Dr.-Ing. Michael Kruppa

2011

Emergency Indoor and Outdoor Localization
Michael Kruppa
Proceedings of the 4. Deutscher AAL-Kongress 2011
[ DOWNLOAD NOTE ] show abstract
Within the context of the automatic detection of a medical emergency and the aim of providing medical care as fast as possible, it is of utmost importance to detect the current position of the patient. The more precisely the patient location can be determined and the more effectively the paramedics are guided towards the patients current location, the less time is wasted prior to the initial medical care provided to the patient after the emergency has occurred. This paper describes a first, prototypical realization of a combined indoor and outdoor user localization component developed within the Smart Senior project. Apart from a detailed description of the technical background of the realized component, an important aspect discussed in this paper is the distinction between the two different concepts of “locating a user” and “finding a user”.

2010

Benutzer-Lokalisierung in unterschiedlichen Umgebungen
Michael Kruppa
Proceedings of the 3. Deutscher AAL-Kongress 2010
[ DOWNLOAD NOTE ] show abstract
Within the context of the automatic detection of a medical emergency and the aim of providing medical care as fast as possible, it is of utmost importance to detect the current position of the patient. The more precisely the patient location can be determined and the more effectively the paramedics are guided towards the patients current location, the less time is wasted prior to the initial medical care provided to the patient after the emergency has occurred. This paper describes the user location component as it will be realised within the context of the Smart-Senior project. What makes this concept unique is the fact that it supports a large variety of different application contexts (e.g. in the car, at home, as a pedestrian or in a public building) by integrating a large number of varying positioning technology in a single service.

2009

DiLiA - A DIGITAL LIBRARY ASSISTANT - A new approach to information discovery through information extraction and Visualization
Inessa Seifert and Kathrin Eichler and Holmer Hemsen and Sven Schmeier and Michael Kruppa and Günter Neumann and Norbert Reithinger
Joaquim Filipe; Kecheng Liu (Hrsg.). International Conference on Knowledge Management and Information Sharing. International Conference on Knowledge Management and Information Sharing (KMIS-09), located at The International Joint Conference on Knowledge Discovery, Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management, October 6-8, Madiera, Portugal, INSTICC Press, 2009
show abstract
This paper presents preliminary results of our current research project DiLiA (Digital Library Assistant). The goals of the project are are twofold. One goal of the project is the development of domain-independent information extraction methods. The other goal is the development of information visualization methods that interactively support researchers at time consuming information discovery tasks. We first describe issues that contribute to high cognitive load during exploration of unfamiliar research domains. Then we present a domain-independent approach to technical term extraction from paper abstracts, describe the architecture of the DiLiA, and illustrate an example co-author network visualization.

A Pool of Topics: Interactive Relational Topic Visualization for Information Discovery.
Inessa Seifert and Michael Kruppa
Maulin Huang et al (Hrsg.). Visual Information Communication. VINCI-09, September 24-25, Sydney, Australia, Springer, 2009.
show abstract
In this paper, we present a novel relational visualization that supports people at information discovery tasks in digital libraries. This visualization displays search query results structured into topics and highlights the intersections between them. The proposed visual repre- sentation introduces interactive drag-and-drop operations for manipula- tion of the generated topics. These operations mirror the human online searching strategies that involve boolean AND, OR, and NOT operators. In doing so, the information seeker can rene (or relax) a search query in an interactive way during a focusing or a defocusing phase. The inter- sections of topics are made explicitly visible to enable the information seeker to avoid frustrating "no hits" situations.

2008

Automated Usability Evaluation during Model-based Interactive System Development
Sebastian Feuerstack, Marco Blumendorf, Maximilian Kern, Michael Kruppa, Michael Quade and Mathias Runge
Proceedings of TAMODIA 2008 in conjunction with Engineering Interactive Systems 2008
show abstract
In this paper we describe an approach to efficiently evaluate the usability of an interactive application that has been realized to support various platforms and modalities. Therefore we combine our Multi-Access Service Platform (MASP), a model-based runtime environment to offer multimodal user interfaces with the MeMo workbench which is a tool supporting an automated usability analysis. Instead of deriving a system model by reverse-engineering or annotating screenshots for the automated usability analysis, we use the semantics of the runtime models of the MASP. This allows us to reduce the evaluation effort by automating parts of the testing process for various combinations of platforms and user groups that should be addressed by the application. Furthermore, by testing the application at runtime, the usability evaluation can also consider system dynamics and information that are unavailable at design time.

