How Can Semantic Be Introduced in GIS Mobile Applications: Expectations, Theory and Reality

The study examined smart learning environments as a pathway to quality university education in Nigeria. The population of the study comprised all lecturers in the four government-owned universities in Bayelsa State. However, the researchers were unable to determine the precise number of lecturers at the time of this investigation due to data collection constraints. Based on the advice of Fox et al. (2007) and Meyer (1979), the researchers chose to adapt 384 samples from a population with an unconstrained range. The data used were collected through an online questionnaire; however, 296 lecturers responded by filling out the questionnaire. The findings reveal that smart learning tools such as projectors, internet facilities, computer-based test, mobile learning devices are readily available, while smart boards, video conferencing tools, digital cameras, and LMS are moderately available. On the contrary, virtual and augmented reality, smart classrooms, and gamification are not widely available, and the majority of the respondents are not familiar with them. There is an increased utilization of internet facilities, computer-based text, projectors, and mobile devices in the teaching processes, while other technologies such as LMS, smart boards, video conferencing tools, as well as virtual and augmented reality, gamification, and smart classes, are still emerging technologies. Lecturers have a positive perception of the utilization of smart learning technologies, noting that lack of adequate funds, lack of adequate electricity supply, and poor internet facilities were some of the major challenges in the utilization of SLE. Based on the findings, the researchers recommended, among others, that the universities should focus on improving the infrastructure, particularly reliable electricity supply and internet connectivity, and increase funding for the development of new smart learning systems, such as virtual reality, gamification, smart classrooms, etc.

Fuel load is a crucial parameter for evaluating design fires for buildings. However, the availability of fuel load data is currently hindered by the lack of an efficient on-site data collection method. This research develops a new methodology for fuel load surveys that can facilitate the collection, storage, and analysis of fuel load data for a variety of building occupancies. The new survey method harnesses recent developments in mobile electronic devices, cloud storage, and machine vision to efficiently complete fuel load surveys in buildings. A four-step method is developed comprising digital inventory, data organization, item matching through computer vision, and fuel load estimation. The method is completed through an interactive electronic surveying form accessible on any mobile device with an internet connection, such as a tablet. The application allows taking digital measurements and pictures of the room and content, which are stored, and later searched through retail search engines using image recognition. Automatic matching of the picture with an online catalogue item gives access to further information about this item which are then used to evaluate the item fuel load, using a table of materials calorific values coded in the application. A wide adoption of this method could provide benefits by progressively populating such digital fuel load database. The results can then be used to provide design guidelines for fuel load density in codes and standards, for application in performance-based design of structures in fire.

One of the most important factors in digital games is the immersion of the players to enhance their experience in the virtual world created by games. This immersion can be achieved in different ways, such as graphics effects, realistic physics, artificial intelligence and even from user inputs. The Nintendo Wii controller, Sony Playstation Move controller and Microsoft Xbox Kinect, to name a few, present new forms of user interaction using the player's movements, which has led to new forms of gameplay, as well as great forms of feedback. In addition, mobile devices are providing new features, like accelerometers, touch screens, cameras and GPS, which allow new forms of interaction in games played on these devices. In response to this evolution, this paper presents a multi-platform architecture that supports a desktop game being controlled by mobile devices, using their built-in features such as vibration feedback, sound feedback, image feedback and unique inputs like location, voice recognition, camera and gestures in order to enhance player immersion during game play. Additionally, the architecture supports different types of user data input, such as gesture and motion, that can be utilized according to user preferences and desires. Moreover, with this architecture, the mobile screen device can be used to give players feedback, like visual effects, scores and statistics. These available schemes have proven to be very useful and attractive for players, giving them choices that best fit their preferences and abilities. This architecture can also be used in collaborative games, where each player uses his device to interact with games running both on mobile devices and desktop computers. In order to demonstrate our architecture's effectiveness, we have developed a desktop game and done a case study with a pilot group of users, where some usability factors were evaluated. Finally, using a mobile device for game data input and player feedback provides people who are resistant to complex game controllers the opportunity to enjoy playing games using the same device they are accustomed to using daily, thereby minimizing the time needed to learn what is usually necessary to start enjoying a game. This can, in many situations, lower the barrier encountered by experienced smartphone users who are novice game players, as demonstrated in our pilot usability tests, which found high fun factors in such players.

