An object-oriented model for object orchestration in smart environments

Abstract

Nowadays, the heterogeneity of interconnected things and communication technologies creates several small worlds composed of a single object and a smartphone. For each object, the user needs to download a specific application, search and connect the device. The result is a waste of valuable resources: several objects are able to communicate with the smartphone, but they cannot directly interact among them. In this paper, we propose a model that can be used to define a set of standard interfaces suitable for every smart object. Devices that adhere to the same model can be easily controlled and placed in relation among them, creating multi-object behaviors for a smart space. The smartphone is still a control center, but with a single application it is possible to control and personalize spaces in a holistic way, instead of using the traditional one-to-one approach. Moreover, personalization should be portable: it is desirable that a behavior works in as many smart spaces as possible, at least in a similar way as it does in the environment in which it was configured, freeing the user from the tedious task of adapting it manually every time s/he goes to another space. A portable personalization extends the bring your own device paradigm to a new "bring your own space" paradigm. The model is inspired in the object-oriented programming, reinterpreting features such as inheritance and polymorphism to the real world, so it is possible to provide a software system able to adapt existing behaviors to new spaces. The use of the model is exemplified in the paper with two examples of smart spaces.