Touchless remote interaction empowers users to interact with systems at a distance without the burden of actually coming to physical contact with any tangible object. The research presented in this paper focuses on motion-based interaction in public spaces through hand detection using Microsoft’s Kinect, in order to allow natural interaction in mid-air. The paper presents the development of a system that allows browsing and exploring large collections of multimedia information (images and videos).

This paper discusses the contribution of an Ambient Intelligence (AmI) facility towards adopting, promoting and mainstreaming Design for All principles and approaches. Design for All is fostered through the multidisciplinary approach that is adopted, the scientific exchange and experimentation actively engaging researchers, the capabilities offered by AmI environments towards supporting multimodal interaction and multimedia output, the actual involvement of representative users, as well as the networking activities that are ensued.

This paper leverages previous work on the concept of smart object federations and proposes a new dynamic programming language for implementing and simulating smart objects and their interactions. Following their description in the proposed programming language, smart objects can be fully simulated and used for describing ambient intelligence scenarios. In this context, the contributions of the paper are two-fold: (a) the introduction of a new programming language whose runtime semantics allows for a simple and effective description of smart objects, and (b) the description of meaningful interaction strategies, that are implemented in the proposed language, through which executable smart object federations can be used for simulating and implementing ambient intelligence scenarios.

In this paper we focus on generative model-driven engineering (MDE) tools and explore the notion of incorporating their deployment directly within the program source through metaprogramming. Our approach is based on the following principles: (i) the MDE tool is invoked as part of the metaprogram evaluation; (ii) instead of generating code, the MDE tool generates source fragments as abstract syntax trees (ASTs); (iii) the generated source fragments are directly inserted into the main program source through generator macros of the metaprogram; and (iv) the resulting program that incorporates both model code and custom application code can be normally compiled to produce the final application. Using this methodology, the metaprogram practically operates as an interactive editor for the program itself. We assess the validity of our approach with proof-of-concept case studies where all MDE deployment is performed through metaprogramming.

Augmented Reality environments have shown to be relevant and valuable in many instances of the educational process. Accounting for the advantages and conventional gains of learning through physical books and printed matter in general, this paper presents an approach towards augmenting both such media. This work has elementary school as a con-text and presents an approach towards augmenting a physical book and associated learning cards, with the purpose of providing a playful approach to learning the alphabet. The two principal activities involved in studying from an elementary school book are augmented: learning, during which the student receives information about letters, phonemes, and words, and practicing where questions are asked to the young student in order to consolidate the recently acquired knowledge. The proposed implementation is evaluated initially as to its performance and accuracy and then as to its usability and suitability for efficient and intuitive interaction.

This paper presents an innovative advergame installation for promoting the brand and products of a company producing Cretan rusks. The paper first presents some background and related work. Then, the requirements set towards creating the game are outlined, followed by concept creation and design decisions taken to meet these requirements, as well as a description of the user interface, gameplay and technical characteristics of the resulting game. The game has been installed with remarkable success in two different food exhibitions in key locations in Athens, Greece, where it has been played by more than 500 people of ages ranging from 2 to 76 years old. A large variety of qualitative and quantitative data were collected. The paper presents several findings stemming from these data. Additionally, changes made to the game as a result of the findings are presented, along with lessons learnt from the acquired experience.

This system paper describes two educational mini-games (a multiple-choice quiz and a geography-related game) that combine learning and ambient technology. Their innovative feature is that they offer physical interaction through printed cards on a tabletop setup, where a simple webcam monitors the table's surface and identifies the thrown cards. Following a brief discussion of ambient technology integration in the environment, the overall concept of these games is described and potential future improvements are outlined.

This paper discusses the opportunities and challenges of Ambient Intelligence (AmI) technologies in the context of child development, and presents the methodology and preliminary results of the development of an augmented interactive table which offers to preschool children various AmI educative and entertaining applications. The overall objective of this work is to assess how AmI technologies can contribute to the enhancement of children’s skills and abilities through common play activities during the various stages of their growth and development.

A visual user interface providing augmented, multitouch interaction upon a non-instrumented disk that can dynamically rotate in two axes is proposed. While the user manipulates the disk, the system uses a projector to visualize a display upon it. A depth camera is used to estimate the pose of the surface and multiple simultaneous fingertip contacts upon it. The estimates are transformed into meaningful user input, availing both fingertip contact and disk pose information. Calibration and real-time implementation issues are studied and evaluated through extensive experimentation. We show that the outcome meets accuracy and usability requirements for employing the approach in human computer interaction.

his paper presents the implementation of a smart environment that employs Ambient Intelligence technologies in order to augment a typical hospital room with smart features that assist both patients and medical staff. In this environment various wireless and wired sensor technologies have been integrated, allowing the patient to control the environment and interact with the hospital facilities, while a clinically oriented interface allows for vital sign monitoring. The developed applications are presented both from a patient's and a doctor's perspective, offering different services depending on the user's role. The results of the evaluation process illustrate the need for such a service, leading to important conclusions about the usefulness and crucial role of AmI in health care.