As more data are produced by location sensors, mobile devices, and online participatory processes, the field of GIScience has grappled with issues of information quality, context, and appropriate analytical approaches for data with heterogeneous and/or unknown provenance. Data quality has often been viewed through a bifurcated lens of experts and amateurs, but consideration of what the nature of geographical expertise is reveals a much more more nuanced situation. We consider how adapting frameworks from the field of studies of experience and expertise may provide a conceptual basis and methodological framework for evaluating the quality of geographic information. For contributed geographic information, quality is typically derived from a data user’s trust in and/or perception of the reputation of the data producer. Trust and reputation of producers of geographic information has typically been derived from the presence or absence of professional qualifications and training. However this framework applies exclusively to ‘crisp’ notions of data quality, and has limited utility for more subjective contributions associated with volunteered geographic information which may provide a rich source of geographic information for many applications. We hypothesize that a conceptual framework for geographical expertise may be used as the basis for assessing information quality in both formal and informal sources of geospatial data. Two case studies are used to highlight the new concepts of geographical expertise introduced in the paper.

The image of a license plate is scanned by the camera attached to a mobile PDA device and the numbers on the plate are detected by the image processing parts in the proposed Mobile system. Then the numbers and the location of a mobile PDA device are encoded and transmitted along with the location information to a remote server through a wireless communication network. Finally, the server decodes the transmitted data as a text format and transmits it to the destination user. Consequently, this paper contributes a case study on the embedded system for designing of intelligent interface between a moving vehicle and a mobile PDA device, using a spatial relative distance scheme. The experimental results show that detection and tracking of a location of moving vehicle can be conducted efficiently with a mobile PDA device in real-time through wireless communication system and Internet.

With the emerging technologies of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), the learning process in today’s classroom is much more effective and motivational. Overlaying virtual content into the real world makes learning methods attractive and entertaining for students while performing activities. AR techniques make the learning process easy, and fun as compared to traditional methods. These methods lack focused learning and interactivity between the educational content. To make learning effective, we propose to use handheld marker-based AR technology for primary school students. We developed a set of four applications based on students’ academic course of primary school level for learning purposes of the English alphabet, decimal numbers, animals and birds, and an AR Globe for knowing about different countries around the world. These applications can be played wherever and whenever a user wants without Internet connectivity, subject to the availability of a tablet or mobile device and the required target images. These applications have performance evaluation quizzes (PEQs) for testing students’ learning progress. Our study investigates the effectiveness of AR-based learning materials in terms of learning performance, motivation, attitude, and behavior towards different methods of learning. Our activity results favor AR-based learning techniques where students’ learning motivation and performance are enhanced compared to the non-AR learning methods.

With the widespread popularity and usage of ICT around the world, the ubiquity of data collection and transmission change our daily life and the society. Opportunistic Mobile Social Networks (OMSNs), formed by people moving around with mobile devices, enhance spontaneous communication among users that opportunistically encounter each other can be exploited to improve the performance of data forwarding. Existing protocols take advantage of spatial contact frequency and social characteristics to enhance transmission performance. However, they have not exploited enough of the relations and the effects between geographical information, social features and user interests. In this paper, we first evaluate these three characteristics of users and design a routing protocol call Geo-Social-Interest (GSI) protocol to select optimal relay nodes. We adopt Improved Optimal Routing (IOR) strategy to enhanced dynamic social features to more capture node’s social behavior to efficiently improve the routing protocol. We compare the performance of GSI to Epidemic and SimBet routing protocols using real INFOCOM06 data sets. The experiment results demonstrate that GSI overcomes the other protocols with highest data delivery ratio and low communication overhead.

