KMi Publications

Tech Reports

Tech Report kmi-06-15 Abstract


ERA (Enabling Remote Activity): A KMi designed system to support remote participation by mobility disabled students in geology field trips
Techreport ID: kmi-06-15
Date: 2006
Author(s): Mark Gaved, Lewis McCann, Chris Valentine
Download PDF Web Version

This paper describes the design and initial field testing of the ERA (Enabling Remote Activity) system - a mobile wireless network devised by the Knowledge Media Institute (KMi) to support participation by mobility impaired students in geology fieldwork trips. We describe our approach and its relevance in educational and network research. We describe the set of tools implemented to facilitate remote learning, report on trial tests and lessons learnt. Finally we suggest future possible developments for the system and how it may be more widely applied.

Publication(s):

Internal report: not otherwise published
 
KMi Publications
 

Future Internet is...


Future Internet
With over a billion users, today's Internet is arguably the most successful human artifact ever created. The Internet's physical infrastructure, software, and content now play an integral part of the lives of everyone on the planet, whether they interact with it directly or not. Now nearing its fifth decade, the Internet has shown remarkable resilience and flexibility in the face of ever increasing numbers of users, data volume, and changing usage patterns, but faces growing challenges in meetings the needs of our knowledge society. Globally, many major initiatives are underway to address the need for more scientific research, physical infrastructure investment, better education, and better utilisation of the Internet. Within Japan, USA and Europe major new initiatives have begun in the area.

To succeed the Future Internet will need to address a number of cross-cutting challenges including:

  • Scalability in the face of peer-to-peer traffic, decentralisation, and increased openness

  • Trust when government, medical, financial, personal data are increasingly trusted to the cloud, and middleware will increasingly use dynamic service selection

  • Interoperability of semantic data and metadata, and of services which will be dynamically orchestrated

  • Pervasive usability for users of mobile devices, different languages, cultures and physical abilities

  • Mobility for users who expect a seamless experience across spaces, devices, and velocities