MeMo Workbench for Semi-Automated Usability Testing
Klaus-Peter Engelbrecht, Michael Kruppa, Sebastian Möller and Michael Quade
Proceedings of Interspeech 2008 Conference
show abstract
In this paper we present a new approach to the automation of usability evaluation for interactive systems. Design ideas or complete systems are modeled as a conditional state machine. Then, user interactions with the system are simulated on the basis of tasks, by first searching for possible solution paths and then generating deviations from these paths under consideration of user groups and system attributes. The approach has been implemented into a workbench which supports the modeling of the system and the evaluation of the simulations. We present first results for the reliability of the approach in modeling interactions with a spoken dialog system.

2007

Looking for Unexpected Consequences of Interface Design Decisions: The MeMo Workbench
Anthony Jameson, Angela Mahr, Michael Kruppa, Andreas Rieger, Robert Schleicher
6th International workshop on TAsk MOdels and DIAgrams (TAMODIA 2007)
show abstract
This paper discusses and illustrates work in progress on the MEMO workbench for early model-based usability evaluation of interface designs. Characteristic features of the workbench include (a) the prediction of errors via rules that refer to user attributes; and (b) the automatic generation of methods for performing specific tasks and for recovering from errors.

Adaptive, Intelligent Presentation of Information for the Museum Visitor in PEACH
Oliviero Stock, Massimo Zancanaro, Paulo Busetta, Charles Callaway, Antonio Krüger, Michael Kruppa, Tsvi Kuflik, Elena Not and Cesare Rocchi
UMUAI (5/2007) - User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction (Winner of the James Chen Best Paper Award 2007)
show abstract
The study of intelligent user interfaces and user modeling and adaptation is well suited for augmenting educational visits to museums. We have defined a novel integrated framework for museum visits and claim that such a framework is essential in such a vast domain that inherently implies complex interactivity. We found that it requires a significant investment in software and hardware infrastructure, design and implementation of intelligent interfaces, and a systematic and iterative evaluation of the design and functionality of user interfaces, involving actual visitors at every stage. We defined and built a suite of interactive and user-adaptive technologies for museum visitors, which was then evaluated at the Buonconsiglio Castle in Trento, Italy: (1) animated agents that help motivate visitors and focus their attention when necessary, (2) automatically generated, adaptive video documentaries on mobile devices, and (3) automatically generated post-visit summaries that reflect the individual interests of visitors as determined by their behavior and choices during their visit. These components are supported by underlying user modeling and inference mechanisms that allow for adaptivity and personalization. Novel software infrastructure allows for agent connectivity and fusion of multiple positioning data streams in the museum space. We conducted several experiments, focusing on various aspects of PEACH. In one, conducted with 110 visitors, we found evidence that even older users are comfortable interacting with a major component of the system.

Integration between mobile and stationary devices
Antonio Krüger, Michael Kruppa
O. Stock, M. Zancanaro (Eds.) : PEACH - Intelligent Interfaces for Museum Visits. Intelligent Interfaces for Museum Visits (Cognitive Technologies), 04/2007, Springer Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg, ISBN 978-3540687542

Adaptive Mobile Guides
Antonio Krüger, Jörg Baus, Dominik Heckmann, Michael Kruppa, Rainer Wasinger
P. Brusilovsky, A. Kobsa, and W. Nejdl (Eds.): The Adaptive Web, LNCS 4321, pp. 521–549, 2007. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
show abstract
In this chapter we discuss various aspects of adaptive mobile guide applications. After having motivated the need for web based mobile applications, we will discuss technologies that are needed to enable adaptive mobile web applications, including not only positioning technologies but also sensor technologies needed to determine additional information on the context and situation of usage. We will also address issues of modeling context and situations before giving an overview on existing systems coming from three important classes of mobile guides: museum guides, navigation systems and shopping assistants. The chapter closes with an extensive discussion of relevant attributes of web based mobile guides.

2006

Migrating Characters: Effective User Guidance in Instrumented Environments
Michael Kruppa
Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft Aka GmbH, Berlin, ISBN 3-89838-301-6 and ISBN 1-58603-667-X
[BibTeX] show abstract
The book deals with the conceptual design as well as with the realization of virtual characters, which, unlike previous works in this research area, are not limited to a use in virtual worlds. The presented Migrating Character approach on the contrary allows virtual characters to act and interact with the physical world. Different technical solutions allowing a Migrating Character to move throughout physical space, either completely autonomously or in conjunction with a user, are introduced and discussed as well as resulting implications for the characters behavior. While traditional virtual characters are acting in a well defined virtual world, Migrating Characters need to adapt to changing environmental setups in a very flexible way. A Migrating Character must be capable of determining these environmental changes by means of sensors. Furthermore, based on this data, an adequate adaptation of the characters behavior has to be realized. Apart from a theoretical discussion of the necessary enhancements of a virtual character when taking the step from virtual to real worlds, different exemplary Migrating Character implementations are introduced in the course of the book.