The emergence of smart phones increasingly powerful opens a new range of possibilities in terms of uses and applications. However, given its limited memory and CPU, some potential applications are very difficult or even impossible to implement. This is the case, for example, in a route calculation application. In the context of Itiner@ project, which is a personalized route assistant completely autonomous that should work even without Internet connection, all processes must be fully implemented locally on the mobile device. Since it is a project focused on leisure, it is important to get a satisfactory user experience, so besides being able to execute the route calculation and personalization algorithm, the system must be efficient. In this sense, recursive algorithms consume too many resources or are too slow to be used in a mobile device. Then, it has been necessary to develop new algorithms depending on the limitations of these devices. This paper presents the process followed and difficulties encountered in implementing an algorithm to calculate routes that run entirely on a mobile device efficiently.

Objective. The main goal of this work was to describe the concept of a mobile application that supports the functions of an electronic board for mobile devices with a touch screen. Material and methods. The work uses theoretical methods: a review of the literature on the research problem, analysis of publications, as well as an empirical method of observing the distance work of Tyumen State Medical University teachers. Results. The original article reflects the views of the teacher of the medical university on the problem of distance education during the pandemic of the new coronavirus infection and contains a practical proposal for creating a mobile application with which it is possible to facilitate teacher-student interaction during practical sessions conducted using video conferencing systems. The essence of the proposed concept is to synchronize the operation of a personal computer and a mobile device with a touch screen (phone, tablet), as well as a video conferencing system, in which a remote lesson is held, through a mobile application – a virtual board. Such an application turns the touch screen of a mobile device into an analogue of a graphics tablet, on which you can write using any suitable object. In this application the teacher has administrative permission. He can give or restrict access to the virtual clipboard to any student. This will bring the virtual educational process as close as possible to the real one. Conclusion. When implemented thorough of this idea should ensure improve the end result of education. The main disadvantage of this idea is the need for the teacher and students to have both a computer and a mobile device with a touch screen. Also the operation of this application will be difficult in places with low-speed Internet, or when Internet connection is not available.

In today's digital landscape, the integration of mobile applications with server systems presents both opportunities and challenges in data management. This symbiotic relationship necessitates seamless synchronization between mobile devices and servers, particularly in scenarios where internet connectivity fluctuates. Strategies such as Data Storage Codification for Enhanced Optimization offer a solution, enabling robust data storage and retrieval processes that remain functional even in offline settings. By leveraging mechanisms such as cloud document servers and unique identifiers, organizations can ensure the secure transmission and tracking of data between mobile apps and servers, enhancing overall efficiency and user experience. Efficient management of server interactions and data storage on mobile devices is crucial for ensuring uninterrupted operation and data integrity. By implementing a meticulous system of request tracking and drafting in both mobile applications and servers, organizations can streamline the transmission of data, even in intermittent internet connectivity scenarios. Leveraging technologies such as pub-sub models facilitates efficient communication between mobile apps and servers, ensuring prompt acknowledgment and processing of requests, thereby enhancing overall system reliability and responsiveness. The seamless integration of mobile applications with server systems necessitates a strategic approach to data management, particularly concerning synchronization and tracking of requests. By adopting comprehensive strategies such as those outlined in the current thread, organizations can navigate the complexities of modern data management effectively. This entails leveraging cloud document servers, unique identifiers, and pub-sub models to facilitate secure and efficient transmission of data between mobile devices and servers, ultimately enhancing operational efficiency and user satisfaction.

The integration of online learning materials into higher education has the potential to enhance educational accessibility and flexibility. However, students in remote areas of Nepal, such as Bajura, face significant barriers in accessing and utilizing these resources. This study investigates the current state of internet infrastructure, digital access and the challenges faced by higher education students in Bajura. Utilizing a mixed research design, data was collected through questionnaire and semi-structured interviews involving 30 students and 10 educators from various disciplines. Findings indicate that internet connectivity is poor, with most students relying on mobile devices with moderate to poor service quality. Linguistic barriers, particularly the predominance of English-language materials, hinder effective learning. Socio-economic constraints, including the high cost of internet services, limited access to devices and gender based discrimination make further exacerbate the issue. Digital literacy levels are variable, with students showing considerable deficiencies in essential digital skills compared to educators, who generally exhibit better proficiency. The study underscores the need for improved digital infrastructure, more accessible educational resources in local languages, provide training to the students' to use tools like Google Translate, DeepL, QuillBoot and other application for the translation of texts and enhanced digital literacy training for both students and educators to bridge the educational divide.

