探花直播 of Cambridge - Dirk Trossen

Future internet aims to sever links with servers

tdk25 — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 08:52:31 +0000

Researchers have taken the first step towards a radical new architecture for the internet, which they claim will transform the way in which information is shared online, and make it faster and safer to use.

探花直播prototype, which has been developed as part of an EU-funded project called 鈥淧ursuit鈥�, is being put forward as a proof-of concept model for overhauling the existing structure of the internet鈥檚 IP layer, through which isolated networks are connected, or 鈥渋nternetworked鈥�.

探花直播Pursuit Internet would, according to its creators, enable a more socially-minded and intelligent system, in which users would be able to obtain information without needing direct access to the servers where content is initially stored.

Instead, individual computers would be able to copy and republish content on receipt, providing other users with the option to access data, or fragments of data, from a wide range of locations rather than the source itself. Essentially, the model would enable all online content to be shared in a manner emulating the 鈥減eer-to-peer鈥� approach taken by some file-sharing sites, but on an unprecedented, internet-wide scale.

That would potentially make the internet faster, more efficient, and more capable of withstanding rapidly escalating levels of global user demand. It would also make information delivery almost immune to server crashes, and significantly enhance the ability of users to control access to their private information online.

While this would lead to an even wider dispersal of online materials than we experience now, however, the researchers behind the project also argue that by focusing on information rather than the web addresses (URLs) where it is stored, digital content would become more secure. They envisage that by making individual bits of data recognisable, that data could be 鈥渇ingerprinted鈥� to show that it comes from an authorised source.

Dr Dirk Trossen, a senior researcher at the 探花直播 of Cambridge Computer Lab, and the technical manager for Pursuit, said: 鈥� 探花直播current internet architecture is based on the idea that one computer calls another, with packets of information moving between them, from end to end. As users, however, we aren鈥檛 interested in the storage location or connecting the endpoints. What we want is the stuff that lives there.鈥�

鈥淥ur system focuses on the way in which society itself uses the internet to get hold of that content. It puts information first. One colleague asked me how, using this architecture, you would get to the server. 探花直播answer is: you don鈥檛. 探花直播only reason we care about web addresses and servers now is because the people who designed the network tell us that we need to. What we are really after is content and information.鈥�

In May this year, the Pursuit team won the Future Internet Assembly (FIA) award after successfully demonstrating applications which can, potentially, search for and retrieve information online on this basis. 探花直播breakthrough raises the possibility that almost anybody could identify specific pieces of content in fine detail, radically changing the way in which information is stored and held online.

For example, at the moment if a user wants to watch their favourite TV show online, they search for that show using a search engine which retrieves what it thinks is the URL where that show is stored. This content is hosted by a particular server, or, in some cases, a proxy server.

If, however, the user could correctly identify the content itself 鈥� in this case the show 鈥� then the location where the show is stored becomes less relevant. Technically, the show could be stored anywhere and everywhere. 探花直播Pursuit network would be able to map the desired content on to the possible locations at the time of the desired viewing, ultimately providing the user with a list of locations from which that information could be retrieved.

探花直播designers of Pursuit hope that, in the future, this is how the internet will work. Technically, online searches would stop looking for URLs (the Uniform Resource Locator) and start looking for URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers). In simple terms, these would be highly specific identifiers which enable the system to work out what the information or content is.

This has the potential to revolutionise the way in which information is routed and forwarded online. 鈥淯nder our system, if someone near you had already watched that video or show, then in the course of getting it their computer or platform would republish the content,鈥澛� Trossen explained. 鈥淭hat would enable
you to get the content from their network, as well as from the original server.鈥�

鈥淲idely used content that millions of people want would end up being widely diffused across the network. Everyone who has republished the content could give you some, or all of it. So essentially we are taking dedicated servers out of the equation.鈥�

Any such system would have numerous benefits. Most obviously, it would make access to information faster and more efficient, and prevent servers or sources from becoming overloaded. At the moment, if user demand becomes unsustainable, servers go down and have to be restored. Under the Pursuit model, demand would be diffused across the system.

鈥淲ith a system like the one we are proposing, the whole system becomes sustainable,鈥� Trossen added. 鈥� 探花直播need to do something like this is only going to become more pressing as we record and upload more information.鈥�

Further information about the PURSUIT project can be found at: http://www.fp7-pursuit.eu/

For more information about this story, please contact Tom Kirk, Tel: +44 (0)1223 332300, thomas.kirk@admin.cam.ac.uk

A revolutionary new architecture aims to make the internet more 鈥渟ocial鈥� by eliminating the need to connect to servers and enabling all content to be shared more efficiently.