2005

The Virtual Room Inhabitant – Intuitive Interaction With Intelligent Environments
Michael Kruppa, Lübomira Spassova, Michael Schmitz
Proceedings of the 18th Australian Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AI05)
[pdf] [BibTeX] show abstract
Abstract. In this paper we describe a new way to improve the usability of complex hardware setups in Intelligent Environments. By introducing a virtual character, we facilitate intuitive interaction with our Intelligent Environment. The character is capable of freely moving along the wall of the room. The character is aware of the users position and orientation within the room. In this way, it may offer situated assistance as well as unambiguous references to physical objects by means of combined gestures, speech and physical locomotion. We make use of a steerable projector and a spatial audio system, in order to position the character within the environment.

Performing Physical Object References with Migrating Virtual Characters
Michael Kruppa, Antonio Krüger
Proceedings of the first conference on INtelligent TEchnologies for interactive enterTAINment (INTETAIN2005)
[ DOWNLOAD NOTE ] [BibTeX] show abstract
In this paper we address the problem of performing references to physical objects in instrumented spaces. The concept behind our solution is based on virtual characters. These characters are capable of performing reasonable combinations of motion, gestures and speech in order to disambiguate references to real world objects. The new idea of our work is to allow characters to migrate between displays to find an optimal position for the reference task. Based on a user study, we have developed a rule-based system that, depending on the individual situation in which the reference is performed, determines the most appropriate reference method and technology from a number of different alternatives.

Parallel Presentations for Heterogenous User Groups - An Initial User Study
Michael Kruppa and Ilhan Aslan
Proceedings of the first conference on INtelligent TEchnologies for interactive enterTAINment (INTETAIN2005)
[ DOWNLOAD NOTE ] [BibTeX] show abstract
Presentations on public information systems, like a large screen in a museum, usually cannot support heterogeneous user groups appropriately, since they offer just a single channel of information. In order to support these groups with mixed interests, a more complex presentation method needs to be used. The method proposed in this paper combines a large stationary presentation system with several Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), one for each user. In this way, it is possible to maximize the benefit the large system provides for all users, while the individual PDAs may also adapt to each user's preferences. The basic idea is to "overwrite" presentation parts on the large screen, which are of little interest to a particular user, with a personalized presentation on the PDA. We performed an empirical study with adult participants to examine the overall performance of such a system (i.e. How well is the information delivered to the users and how high is the impact of the cognitive load?). The results show, that after an initial phase of getting used to the new presentation method, subjects' performance during parallel presentations was on par with performance during standard presentations. A crucial moment within these presentations is whenever the user needs to switch his attentional focus from one device to another. We compared two different methods to warn the user of an upcoming device switch (a virtual character "jumping" from one device to another and an animated symbol) with a version, where we did not warn the users at all. Objective measures did not favour either method. However, subjective measures show a clear preference for the character version.

Migrating Characters Performing Explicit Physical Object References
Michael Kruppa
ABIS 2005 workshop
[ DOWNLOAD NOTE ] [BibTeX] show abstract
The main goal of the work presented in this paper is to determine an optimal strategy for virtual characters performing judicious combinations of speech, gesture and motion in order to disambiguate references to objects in the physical environment. The work is located in the research area of mobile computing and deals with the combination of mobile and stationary devices.

Towards explicit physical object referencing
Michael Kruppa
Doctoral Consortium at User Modeling 2005, Edinburgh
[ DOWNLOAD NOTE ] [BibTeX] show abstract
The main goal of the work presented in this paper is the realization of virtual characters capable of performing judicious combinations of speech, gesture and motion in order to disambiguate references to objects in the physical environment.

Towards mobile tour guides supporting collaborative learning in small groups
Michael Kruppa, Andrew Lum, William Niu, Miriam Weinel
PIA workshop in conjunction with User Modeling 2005, Edinburgh
[ DOWNLOAD NOTE ] [BibTeX] show abstract
Within this paper we address the problem of supporting small groups of museum visitors by means of museum tour guides based on mobile devices. Instead of forcing members of such groups into isolation, as today's personal museum guides do, we aim at supporting the potential of collaborative learning within such groups. In order to evaluate our approach, we propose a large scale user study evaluating the effectiveness of the group collaboration encouraged by the system.

