PFI:BIC: RouteMe2 -A Cloud-Integrated Sensor Infrastructure for Assisted Public Transportation Services

该项目将创建一个智能服务系统（RouteMe 2），帮助有特殊需求的乘客安全、自信地使用公共交通。这项研究解决了一个庞大的社区的人谁依赖公共交通的独立流动性，但面临的困难使用它的需求。对于视力不佳或失明，一定程度的认知障碍，或老年人，乘坐公共汽车在一个不熟悉的路线可以成为一个挑战和焦虑的来源。 问题往往是缺乏获得相关信息的途径，如乘坐哪辆公共汽车，在哪个站台等火车，何时下车以及如何协商换乘。 智能服务系统将促进和促进公共交通系统的使用，因为乘客或他们的助手将能够预先登记旅行，可能涉及多个机构的多条腿和不同的交通工具。设想在旅行期间，乘客将接收上下文感知信息，该上下文感知信息将帮助确保他们在正确的位置等待公共汽车或火车;他们正在进入期望的公共汽车车辆或火车车厢，并且他们在正确的站或站离开车辆。重要的是，授权用户（家庭成员、朋友或助手）将能够远程监控用户的行程，并在发生意外情况时收到警告（例如，当用户在错误的站台等待火车、进入错误的公共汽车或被困在某个位置时）。关于旅行者的匿名数据可以被转发到交通机构以增强服务;例如，可以通知公交车司机一位盲人乘客正在某个车站等公交车。RouteMe 2将促进旅行独立性的提高，从而增加教育，就业，社交，参与和休闲的机会。设计这种具有明显社会效益的以人为本的技术，并与用户研究的参与者进行互动，对于参与这项研究的学生来说，预计将是一种鼓舞人心和有益的体验。这项技术将依赖于可以在旅行中跟踪乘客的互联传感器，以及可以通过智能手机为乘客提供及时信息的服务。该项目将开发和试验一种传感器和信息基础设施，专门用于帮助有特殊需要的个人乘坐公共交通工具。 RouteMe 2系统将主要依赖云服务，辅以来自经济型小型传感器（iBeacon）基础设施的位置数据，以及来自用户携带的智能手机的数据，例如其GPS和惯性传感器生成的数据。来自该系统不同潜在用户群体的个人（老年人和视力或认知障碍者）将通过初步重点小组的方式为系统设计作出贡献，并将通过一系列精心设计的用户研究对其进行测试。该项目是加州大学圣克鲁斯分校（牵头机构）与计算机工程、计算机科学、计算媒体和环境研究系的教师和学生之间的合作伙伴关系，IBM研究院作为主要工业合作伙伴（加利福尼亚州阿尔马登;大型企业）与其云、物联网系统和分析集团一起参与。其他更广泛的合作伙伴是圣克拉拉谷交通管理局（加利福尼亚州圣何塞;特殊目的区）和Vista盲人和视力障碍者中心（加利福尼亚州帕洛阿尔托;非营利组织）。

This project will create a smart service system (RouteMe2) that will help passengers with special needs use public transit safely and confidently. This research addresses the needs of a large community of people who rely on public transportation for independent mobility, and yet face difficulties using it. For someone with poor vision or blindness, some level of cognitive impairment, or for a senior citizen, taking a bus on an unfamiliar route can become a challenge and a source of anxiety. The problem is often one of scarce access to relevant information such as which bus to catch, which platform to wait on for a train, when to exit the vehicle and how to negotiate a transfer. The smart service system will facilitate and promote use of mass transit systems as passengers, or their assistants, will be able to pre-register a trip, possibly involving multiple legs and different means of transportation from multiple agencies. It is envisioned that during the trip, passengers will receive context-aware information that will help ensure that they are waiting for a bus or a train in the right location; they are entering the desired bus vehicle or train car, and that they exit the vehicle at the correct stop or station. Importantly, authorized users (family members, friends, or assistants) will be able to monitor the user's trip remotely, and receive warnings when an unexpected situation occurs (e.g., when a user is waiting for a train in the wrong platform, enters the wrong bus, or is stuck at a certain location). Anonymized data about travelers can be relayed to the transit agency for enhanced service; for example, a bus driver can be informed that a blind passenger is waiting for the bus at a certain stop. RouteMe2 will promote increased travel independence, and thus increased opportunities for education, employment, socialization, participation, and leisure. It is expected that designing this type of human-centered technology with a clear societal benefit, and interacting with the participants in the user studies will be an inspirational and rewarding experience for the students involved in this research.This technology will rely on interconnected sensors that can track a passenger during a trip, and on services that can provide just-in-time information to passengers on smartphones. This project will develop and experiment with a sensor and information infrastructure specifically designed to assist individuals with special needs while taking public transportation. The RouteMe2 system will rely essentially on cloud services, complemented with location data from an infrastructure of economical, miniaturized sensors (iBeacons), as well as data from the smartphone carried by the user, such as data generated by its GPS and inertial sensors. Individuals from different communities of potential users of this system (senior citizens and people with visual or cognitive impairments) will contribute to system design by means of initial focus groups, and will test it with a series of carefully designed user studies. This project is a partnership between the University of California, Santa Cruz (lead institution) with faculty and students from its departments of Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Computational Media and Environmental Studies with IBM Research as primary industrial partner (Almaden, CA; large business) participating with its Cloud, IoT & Systems Lifecycle Analytics Group. Other broader context partners are Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (San Jose, CA; special purpose district) and the Vista Center the Blind and Visually Impaired (Palo Alto, CA; non-profit organization).