One colleague asked me how, using this architecture, you would get to the server. 探花直播answer is: you don鈥檛.

Dirk Trossen

Curiouslee from Flickr

Classic OPTE project map of the internet 2005.

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Dear digital diary鈥�

tdk25 — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 09:05:39 +0000

A 鈥渓ife-logging鈥� tool which tracks users鈥� behaviour through their smartphones and computers, then combines this to form an intricate, digital depiction of their day-to-day lives, has been devised by researchers.

探花直播academics behind the software, called 鈥�Storica鈥�, say that their creation will enable people to capture moments they might otherwise forget, and at the same time monitor the influences which are having the biggest impact on their lives.

探花直播researchers - Dirk Trossen, at the 探花直播 of Cambridge, and Dana Pavel, at the 探花直播 of Essex 鈥� are now planning to commercialize Storica with the help of the crowd-funding website, Kickstarter. Their aim is to refine the software and release it in time for people to start recording their lives over Christmas.

鈥淟ife-logging鈥� is an increasingly popular concept, which capitalises on the fact that many smartphones have sensors which can record facets of peoples鈥� behaviour 鈥� such as where they are, how fast they are moving, or how noisy their immediate environment is. In addition, fitness sensors can now be attached to phones, monitoring the owner鈥檚 exercise and sleep patterns.

Until now, however, most lifelogging apps have monitored specific aspects of people鈥檚 lives, such as their fitness, food intake, or mood. Storica will attempt to create a more complete picture, then play that back to users in fine detail, via a mind-boggling array of visual depictions.

探花直播prototype gathers most of its information automatically, both from sensors in the user鈥檚 smartphone, and from their desktop computer. 探花直播user can, however, make their own annotations, adding details about what they are doing and how they feel, as well as images, videos and sound recordings.

All of this data is kept on the Storica platform, which becomes a personal digital diary. Memorable moments, such as experiences on a holiday, can be turned into digital stories, highlighting events during the day using multimedia.聽探花直播software can also create timelines, maps, and tagclouds, allowing people to retrieve an abundance of data about what they have been doing in more detail.

鈥淥n a simple level, it鈥檚 often hard to remember what you were up to last week, let alone last year, and Storica will enable you to recall that,鈥� Trossen, who is based at the 探花直播 of Cambridge Computer Lab, said.

鈥淎t a more profound level, however, the software can also record information about what prompts certain behaviours, or when we are at our most stressed out, or relaxed. Over time, it should enable users to improve their awareness of the factors which are shaping their lives, enabling them to analyse their lifestyles and hopefully improve them for the better.鈥�

Storica utilises an Android app called AIRS, which was released by Trossen and Pavel in 2011 and has so far had 12,000 downloads. When used on a smartphone, it can automatically capture information about where a person is, how light it is, the atmospheric pressure, who they are with, who they are calling or messaging, and how much they are using social media.

On a desktop computer, Storica gathers extra information as well 鈥� such as which applications are opened most often, and which web pages users have visited. At all times, however, users are in control of choosing what they want Storica to monitor, and what activity they would prefer the application to ignore.

Despite the privacy implications of such comprehensive data-gathering, none of the information that Storica records leaves the control of the end user, e.g., through saving on commercial servers. Instead, it is all saved to the user鈥檚 own devices (mobile and/or desktop), and remains exclusively their property, not that of the researchers.

探花直播digital stories which Storica creates, as well as the detailed data visualisations are, however, fully shareable on social media as short movies or images. In addition, the software is group-usable, so that a number of people can contribute to a single digital diary at once. For example, on a holiday, every member of a family could record their own experiences and photographs, then, through Storica, play the collective experience of everyone who was there back as a single digital story.

Trossen and Pavel are now hoping, through Kickstarter, to raise 拢50,000 to expand the system by, for example, improving the synchronisation of the data recordings, refining the system鈥檚 overall look, and integrating some newly-released fitness devices. If successful, they will then aim to release the first commercial version of Storica in time for Christmas, so that people can record their winter holiday experiences.

鈥淯nlike comparable systems, this isn鈥檛 just about logging your life 鈥� it鈥檚 about giving you the tools to better understand what makes your life the way it is,鈥� Trossen added. 鈥淲e want to empower people with complete evidence about their lifestyles, while at the same time preserving the fun of recollecting memorable moments.鈥�

To find out more about Storica, and contribute to the Kickstarter appeal, click here.