A userstudy on parallel presentations for heterogenous user groups
Michael Kruppa
Technical Report 563, University of Sydney, ISBN 1-86487-706-5
[ DOWNLOAD NOTE ] [BibTeX] show abstract
Presentations on public information systems, like a large screen in a museum, usually cannot support heterogeneous user groups appropriately, since they offer just a single channel of information. In order to support these groups with mixed interests, a more complex presentation method needs to be used. The method proposed in this paper combines a large stationary presentation system with several Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), one for each user. In this way, it is possible to maximize the benefit the large system provides for all users, while the individual PDAs may also adapt to each user’s preferences. The basic idea is to “overwrite” presentation parts on the large screen, which are of little interest to a particular user, with a personalized presentation on the PDA. We performed an empirical study with adult participants to examine the overall performance of such a system (i.e. How well is the information delivered to the users and how high is the cognitive load?). The results show, that after an initial phase of getting used to the new presentation method, subject’s performance during parallel presentations was on par with performance during standard presentations. A crucial moment within these presentations is whenever the user needs to switch his focus from one device to another. We compared two different methods to warn the user of an upcoming device switch (a virtual character “jumping” from one device to another and an animated symbol) with a version, where we did not warn the users at all. Objective measures did not favour either method. However, subjective measures show a clear preference for the character version.

The Virtual Room Inhabitant
Michael Kruppa, Lübomira Spassova, Michael Schmitz
2nd Workshop on Multi-User and Ubiquitous User Interfaces (MU3I)
[pdf] [BibTeX] show abstract
In this paper we describe a new way to improve the usability of complex hardware setups in Instrumented Environments (IEs). By introducing a virtual character, we facilitate intuitive interaction with our IE. The character is capable of freely moving along the walls of the room. In this way, it may offer situated assistance to users within the environment. We make use of a steerable projector and a spatial audio system, in order to position the character within the environment. Our concept of a virtual character “living” within the IE, and thus playing the role of an assistant, allows both novice and advanced users to efficiently interact with the different devices integrated within the IE. The character is capable of welcoming a first time visitor and its main purpose is to explain the setup of the environment and to help users while interacting with it.

Adaptive multimodal presentation of multimedia content in museum scenarios
Michael Kruppa, Dominik Heckmann, Antonio Krüger
KI Journal, volume 01/05, pp 56-59
[ DOWNLOAD NOTE ] [BibTeX] show abstract
In this article we will present the concepts of a user-adaptive and context-sensitive multimedia presentation guide for museums. The focus of our approach lies on an architecture that facilitates the adaptive presentation of multimedia content on mobile and stationary devices. Life-like characters are used to maintain the coherence of the presentation, even if the presentation medium is changing. Different types of characters convey different kinds of information. The content is selected according to the actual situation of users, which not only includes the position and orientation in the museum, but also the history of their visit and their interests. A very general user modelling framework is used to request and update information on users. This framework on the one hand allows users to control and modify personal information, and on the other hand facilitates to share the user model with other applications, e.g. with other museums. Finally, we will share our experiences that we have gained in two different museum settings.

2004

The Museum Visit: Generating Seamless Personalized Presentations on Multiple Devices
Cesare Rocchi, Oliviero Stock, Massimo Zancanaro, Michael Kruppa, Antonio Krüger
Proceedings of IUI 2004, pp. 316-318
[ DOWNLOAD NOTE ] [BibTeX] show abstract
The issue of the seamless interleaving of interaction with a mobile device and stationary devices is addressed, in a typical situation of educational entertainment: the visit to a museum. Some of the salient elements of the described work are the emphasis on multimodality in the dynamic presentation and coherence throughout the visit. The adopted metaphor is of a kind of contextualized TV-like presentation, useful for engaging (young) visitors. On the mobile device, personal video clips are dynamically generated from personalized verbal presentations; on larger stationary screens distributed throughout the museum, further background material and additional information is provided. A virtual presenter follows the visitors in their experience and gives advice on both types of devices and on the museum itself.

The better remote control – Multiuser interaction with public displays
Michael Kruppa
Proceedings of the MU3I workshop at IUI 2004
[ DOWNLOAD NOTE ] [BibTeX] show abstract
The issue of multiuser interaction with a single device is adressed in a typical situation of educational entertainment: the visit to a museum. To allow for these multiuser interactions, the museum is equipped with stationary systems, so called Virtual Windows, which are distributed throughout the museum. While each visitor may rent a mobile information system, based on a pesonal digital assistant, the number of stationary systems is significantly lower than the number of visitors in the museum. Hence, to maximize the benefit of the visitors, it is necessary to allow several users to interact with a Virtual Window at the same time. Since these multiuser interactions are uncommon to most users, a virtual character is used to support the users in their interactions.

