SBIR Phase II: Mobility Agents for Persons with Cognitive Disabilities

This Smal Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop Mobility Agents that help persons with cognitive disabilities use public transportation systems. The realization of an operational system that wirelessly connects users to real-time bus information through Mobility Agents depends on the fact that public transportation systems are increasingly equipped with GPS (Global Positioning System) systems connected to control centers through dedicated wireless networks. Controllers use this infrastructure to schedule and optimize operations and avoid organizational problems such as bunching. Agentsheets proposes to use this existing infrastructure to compute highly personalized information and deliver it on PDAs or cell phones to persons with cognitive disabilities. Wireless devices with location aware Mobility Agent services that help travelers use public transportation systems, permit caregivers to customize these agents, and monitor the progress of travelers by means of utilizing The Pragmatic Web, a framework for highly customizable Web information; and Deductive Tracking, a combination of sensor fusion and minimalist common sense AI that creates more reliable tracking information. Agentsheets will explore design and implementation issues for agent-based real-time user interfaces on handheld devices; build the system, and test it in a real-world setting using the Boulder bus system as a public transportation test bed. The Mobility Agents technology turns general GPS-based information into personalized, practical information. Customization mechanisms range from simple preferences to rule definition, and are relevant to the fields of End-User Development/Programming, Visual Languages, and Human Computer Interaction. Deductive Tracking contributes to Sensor Fusion and Artificial Intelligence. Parts of a Phase I 3D engine, used in the real-time transportation visualization, have been made available to other research organizations and are already in use. This technology proffers assistance to persons with cognitive disabilities. The elderly and other groups will also benefit from the same technological developments. This technology creates new service organizations. It reduces the need for human escorts, increases the autonomy of persons with cognitive disabilities, and decreases the need for federal support. ...