For more information about this story, please contact Tom Kirk, Tel: 01223 332300, thomas.kirk@admin.cam.ac.uk

A powerful life-logging tool which captures and stores memorable moments in people鈥檚 lives is being developed by two researchers who argue that it could improve public well-being.

We want to empower people with complete evidence about their lifestyles.

Dirk Trossen

Dana Pavel

Storica allows users to revisit any aspect of their lives in extreme detail, producing digital stories and an array of graphs and data which may help people to find out more about what is influencing their feelings and behaviour.

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Can your phone double up as your life-coach?

fpjl2 — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 08:00:01 +0000

On January 1^st, millions of people will wake up with their sore heads full of New Year resolutions to achieve more fulfilling, less stressful lives. Now, researchers are developing a data-gathering mobile platform to help identify the causes of stress for individuals and encourage people to build healthier, happier lifestyles - something that could become a preventative measure for a huge number of medical conditions.

Between use of a phone鈥檚 inbuilt sensors and monitoring from local sources, the Android Remote Sensing app, or AIRS, can gather a huge amount of data - from environmental aspects such as location, weather, noise levels, even vicinity devices to gauge crowds, to social aspects such as calendar events and communication spikes in email, text and calls - providing a startlingly informed account of a person鈥檚 day.

This automatic recording is coupled with the ability to add emotional data by updating your mood through a series of emoticons, along with text annotations. ECG or heart rate sensors can also be used to show physiological reactions.

All this feeds into a person鈥檚 unique life 鈥渘arrative鈥� to determine what the researchers describe as 鈥渕eaningful events鈥� - those combinations which trigger stress and strong emotion.

鈥淏y steering people to become self-aware of stress and activity management, systems such as AIRS may be able to help people before they develop health problems in later life, when costly treatments are required with limited success,鈥� said Dr Dirk Trossen, technical manager of the project at Cambridge鈥檚 Computer Laboratory.

鈥� 探花直播time before prescribed medicine is critical in prevention and cutting costs for health services. This requires close monitoring and awareness of lifestyle on the part of individuals - so if the ubiquitous phone in your pocket can also assist with better living in general it鈥檚 a win/win situation.鈥�

AIRS provides essential input for the desktop-based MyRoR platform for lifestyle management, developed by Dana Pavel from the 探花直播 of Essex鈥檚 School of Computer Science, as part of the wider PAL project. 探花直播project - funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Technology Strategy Board - is investigating personal and social communication services for health and lifestyle monitoring.

探花直播MyRoR platform correlates this information and delivers it as an easy to digest blog-style timeline, allowing the user to detect spikes in various activities and surroundings - and their relation to the diarised emotional values and physiological symptoms of stress.

探花直播outputs from Pavel鈥檚 MyRoR platform are sets of sharable graphics that provide a user-friendly entry into the complex data, offering the 鈥渆ssence鈥� of the individual鈥檚 day or week. 鈥� 探花直播graphics, or media objects, that present the visual story are a more natural way of representing the dense information, bringing it all together in a fun, concise and engaging way,鈥� said Dana Pavel, from Essex鈥檚 School of Computer Science. 鈥淭hese stories allow users to hone in on what鈥檚 important, the situations with most meaning.鈥�

Users can then employ the AIRS app to craft lifestyle approaches that help flatten stress levels - such as automatic settings that suspend email and calls at key points to create pockets of calm in the day - which can continue beyond initial physical monitoring to support a more balanced life.

There have been a number of user tests - with both ECG monitoring and just the smartphone app - and feedback from users has been positive. 鈥� 探花直播platform gives people the opportunity to step outside their lives and analyse in-depth contextual data from their day to day existence - an important chance for serious reflection on aspects of daily life that are impacting perhaps without even realising,鈥� said Trossen.

Importantly for the researchers, given the personal nature of the data, information security and software transparency have been paramount. All personal data is stored locally, and is wiped if a phone is stolen and unlocked, and the app has been made 鈥榦pen source鈥� - with all hard coding accessible - and freely available through Google Play.

鈥淭his kind of assisted living though mobile technologies is in its infancy, but it is essential that solutions adapt to people, not the other way around, said Trossen.

鈥淪ystems should enhance lives and help involve individuals in the information that is having an impact on them every minute.鈥�

For more information, please contact Dirk Trossen on聽dt355@cam.ac.uk 聽聽聽聽聽

Researchers are developing a smartphone platform that enables careful monitoring of lifestyle to pinpoint and help avert triggers for stress and negative emotion.

If the ubiquitous phone in your pocket can also assist with better living in general it鈥檚 a win/win situation.

Dirk Trossen

AIRS widgets on the Android home screen

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