Active Campus Using Mobile Technology

1
ABSTRACT
The traditional university campus is designed to develop a thriving community of
lerners ,but modernity has introduced many stresses .Mobile computing holds the
potential to make strong a campuss traditional institutions of community
through a process of indirect mediation i.e using personal wireless devices.These
paper introduces Active-campus, a suite of personal services for maintaining an
educational community. The design and implementation of ActiveCampus is
described, which is now in deployment on the C!"#niversity $f California,
!an "iego% campus.
2


CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Now a days with the arrival of baby boomers children, every city is !ic"ly
#roin# from an intimate small town into a b!sy city f!ll of !nfamiliar faces, even
hardly those that yo! "now$ %!ildin# &roceeds a&ace, with do'ens of de&artments
( h!ndred of labs and instit!te findin# homes in odd corners of !ndistin#!ished
b!ildin#s, old ( new$)t is hard to "ee& !& with the b!ildin# on cam&!s ( who
*
occ&ies what b!ildin#$ +ith #rowin# diversity and the inability to b!ild as fast as
&eo&le arrive, more st!dents wor" and live off cam&!s, ma"in# them visitors to
their own cam&!s ( ed!cation$ These chan#es stri"e at the heart the cam&!ss
mission of learnin# research ( ed!cation$ ,niversity of California, -an .ie#o
/,C-.0 co!ld lose its transformative &owers or it co!ld ma#nify
them$1a#nification will re!ire new ways for &eo&le to stay in to!ch with old
collea#!es, meet new ones, and stay aware of the e2citin# o&&ort!nities aro!nd
them$
+hile the cam&!s administration &!rs!es new &olicies and instit!tions to
"ee& o!r comm!nity stron#, the active cam&!s &ro3ect is e2&lorin# !se of
technolo#y to meet this challen#e$ +ith assistance from HP, we have #ives HP
4ornada 567P.As/Personal .i#ital Assistance0 with 782,11b wireless to 588
!nder#rad!ates st!dyin# com&!tin# at ,C-.$1aintainin# different comm!nities
is seen only in the conversation enabled by E9:raffiti and :eonotes,where !sers
can leave their electronic tho!#hts in &hysical s&ace for these who follow$ These
&ro3ect &rovide a com&ellin# a&&lication and warn of the need for lar#e
comm!nity and s!fficient content to be s!ccessf!l$
CHAPTER 2
EO!UTION
"#$ Active Campus
Active cam&!s is a wor"in# system available for !se by everyone at ,C-.$ A
sim&le reali'ation of these idea is shown in ;i#$<2$1=$The lar#e area is a ma& of a
&ersons immediate vicinity, as detected thro!#h some #eolocation method$
>verlaid are lin"s showin# the location of nearby de&artments ( friends$
6
.e&artment lin"s and the li"e can be followed to brin# !& a web &a#e$ All the
f!nctionalities described in these &a&er are o&erational !nless otherwise stated$
%ig $## &hat's up (isplays )ey in*o+mation li)e the a++ival o* ne, message an( the use+'s
location- as ,ell as highlighting +an(omly selecte( bu((ies an( sites in the use+'s vicinity#
Map sho,s an out(oo+- o+ in(oo+ map o* the use+'s vicinity#
"#" .+ima+y ope+ation
These &a&ers ma"e three contrib!tions$
$# )t identifies a set of sociolo#ical iss!es and &laces them in a conce&t!al
framewor" that clarifies how technolo#y can contrib!te$
"# )t defines a base set of services necessary to maintain a comm!nity thro!#h
mobile com&!tin#$
/# This defination is com&lemented by a &artic!lar desi#n ( im&limentation
( th!s &rovides &reliminary sol!tions to a n!mber of technical challen#es
we enco!ntered$
5
CHAPTER *
T0EOR1 AND RE2UIREMENTS

?earnin# activities of all "inds are heavily mediated by a !niversity cam&!s
thro!#h its str!ct!ral confi#!ration and its instit!tions <1=$ Cam&!s is an
