Vol.4 No.2 June 1, 2008     
Mobile Multimedia in the Pervasive Era

Editorial (083-083)
        E. Pardede, D. Taniar, I. K. Ibrahim and G. Kotsis

Research Articles:

Architecture and Implementation of a trust Model for Pervasive Applications  (084-103)  
        S. I. Ahamed, M. Zulkernine, S. Bulusu, and M. Monjur 
Collaborative effort to share resources is a significant feature of pervasive computing environments. To achieve secure service discovery and sharing, and to distinguish between malevolent and benevolent entities, trust models must be defined. It is critical to estimate a device’s initial trust value because of the transient nature of pervasive smart space; however, most of the prior research work on trust models for pervasive applications used the notion of constant initial trust assignment. In this paper, we design and implement a trust model called DIRT¹. We categorize services in different security levels and depending on the service requester’s context information, we calculate the initial trust value. Our trust value is assigned for each device and for each service. Our overall trust estimation for a service depends on the recommendations of the neighbouring devices, inference from other service-trust values for that device, and direct trust experience. We provide an extensive survey of related work, and we demonstrate the distinguishing features of our proposed model with respect to the existing models. We implement a healthcare-monitoring application and a location-based service prototype over DIRT. We also provide a performance analysis of the model with respect to some of its important characteristics tested in various scenarios.

Navilite: a Lightweight Indoor Location-Aware Mobile Navigation Service for the Handicapped and the Elderly  (104-117) 
        T. Uchibayashi, B.O. Apduhan, and I. Arita 
Faced with the rapidly aging population, shrinking number of caregivers, and the promise of economic returns, the growing demand to provide more service assistance to handicapped persons and the elderly is a challenging task. In Japan, there are about 560,000 people who are in wheelchairs but they are rarely seen in public. One reason is that, they lack the information on the available facilities that cater to their needs once they go out to their destination. Providing these people with information on barrier-free facilities and other related information along their route will help boost their morale, build self-confidence, and self-reliance.  In this paper, we describe the development towards a real-time and lightweight location-aware navigation service, called NaviLite, with particular focus on people in wheelchairs. We utilized the readily available handheld PHS mobile phone devices to display the location map, obstacles and danger zones within the periphery, and the suggested route to their destinations. We conducted preliminary experiments and discussed its results. Key words: wireless mobile computing, location-aware, navigation service, barrier-free facilities

Architectural and Implementation Issues for a Context-Awar Hypermedia Platform  (118-138)  
        C. Challiol, A. Fortier, S. Gordillo, and G. Rossi 
In this paper we present the rationale and the main components of a modular and extensible architecture for building and deploying mobile hypermedia software. Using some simple archetypical examples we show how to provide context-aware assistance to the mobile user, as he explores the physical world. We also show that this kind of software systems poses strong requirements on supporting software (such as Web browsers) and we explain how to provide a modular software substrate to support these requirements. This paper shows how to use some simple concepts to develop complex context-aware systems, which are evolvable and easy to extend.

INFOAREA - an Open Multi-Purpose Information System for the Mobile Age  (139-148)  
        C. Vogt, R. Walter, J. Rasinger, and G Specht 
InfoArea aims at becoming a comprehensive and uniform system for providing, consuming, and recording all kind of information relevant in mobile everyday life. In this paper we motivate the development of such a system, consider feasibility and acceptance issues, present design aspects, describe the implementation of the system and give examples of use. Finally we discuss strategies to establish InfoArea as a widely-used technology.

Attitudes Toward the Use and Role of Mobile Telephony: A Comparison of East and West Malaysia  (149-162)  
        V. Swami, I. Maakip, D. Sinniah, S. K. Pillai, P. Subramaniam, K. Kannan, and A. Furnham
This study examined lay beliefs and attitudes toward mobile telephony using the Mobile Phone Questionnaire. A total of 214 participants in West (Peninsular) Malaysia and 211 participants in East Malaysia responded to a series of statements relating to the use and role of mobile phones. Results suggested that mobile phone ownership and use in both samples was widespread. A factor analysis of 25 items on the Mobile Phone Questionnaire revealed three factors relating to (1) the social effects of mobile phones; (2) the life-changing effects of mobile phones, and; (3) the convenience and safety conferred by mobile phones. There were cultural differences on Factors 1 and 2, with East Malaysians more strongly endorsing these factors. Explanations for these differences are discussed in conclusion.