Finally, it’s finnished: My Master Thesis.

Topic: Development of a distributed Service Framework for Location-based Decision Support

Year: 2008

Abstract:

Progresses in the field of mobile Internet and usability of mobile devices have lead to new opportunities for location-based services. This thesis proposes the integration of multi-criteria decision analysis for mobile location aware applications. Location-based services equipped with decision support techniques provide users with a valuable extension in functionality and usability.

Humans make decisions day-to-day. Most of these decisions are related to a specific time and their current environment. People also tend to decide about problems when they occur and straight near the relevant location. In such cases mobile spatial decision support systems have significant advantages over traditional spatial decision support systems. Location-based decision services assist people in their decisions while they move through a physical environment. Such systems explicitly use decision support methods to suggest decision alternatives based on user preferences, the combination of multiple criteria and the current location.

For the research in mobile decision support theoretical aspects about decision analysis and actual trends in mobile computing and location-based services are evaluated and compared with each other. There is a momentous influence of the Internet and web-based technologies in both research areas. Hence, the most obvious design for a location-based decision service is open and distributed processing. This work introduces a comprehensive conceptual framework for implementing a location-based decision service. This framework is based on an n-tier software architecture, which is described from different viewpoints. Geographic information is a valuable resource for spatial decision making. Trends from the Web 2.0 fundamentally affect the geoinformation community. Due to user-generated content and volunteered geographic information we face an unheard-of ampleness of available and accessible information, useful also for decision making. The introduced prototype application combines user-generated content and expert data for evaluating suitable locations. The user has the possibility to rate different criteria on a mobile device to get a personal suggestion of decision alternatives. In this case the use of decision support enhances the personalisation of the location-based service. The application domain of the introduced prototype is tourism.

Keywords:

Mobile Spatial Decision Support, Location Based Decision Service, Multi-criteria Decision Analysis, Tourist Guide Application, Spatial Decision Support System, Location Based Service.