or#ani'ation of instit!tion for mediatin# learnin#, it is nat!ral to consider
dis&layin# conte2t!al information abo!t /a0the learner,/b0 mediatin# instit!tion ,
/c0 The so!rce of learnin# enabled by those instit!tions s!ch as a &rof, friends,
boo", event, or another instit!tion li"e a lab$ )f someone does not "now the
@
internal wor"in# of an instit!tion /for e2am&le, how tal"s are sched!led and
where they normally occ!r0, its mediatin# &ower is loss on them$ -o that half of
,C-. !nder#rad!ates &!rchase the cell &hones beca!se they are missed many
o&&ort!nities$ %!t !se of cell&hones is limited form factor, interface, and
com&!tin# &ower$ 1any cam&!s instit!tional str!ct!res crossc!t each other,
creatin# conf!sion $;or e2am&le, in ,C-. each de&artment sits in colle#e
nei#hborhood and naanced by it, b!t does not belon# to that colle#e$
There are many research efforts on a!#mentin# the &hysical world with
information from virt!al s&aces, literary thro!#h witho!t an e2&licit foco!s on
comm!nities, c!lt!re and learnin#$ Hi&&ie, cyber :!ide, :,).E <2=, and a host
of other electronic to!r #!ides &rovide information for the !ser abo!t the local
s!rro!ndin#s !sin# a ma&&in# meta&hor to abstract the world, ma"in# &hysical
bo!ndaries trans&arent HP- cool town creates a web &resence for &eo&le &laces,
( thin#s to s!&&ort !sers as they #o abo!t their everyday tas"s$ )R %eacons, R;
). ta#s, ( bar codes are !sed to identify elements in the environment$
CHAPTER 6
ACTIECAM.US SCENARIO
3#$ A Day ,ith Sa+ah
-arah, a ,C-. com&!ter en#ineerin# st!dent who transferred from 1esa
comm!nity colle#e last * months, wal"s o!t of her mornin# en#ineerin# 5*
lect!re introd!ction to electrical en#ineerin#$ -arahs .ad had told her abo!t9
b!ildin# thin#s that im&roved &eo&les livesA ;li&&in# o&en her P.A,
ActiveCam&!s shows a ma& of her near area, and she sees a lin" to a tal" with
Bh!manC in the /fi#$10$ Clic"in# thro!#h, she sees thres tal" 3!st startin# in the
D
en#ineerin# b!ildin# on the h!man machine interface$ Altho!#h the tal" #ets
technical !ic"ly, the introd!ction has shown her a lin" between &eo&le and
com&!ter En#ineerin#$ -he adds 1ar"/teachin# assistant0 to her ActiveCam&!s
friend list by ty&in# in his ,C-. e9mail name with the note B5* st!dent wants to
tal" abo!t h!man machine interfaceC$ ?ater 1ar" will add the -arah to his friend
list$
-arah decided to #o to the library to #et a head start on her En#ineerin#
5* homewor"$ ?oo"in# at the activecam&!s, she sees a BconcertC lin" on the
library, which seems odd$ -he clic"s on the lin" and finds that there is a Bshort
attention s&anC concert #oin# on in the basement$ )t mi#ht already be over, b!t
its ri#ht there, so she decided to &ee" in$ )t t!rns o!t to be &retty cool, a #ro!& of
#rad!ate st!dents &erformin# Tchai"ovs"ys 1712 >vert!re on toy &ianos and
dr!ms , now movin# toward the finale$
?ater, leavin# the library, she notices that the tree o!tside the library is not
dead, as shed tho!#ht9it made o!t of metal and tal"in# !ietly$ ;li&&in# o&en her
P.A, she clic"s over to the di#ital :raffiti &a#e of ActiveCam&!s$ There is a list
of #raffiti thats been Bta##edC in the area, incl!din# a B?ivin# dead treeC, lin"
near the to&/fi#$20$Clic"in# on different &art of the tree lead to different &arts of
an interactive artwor"$$
-arah reali'es she is h!n#ry, so she #o to the canteen for some l!nch$ Her
!s!al table of friends is &robably #one by now$ Really wantin# to tal" to someone
abo!t ad3!stin# to ,C-. and her ma3or, she chec"s ActiveCam&!s and sees that
her friend %rad is nearby, clic"s on him and sends him a B+anna eatAC with a
co!&le of clic"s /;i#!re 20$ %rad notices the BdomeC on his P.A flashin#,2 and
