A framework for human interaction with mobiquitous services in a smart environment

Characterizing Smart Environments as Interactive and Collective Platforms: A Review of the Key Behaviors of Responsive Architecture

Since architect Nicholas Negroponte first proposed a vision of responsive architecture smart environments have been widely investigated, especially in the fields of computer science and engineering. Despite growing interest in the topic, a comprehensive review of research about smart environments from the architectural perspective is largely missing. In order to provide a formal understanding of smart environments in architecture, this paper conducts a systematic literature review of scholarly sources over the last decade, focusing on four related subjects: (1) responsive architecture, (2) kinetic architecture, (3) adaptive architecture and (4) intelligent buildings. Through this review, the paper identifies and examines interactive and collective behaviors in smart environments, thereby contributing to defining the properties of creative, smart spaces in the contemporary digital ecosystem. In addition, this research offers a means of systematically characterizing and constructing smart environments as interactive and collective platforms, enabling occupants to sense, experience and understand smart spaces.

Analyzing app-based food information services: the case of Olive Oil sector

Purpose

The provision of information about food to consumers is well recognized to be problematic and complex. Novel approaches tend to adopt app-based services as a way for consumers to get better food information. Potentially, these services could provide relevant information to consumers because they could address particular needs by leveraging on context-awareness, ubiquity and pervasiveness. Do current app-based services actualize these potentialities? The purpose of this paper is twofold: to propose a methodological approach that can be easily adapted to conduct reviews of app-based services and provide consumers with information about food and to answer this question on a specified food information domain (namely, olive oil).

Design/methodology/approach

A literature review was performed to investigate characteristics of food information services under a consumer’s value perspective. Then, a qualitative framework was built, which allowed a multidimensional analysis of the food information provided by a service through a mobile app. Moreover, an application of that framework on “olive oil” mobile apps was carried out, with the twofold objective of providing an example of application of the proposed framework in a real context and analyzing the role of mobile apps in reducing consumers’ information and knowledge gap in this particular domain. The review covers commercial applications on “olive oil,” available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Findings

A framework of multidimensional analysis of the two-way information flow in the interaction between a consumer/user and a food app-based service is proposed. The framework represents a useful tool to analyze the offer of mobile-based services in a given sector. The framework is then applied to perform a situation analysis of app-based services in the olive oil market. The analysis highlights that olive oil information providers do not seem to fully exploit recent advances in “Internet of food” technologies. Hence, results from our survey suggest some direction to conceive and develop innovative mobile olive oil apps that better exploit mobiquitous technology features.

Practical implications

Consumers perceive a growing need of information about food. This need is mainly due to recent cases of adulterations, allegations of fraud and subterfuges that have invested food sector (in particular, olive oil sector). This research provides a useful framework to analyze some aspects of management of food information provision through mobile apps. Such a framework represents a practical tool that provides fruitful insights for the design of a new generation of food-app based services within the so-called “internet of food” domain.

Originality/value

Although there are countless mobile apps aimed to assist consumers with their everyday food practices, little research has been devoted to investigate the impact of mobiquitous technologies on the management of food information provision to consumers. The available research lacks in defining an approach capable to analyze the relevance of information provided to targeted audiences by mobile food apps. This paper tries to fill this knowledge gap by proposing a framework that is based on a characterization of food information flows in terms of categorization, source and service features.

Understanding interactive user behavior in smart media content service: An integration of TAM and smart service belief factors

Smart media combines media and artificial intelligence (AI) and can also be a user-centered content service market. However, existing research lacks an understanding of user's perceptions concerning smart services generated by different user experience types across different payment groups. Taking AI-powered Smart TV (AI TV) as a typical research object, this study (1) develops a theoretical model by integrating the technology acceptance model with users' smart service belief factors and (2) employs the user experience type as an original moderator. Using data from 585 AI TV users, the structural equation modeling analysis suggests that perceived two-way communication, perceived personalization, and perceived co-creation as three belief factors, are important antecedent constructs in the extended technology acceptance model. The analysis also suggests that the user experience type exerts positive moderating effects on two-way communication and personalization to attitude toward behavior and purchase intention. This study thus contributes to the literature on smart service by identifying and studying smart service belief factors. The addition of smart service belief factors as antecedents, as well as user experience type as a moderator, are crucial to expand the generalizability of TAM to the smart media service context. From a customer experience management perspective, this study shows how to convert ad-supported users into new paid subscribers, while keeping existing subscribers by fulfilling their smart service requirements.