right time, place and situation. The information provision is largely achieved using specialist content providers associated with the project