fli&s it o&en to see that -arah has sent him a messa#e and is nearby$ Now both
7
loo"in# for each other, they see each other thro!#h the lines of &eo&le and sit
down to tal" abo!t their day$

4 %ig# " The massages an( 5+a**iti pages o* ActiveCampus6
3#" Discussion
-arahs day reveals cr!cial &ro&erties of ActiveCam&s$ -arah can see that there is
a tal" startin# nearby, even tho!#h it was only officially disseminated to the
cam&!s via &osters in en#ineerin# b!ildin# entrance$ Even if she had seen these
&oster earlier, it wo!ld not have been in the conte2t of her fr!stratin# day and
&robably lon# for#otten $ -eein# a tal" with Bh!manC in the title, and in an
en#ineerin# b!ildin#, was her hint that this tal" mi#ht be es&ecially relevant to
her$
E
ActiveCam&!s has similar, b!t not identical, benefits at the canteen food
co!rt and library$ )n the canteen, the only concentration of &eo&le is the barrier
created by the instit!tion, b!t the conte2t is eatin#, which im&lies relatively
!nstr!ct!red time a friend of hers at the canteen is &robably free to chat$ At the
library , the barrier is both &hysical ( conce&t!al$ ActiveCam&!s only &rovided
the Bfinal mileC sol!tion, timely ( conte2t!ali'ed information abo!t the concert$
3#"#$ Colleague Inte+actions
-arahs !se of the b!ddy feat!res are indicative of ActiveCam&!ss facilitator
role$After hel&in# her notice that her friend %rad was nearby, she !sed messa#in#
and his dis&layed location to &!r&osef!lly trac" him down to share l!nch$ )f many
friends were nearby, she co!ld have messa#ed all nearby or active b!ddies in one
action to s&eed the &rocess$ )n this way, -arah is !sin# ActiveCam&!s to maintain
and even develo& her social networ" in a chaotic conte2t$ ActiveCam&!ss
messa#in# does not re&lace e9mail or instant chat$
)f a friend becomes !nwanted at a later time, they are removed by
dro&&in# their revealin# ones location on ActiveCam&!s co!ld lead to !nwanted
interactions$ Th!s before -arah co!ld see 1ar" on her P.A, both she and 1ar"
had to add each other as b!ddies$ +e call this m!t!al acce&tance &olicy$ This
&olicy is sim!ltaneo!sly effortless and effective for &artici&ants name from the
friends list$ At ,C-. -arah can !se 1ar"s cam&!s e9mail name to add him to
her list$ -he didnt have to as" him for his ActiveCam&!s ). or e2chan#e
contacts with someone else$ )n fact, ,C-. has a Bfin#erC service that ma&s
names to e9mail names$
3#"#" Digital 5+a**iti
18
-arah !sed di#ital #raffiti to answer the !estion Bwhat is this treeAC beca!se
there was no official lin" for the tree$ Conseently, she fo!nd o!t not only what
the tree was, b!t what other &eo&le tho!#ht abo!t it$ Th!s, as with discoverin#
the tal", -arah hasFconce&t!allyFseen thro!#h the walls of an art st!dio to see
the cam&!s in action$ )n act!ally &ostin# her own #raffiti, -arah has ta"en an
im&ortant ste& from bein# a &assive visitor to a cam&!s citi'en$ And &erha&s the
vis!al arts #rad!ate st!dent who created the Blivin# dead treeC will see -arahs
&ostin# and "now that her wor" is havin# an im&act$
1any of di#ital #raffitis &ossibilities are not revealed in -arahs day$ Any
Active9Cam&!s entity can be ta##edG a static ob3ect s!ch as a resta!rant /e$#$,
B:et the hamsandwich, its #reatHC0, &hysical location /e$#$, someones favorite
s&ot from which to watch a s!nset0, transient ob3ect /e$#$, a b!ddy0, or other
#raffiti$ Thro!#h artistic e2&ressions, &olitical debates, and the li"e, #raffiti can
become a record of cam&!s life$ ;or e2am&le, a st!dent mi#ht learn what others
tho!#ht abo!t recent concerts held at a cam&!s ven!e, find lin"s to band web
sites, etc$ +ith di#ital #raffitis &otential comes debate abo!t whether &artici&ants
