Foundations and current trends in Ubiquitous Computing

PhD course

Place
IT University of Copenhagen
Rued Langgaards Vej 7; DK-2300 Copehagen S

Dates
Spring 2010; dates TBA

Lectures
Jakob Bardram, Jonathan Bunde-Pedersen, and invited guests

Time & Room
9 sessions of 3 hours. Class room at ITU

Organizers
Jakob Bardram and Jonathan Bunde-Pedersen

Course description
The course gives the participants an overview of theoretical foundations, practical knowledge and current trends in conception, design, and development of ubiquitous computing systems. The course is organized as 9 sessions in consecutive weeks, 3 hours each time. Each session will be devoted to a central topic of the course, for which students will read a bundle of selected papers/readings and one of the student will present the subject. Over the course of the sessions one or more external lectures will be invited to give their perspective(s) on a selected topic. The final sessions will be devoted to presenting projects made by the students. Afterwards the students will write a position paper on a topic of interest within the subject.

As a backbone to the course, the readings will follow the recently published book on Ubiquitous Computing, and other relevant readings to each session. The student presenting each session coordinates with the organizers the reference material and the general outline of the presentation.

Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites concerning background, exept that the course is intended for PhD candidates doing their thesis in the area of ubiquitous computing, interacting design and areas alike

Program

The sessions will be organized as follow:

Session1: Introduction to Ubiquitous Computing

Session 2: Field studies and ethnography in Ubiquitous Computing

Session 3. Context Awareness

Session 4: Sensor Data Acquisition

Session 5: Processing Sensor Data

Session 6: Location in Context Aware Systems

Session 7: User Interfaces in Ubiquitous Computing Systems

Session 8: Case Studies - The Savannah Project and others

Session 9: Student presentations of practical work: Each student will work on a practical project

Post-Course Work: The student will write a position paper exploring some research idea within the frame of ubiquitous computing. The difference from the practical project is that the project involves actual practical research: it can be developing a new system, enhancing an existing one, running evaluations, or performing ethnographic studies and field work

Credits
7,5 ECTS

Exam:
There is no written or oral exam, but the participants are required to chair at least one of the sessions, to present the practical work, and submit a position paper self-selected topic within the ones covered in the course. Notice that the practical work is to be presented in the lat session of the course

Amount of hours the student is expected to use on the course
Participation: 9 sessions of 3 hours (1,25 ECTS)
Preparation: Each hour in the session requires twice as much preparation (2,5 ECTS)
Student work: The participants should spend approx. half time of the course on their individual project and position paper (3,75 ECTS)

Participants
The course is relevant for a number of PhD students in the SDG and InC faculty group. The course will be arranged with lectures from the IT University and other academic institutions (e.g. DKDS, SDU), and a number of PhD students from theses institutions are potential participants