2003

Seamless Personalized TV-like Presentations on Mobile and Stationary Devices in a Museum
Michael Kruppa , Antonio Krüger, Cesare Rocchi, Oliviero Stock, Massimo Zancanaro
Proceedings of ICHIM 2003, Paris
[ DOWNLOAD NOTE ] [BibTeX] show abstract
Museums are noncompetitive environments where visitors are free to move around and learn concepts in connection to the objects exhibited. Presentations have to be engaging and rich. In this paper, we describe work aimed at a kind of contextualized tv-like presentation with the goal of making the museum visits more appealing in particular for young visitors. On the mobile device, personal video-clips are dynamically generated from personalized verbal presentations; on larger stationary screens distributed throughout the museum (so-called Virtual Windows), further background material and additional information is provided. A virtual presenter follows the visitors in their experience and provides advice on both types of devices and on the museum itself. Recent works have presented a multimedia mobile guides based on a cinematic metaphor. The language of cinematography, including shot segmentation, camera movements and transition effects, is employed in order to plan the animation and to synchronize the visual and the verbal parts of the presentation. In building the animations, a set of strategies similar to those used in documentaries were employed. Different methods to improve the usability of PDA, featuring small displays, by using them in combination with large displays have been presented. In this work, we have focused on automatically produced video-clips to be played on the small screen of the mobile device and using a life-like character either as an anchorman or a presenter. The life-like character plays the role of an accompanying agent, ready to move on the mobile device or to jump on the Virtual Windows, in order to provide continuous assistance and continuity to the presentation. The character helps in solving problems like how to reach a certain exhibit, and yielding explanations. User evaluations have shown that the introduction of a life-like character makes presentations more enjoyable and attractive (something that we regard as very important to keep younger visitors engaged). This work has been conducted in the context of PEACH project that has the objective of studying and experimenting with various advanced technologies that can enhance cultural heritage appreciation. Experimentations are carried on in Torre Aquila, a medieval tower in Trento, and in the premises of Völklingen Old Ironworks, a cultural heritage site dedicated to iron and steel industry in Saarbrücken.

Concepts for a combined use of Personal Digital Assistants and large remote displays
Michael Kruppa, Antonio Krüger
Proceedings of SimVis 2003, Pages 349-361, Magdeburg
[ DOWNLOAD NOTE ] [BibTeX] show abstract
We give an overview on different methods to improve the usability of Personal Digital Assistants, featuring small displays, by using them in combination with larger displays. We discuss several different methods that have been implemented and evaluated in former projects. Subsequently we categorize these projects i.e. the implemented methods to develop a classification of combination methods for small PDA-Displays and large remote displays. We extend the classification through new methods. Some of these new methods are implemented in a prototype to evaluate their usability in a museum scenario.

2002

Readapting Multimodal Presentations to Heterogenous User Groups
Antonio Krüger, Michael Kruppa, Christian Müller, Rainer Wasinger
Notes of the AAAI-Workshop on Intelligent and Situation-Aware Media and Presentations, Technical Report WS-02-08, AAAI Press, 2002, pp. 46-54.
[ DOWNLOAD NOTE ] [BibTeX] show abstract
This article exploits the possibilities of mixed presentation modes in a situation where both public and private display screens as well as public and private audio channels can be accessed by the users. This will allow the users to share information with a group, while still being able to receive individual information at the same time. Special strategies are identified that readapt an already running public presentation to the interests of late arriving users. Following these strategies, the generation of multimodal presentations for both public and private devices is described.

2001

ARREAL- A mobile pedestrian navigation System built from standard hardware components
Michael Kruppa
Diplomarbeit (Master's Thesis)
[pdf] [BibTeX] show abstract
Navigation systems in cars, ships and airplanes have been developed and used for many years. These different environments demand different technologies. A car navigation system for example improves the position acquired by the {\em GPS} receiver by measuring speed and steering of the car. In this way a position accuracy sufficient for street-navigation is obtained. However in near future people will use localization services not only when driving a car, but also when travelling by train, plane or while exploring a city. The combined use of different means of transport demands a ubiquitous navigation aid, capable of adapting to different situations by altering both the way the position information is acquired and the way the information is presented to the user. The thesis focuses on pedestrian navigation in both indoor and outdoor environments. Technologies used in car navigation systems and in indoor navigation systems will be combined to build a hybrid navigation system working both indoors and outdoors.