sho!ld be able to ta# whatever they want$
CHAPTER 5
SO%T&ARE DESI5N AND IM.!IMENTATION

-everal hi#h9level desi#n decisions &!t !s on the &ath to a s!stainable, scalable,
and ada&table desi#n$ ;irst, we chose a client9server model beca!se of the
mat!rity of the technolo#y$ Also, havin# little control over what client devices
mi#ht a&&ear in o!r environment, a server9based strate#y &ermits hostin# as
11
m!ch com&!tation on the server as necessitated by the client$ Alon# these lines,
we decided on a sim&le web9server9based architect!re$ ;or &!r&oses of
s!stainability, we chose the A&ache web server, 1y-I? database, and PHP for
the technolo#ies$ %eca!se these are free, &ortable, and widely "nown
com&onents, ActiveCam&!s sho!ld be easily movable to another environment$
The defa!lt client interface is translate to HT1?, &ermittin# essentially any
device to connect to o!r server$
The software desi#n is com&rised of two &rinci&al "inds of com&onents$
!ervices are dataty&es that &rovide !ni!e "inds of f!nction$ The root dataty&e in
ActiveCam&!s is the site, which is an entity with a name, location in s&ace, and a
defa!lt action9on select$ A service is ty&ically re&resented by a database table of
entities /e$#$, sites0$ 1any of the tables in ActiveCam&!s are s!bty&es of site with
more elaborated behaviors, for e2am&le !sers and di#ital #raffiti$ Clients are
viewers on /sets of0 services, ty&ically &rovidin# a :,) interface to the service$
Clients are also fre!ently s!b ty&ed accordin# to the dis&lay &rotocol they
satisfy$ ;or e2am&le all the HT1? client &anes are a s!bty&e of HT1? client,
ens!rin# that they fit a certain form factor, avoid certain HT1? feat!res, and
behave accordin# to a &artic!lar formattin# and color scheme$
-ervices and clients are deco!&led !sin# a mediator &attern <*=$ -e&aration co!ld
be f!rther increased by enablin# clients to BdiscoverC new site services and
clients to discover new s!bclients, thereby a!to9confi#!rin# to what is available
witho!t intervention from a &ro#rammer$ These behaviors co!ld be achieved by a
sim&le reflective mechanism, essentially a bro"er , in which site s!bty&e services
and s!b9clients wo!ld be re#istered$ )n o!r c!rrent centrali'ed im&lementation,
reflection co!ld also be &rovided by addin# database tables of re#istered site and
client s!bty&es$
12
+ithin this framewor", there are two &rinci&al ways in which f!nctionality
can be added to ActiveCam&!s$ ;irst is addin# a new service, for e2am&le di#ital
#raffiti$ )m&lementation of the #raffiti service is sim&lified by bein# a s!bty&e of
the e2istin# site service, as m!ch of its behavior is inherited from #eneric sites$
-econd is addin# a new client, li"e a #raffiti viewer$ -ince #raffiti is a s!bty&e of
site /e$#$, it adds a!thorshi& &ro&erties0, any e2istin# #eneric site viewer can
dis&lay it$ Conse!ently, a new service does not re!ire a new client$ However,
there may be m!ch #raffiti, so !sers may disli"e seein# it in e2istin# clients and
demand a s&eciali'ed client$ Even if s!ch a client &roves s&ecialists and
develo&ment to be sta#ed over time$
>nce these #lobal &arameters were set, several additional &roblems had to
be solved in different &arts of the system$ These incl!de enablin# services to
evolved over time, achievin# fast s&atial !eries, and sim&le9b!t9acc!rate
#eolocation$
7#$ Se+vice Inte+*ace Design
+hen services are added or evolved, service and client desi#ners wish to see
those enhancements a!tomatically manifested in clients$ )f chan#es to clients are
re!ired, the im&rovements are at best delayed !ntil client desi#ners can be
recr!ited to ma"e the chan#e$ The !estion, then, is how to desi#n the clientJ
