Context-aware adaptation in web-based groupware systems

In this chapter, we propose a context-aware filtering process for adapting content delivered to mobile users by Web-based Groupware Systems. This process is based on context-aware profiles, expressing mobile users preferences for particular situations they encounter when using these systems. These profiles, which are shared between members of a given community, are exploited by the adaptation process in order to select and organize the delivered information into several levels of detail, based on a progressive access model. By defining these profiles, we propose a filtering process that considers both the user’s current context and the user’s preferences for this context. The context notion of context is represented by an object-oriented model we propose and which takes into account consideration both the user’s physical and collaborative context, including elements related to collaborative activities performed inside the groupware system. The filtering process selects, in a first step, the context-aware profiles that match the user’s current context, and then it filters the available content according to the selected profiles and uses the progressive access model to organize the selected information.