The design and assessment of development initiatives is increasingly participatory, where decision makers consider feedback from affected populations. While digital data collection facilitates faster and more reliable analysis, existing data collection tools are not optimized for unstructured qualitative (textual) data and peer-to-peer participant collaboration. In this paper, we propose a system called the Development Collaborative Assessment and Feedback Engine version 1.0 (DevCAFE), a customizable participatory assessment platform that collects and integrates quantitative assessment, qualitative feedback and peer-to-peer collaborative filtering. DevCAFE incorporates a library of statistical analyses for researchers to quickly identify quantitative and qualitative trends while collecting field data. DevCAFE can run on any mobile device with a web-browser and can work with or without Internet connectivity. We present results from two pilot projects: (1) 137 participants evaluating family planning education trainings at three Nutrition Education Centers in rural Uganda, and (2) 4,518 participants evaluating policy priorities for elected leaders in the June 2015 Mexico mid-term elections. DevCAFE collected over 19,000 peer-to-peer ratings of 336 submitted ideas. Feedback gathered through DevCAFE enabled targeted reforms to the family planning efforts in Uganda and the need for increased government attention to public safety in Mexico. Case studies and interactive demos are available at: http://opinion.berkeley.edu/devcafe/

We design and implement a novel embedded software engine, called EUI, to understand user intents from usage data within mobile devices. By developing the EUI engine in mobile devices, we expect to move towards proactive devices for mobile personalized services. To this end, we seek to embed the Open Directory Project (ODP) into mobile devices, and build a robust classifier with the embedded ODP. Thus, the EUI engine classifies the usage data within mobile devices into some ODP categories. Our implementation handles some challenging issues in embedding the ODP and building a robust classifier. The demonstration shows that our implementation understands the semantics of the usage data effectively.

A preliminary study was carried out as an initiative to probe into the possibilities of incorporating mobile apps and social networks in medical library services. Major objective was to find out the trend and preference of medical faculty students in using mobile devices for accessing information. The cross-sectional survey design was used with mixed method. Self-administered questionnaire was distributed among students of eight medical faculties in Sri Lanka and 120 filled questionnaires were received from six medical faculties. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and factor analysis. The use of a mobile device was analyzed through factor analysis. Cronbach’s alpha of the particular statements is 0.864 which indicate the adequate internal consistency of the statements and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy (KMO) and Bartlett test value is 0.788 which indicate that the data is suitable for factor analysis. The factor analysis resulted in four-factor model, which explain 66.43% of variance in the data. The four factors are ‘educational use’, ‘entertainment use’, ‘basic communicational use’ and ‘free call use’. Since the factor - educational use explain highest percentage (39%) of variance in the data, it indicates that there is a potential to use mobile device for educational purposes. The results also have revealed that majority of the students (85.2%) retrieved medical information through web resources using mobile devices. They also collect information using personal communication especially from friends and lecturers (41.5%). Among the information sources which they use through the mobile devices, Google is at the first place (82.3%) and Wikipedia (80%) is in second place. Only 67.2% of them use the mobile device to read e-books. In the purpose of using mobile devices for educational purpose, highest usage was observed for retrieval of images (81.8%), information on drugs (76.6%) and clinical guidelines (72.3%). Slow Internet connectivity (77.9%), poor network or signal coverage (76.6%), and lack of Wi-Fi facilities in faculty settings (55.9%) are the major barriers to using of mobile devices. Despite the students are positive about mobile devices, they consider more about the authenticity of online information and lack of knowledge and awareness on access to medical information. Moreover, they were mostly inclined to Google and Wikipedia but were unaware of other online resources to access medical information. Therefore, adopting mobile devices in health/medical information literacy programmes and curricula are recommended with further research.

Mobile Geolocation - a Technico-Legal Revolution