service interface so that most service im&rovements can be a!tomatically
manifested in the client$ >!r sol!tion is to effectively hide the c!rrent limitations
of the service by the addition of a small b!t caref!lly desi#ned middleware layer
to the sim&le mediator architect!re described above <6=$
1*
Consider the initial desi#n of o!r software interface to the di#ital #raffiti
service /sim&lified for &resentation0, derived by identifyin# B#enericC o&erations
that the #raffiti client wo!ld re!ire /;i#!re *a0$
&et-current location #%
&et-nearby-sites #%
'ost-graffiti-on #title, te(t, site, authorship%
'ost-graffiti-at #title, te(t, loc, authorship%
4 %ig#/#8a9 Initial (igital g+a**iti se+vice inte+*ace#6
get-annotation-modes#%
get-annotatables#annotation-mode%
get-authorship-modes#%
create-graffiti#title, te(t, authorship%
get-posting-modes#%
post-graffiti# graffiti,annotatable, post-mode%
4%ig#/# 8b9 The a(apte+ abst+action#6
This interface is com&!tationally serviceable, yet there are &roblems with
the client callin# it directly$ ;irst, it ass!mes that the only way to retrieve sites on
to &ossibly ta# is by c!rrent location$ This is the c!rrent way of identifyin# sites
in ActiveCam&!s, b!t will not remain the only one$ -econd, it e2&licitly
identifies the two ways that a new #raffito co!ld be &osted, by namin# a location
or a site$ However, ActiveCam&!s may later &rovide other modes of &ostin#,
s!ch as Brovin# #raffitiC$ ;inally, by !sin# the site notion, this interface is
s&ecific to ActiveCam&!s, com&licatin# the &ortin# of any client that !ses it to
another a&&lication$ :raffiti do not intrinsically re!ire bein# attached to a site$
They co!ld attach to any BannotatableC entity, li"e a &a#e in an on9line boo"$
16
Rather than reim&lement this interface, we abstract it away, in effect by
a&&lyin# the ada&ter &attern, havin# any client call the ada&ter rather than the
ori#inal, !nderlyin# interface <*=$ Treatin# the #raffiti service interface as a straw
man for the ada&ter, we can a&&reciate what the ada&ter abstraction achieves in
its &lace$
The first ste& in resolvin# the above &roblems is to ma"e a sim&le /if not
&revio!sly obvio!s0 namin# chan#e in the ada&ter interfaceG rather than sayin#
BsiteC, say BannotatableC$ Ne2t is to identify the ran#e of behaviors of an
annotatable entity, rather than a site$ ;or cases where there are many &ossible
variants /e$#$, many modes of &ostin#0, it is li"ely that the c!rrent version of the
!nderlyin# service &rovides only a s!bset of these variants$ Conse!ently, the
client needs to )uery the ada&ter abo!t what modes are &resent$ >f co!rse, the
ActiveCam&!s desi#ners had no notion of B#raffiti &ostin# modesC, m!ch less
that it sho!ld &!blish them as s!ch$ Th!s, the ada&ter ta"es on the res&onsibility
to &rovide the !ery ca&ability$ -ince the ada&ter is written, lo#ically s&ea"in#,
after the service to #l!e the client and service to#ether, the !ery ca&ability is not
diffic!lt to write$ The ada&ter im&lementer ins&ects the interface of the service,
notes the ran#e of BannotatableC s!b services, and then writes a !ery f!nction
that re&orts these s!b services when called$ >!r convention has been to ret!rn
strin#s that s!##estively name the modes$ These strin#s can be !sed as items in
client &!ll9down men!s and &assed bac" to the ada&ter to drive lo#ic that invo"es
the a&&ro&riate o&erations in the service interface$ This a&&roach res!lted in the
ada&ter interface shown in ;i#!re *b$ ;irst basic modes can be im&lemented, then
advanced modes attem&ted, all witho!t re!irin# f!rther client chan#es$
7#" Database .e+*o+mance
15
7#"#$ Data St+uctu+es in S2!
