Delivering Relevant and Useful Information with IMPACT

With today’s nearly ubiquitous access to information of all types, it is difficult to discern what is important from what is not. Mobile and fixed location users alike are faced with a tradeoff: either check many information sources frequently or miss important information that may impact the user. In this work, we define a new approach to information management, one that uses the context of the user’s planned activities to determine the priority and importance of information. By taking into account the user’s planned activities, it is possible for the user to stay informed with minimal effort and disruption. This paper describes our project to design and build a context-aware computing system, the Integrated Management of a Personal Augmented Calendar Tool (IMPACT) that uses a user’s plan to prioritize, organize and deliver information. Its goal is to inform the user of any and all information that will impact the activities that a user intends to perform. To accomplish these tasks, the user’s plan, which contains the user’s current and future context, is built up from calendar data, to do lists, and preferences. For each activity in the plan, information sources are queried and assessed according to rules. Information is assessed for level of impact (severity) and urgency. The urgency is used to prioritize information, which is delivered to the user at times and via means designed to minimize disruption.