ActiveCam&!s needs to locate nearby entities and determine if one entity /e$#$,
the !ser0 is contained in another /a b!ildin# with a ma&0$ Recently, Post#re -I?
added efficient s!&&ort for s&atial !eries over #eometric data !sin# R9trees
<:!t76=$
Tree traversals are not efficient on a standard relational database beca!se
each traversal ste& in the tree re!ires a !ni!e comm!nication with the database$
>!r #oal, then, was to convert each of o!r relatively sim&le s&atial !eries into a
sim&le relational !ery$ >!r a&&roach is to &artition the coordinate s&ace into
!adrants, #ivin# each a name that can be !sed in a !ery for fast retrieval$ The
name is constr!cted by concatenatin# the K and L coordinates each divided by
the #rid resol!tion that forms o!r conce&t!al #rid in 2 dimensions$ Every table
containin# s&atial data is e2&anded with col!mns to store these indices$
+ith this #rid system, a Mnearby !ery can be &erformed by the PHP layer
by,
A# -im&le math can #enerate #rid s!are names ad3acent to a central s!are
A# Re!estin# their data from data base /e$#$ sites in each !eried #rid s!are0
B# Trimmin# data from the &eri&heral #rid s!ares that are o!tside the !ery
re#ion$
The list of #rid s!are names form a dis3!nctive !ery &redicate of the form
index = 2660x4456 or index= 2760x4456 or ..., so all &otentially contained
data can be ret!rned with a sin#le re!est to the database$ %eca!se the radi!s of a
!ery may vary widely de&endin# on whether the !ser is indoors or o!tdoors,
etc$, we created indices at m!lti&le resol!tions to avoid inefficient !eries that
incl!ded either h!ndreds of s!ares or 3!st one s!are with e2cessive covera#e$
1@
7#/ !ocation Detection
;or !sers to see a&&ro&riate conte2t!al information, their location as well as their
collea#!es needs to be com&!ted with some acc!racy$ +ith a !ery radi!s of a
h!ndred feet or more, errors of thirty feet in the hori'ontal &lane will still retrieve
the a&&ro&riate ma& and dis&lay the a&&ro&riate sites and collea#!es$ 1ore
&roblematic are vertical errors indoors, where an error of 3!st ei#ht feet can res!lt
in dis&layin# the wron# ma& and sites$ disc!ssed below, there are a s!r&risin#
array of barriers to achievin# this #oal, both theoretical ( &ractical both are
essential ,both essential$
There has been m!ch recent research on location detection$ The Ad Hoc
Positionin# -ystem ma"es !se of the n!mber of ho&s for a messa#e to #et to
receivin# stations whose &ositions are "nown $ The -mart Home !ses m!lti9
modal sensin# /o&tical, a!dio, mobile, embedded, and other sensors0 and data
f!sion to detect a &ersons location <-an88,Ess88=$ Hi#htower and %oriello
&rovide an in9de&th s!rvey in &rovides a ta2onomy of location systems for
mobile9com&!tin# a&&lications $ >!r e2&erience with the -ymbol +ireless Net
wor"er for Com&act ;lash, a well9b!ilt device, is not !n!s!al$ )t re&orts abstract
received si#nal stren#th val!es in the ran#e 1 to *1G in ma&&in# these to decibels,
we discovered that the val!e *1 stands in for all val!es above 966 dbm, cli&&in#
some 25dbm of dynamic ran#e$
7#/#$ T+iangulation
>!r first attem&ts at trian#!lation a&&lied direct methods of com&!tation$ These
&roved !nstable /distance errors d!e to e2treme si#nal atten!ation wo!ld yield
&oor estimates0 and &otentially com&!tationally e2&ensive /!adratic time0 in the
&resence of a lar#e n!mber of APs$ Co&in# with the latter by &ic"in# a s!bset of
APs only diminishes stability$ )n loo"in# at the details of o!r res!lts, two thin#s
1D
became clear$ ;irst, the &lacement of the APs in o!r environment are o&timi'ed
for covera#e and sim&licity of administration$ )n &artic!lar, most APs were
arran#ed in a &lane, meanin# that acc!rate * dimensional estimates were
essentially im&ossible and the &ower of the direct methods was at least #oin# to
waste$ -econd, as observed above, the wea"er a si#nal was, the less we co!ld
de&end on the acc!racy of the com&!ted distance$ This meant that methods that
wor"ed directly with distances and treated them all as e!ally valid wo!ld be
downward to error$
7#/#" Result An( Reme(iation
This al#orithm was tested at a lar#e n!mber of locations inside and o!tside o!r
com&!ter science b!ildin#$ ,sin# an !nwei#hted avera#e, error was abo!t *5
feet$ This is not s!r&risin#, for one, #iven o!r inability to detect si#nal variations
in the 928 to 966dbm ran#e on the -ymbol wireless card$ Let, acc!racy for o!r
ty&ical !sa#e is often hi#h beca!se most of !s wor" or meet near an AP$ The
stron# si#nal from that AP virt!ally #!arantees acc!racy$ Acc!racy dro&s
s!bstantially for the brief &eriods that were movin# abo!t, as it is less li"ely that
an AP is close by, th!s there is no B#oodC AP to reliably hill climb on$ Perha&s in
cases where no AP is close by, o!r earlier direct trian#!lation method wo!ld be
better, as it does not favor any &artic!lar access &oint$
1ore worry than the raw error in distance is the com&!tation of the correct
floor$ Even the most modest error in the vertical can locate yo! on the wron#
floor, and the cli&&in# at the to& of the -ymbol wireless cards ran#e can #enerate
3!st s!ch a modest error$ +orse, even when the P.A or la&to& is stationary and
there is no a&&arent motion in the vicinity, the received si#nal stren#ths can vary
widely over time, ca!sin# Bfloor 3!m&in#C$ /+e see this on all card ty&es$ )t
a&&ears to be a &ro&erty of the environment and not the cards$0
17


CHAPTER @
CONC!USION
,C-., li"e many cam&!ses, is ad3!stin# to a #rowin#, chan#in# st!dent body
that may feel more connected to off9cam&!s life than on9cam&!s life$ Altho!#h
mobile technolo#y is &art of the &roblem, it can also be &art of the sol!tion$
Em&loyin# the conte2t!al dis&lay of cam&!s &artici&ants, their instit!tions, and
the learnin# o&&ort!nities enabled by those instit!tions thro!#h the meta&hor of
1E
trans&arency, it is &ossible to ma"e cam&!s life as accessible and com&ellin# as
off9cam&!s life$
The relatively seamless inte#ration of different services in a small form
factor &resents challen#es$ Establishin# the siteFa cam&!s entity with a name,
location, and defa!lt action9on9clic" as a system s!&er ty&e &ermits new services
to define themselves as s!bty&es of site$ Then, #eneric dis&lays li"e o!r ma&
view can dis&lay all /desired0 site ty&es in a sin#le dis&lay in a nat!ral fashion$
The !ni!e feat!res of a service are accessed thro!#h a c!stom dis&lay that is
made available thro!#h a sim&le navi#ation bar, or &erha&s also thro!#h the
defa!lt action9on9clic"$
1a"in# s!ch a system viable re!ires addressin# the conflictin#
re!irements of s!stainability, ada&tability, and scalability$ Thro!#h caref!l
choices of technolo#y, software architect!re, and al#orithms, we have s!cceeded
in b!ildin# a system that is easy to de&loy, is easy to ada&t, accommodates lowest
common denominator devices, and &erforms well$

BIB!IO5RA.01
*. &riswold +.&, ,oyer -, ,rown !.+ , Troung T.M, ,haskar . ,/ay &.- ,
!harpiro -..,,0ActiveCampus sustaining educational communities
through mobile technology1 C!" C!. technical report ,2333 .
2. Matt -atto,-..,. !haroro, T.M.Troung ,+.&.&riswold, 0The activeclass
pro4ect5.(priments in encouraging classroom participation.12336.
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