SMARCOS | Smart Composite Human Computer Interfaces

Project Description

Smarcos project aims to help users of interconnected embedded systems by ensuring their interusability.
Nowadays, many products connect with web services (media players, refrigerators). This distributed computing is becoming the norm in embedded systems. Smarcos allows devices and services to communicate in UI level terms and symbols, exchange context information, user actions, and semantic data. It allows applications to follow the user's actions, predict needs and react appropriately to unexpected actions.
The use cases would be constructed around three complementary domains: attentive personal systems, interusable devices and complex systems control. Several pilots would be carried out to implement the use cases. Along the project, several smaller prototypes will be implemented.

Collaborating Companies or Organisations

Indra's Role

Indra contributes to SMARCOS project sharing its know-how and commercial potential in the above mentioned fields in order to specify, design, develop and evaluate SMARCOS´ works during the whole project. Regarding specific WP leadership, Indra is WP6 and WP7 leader.

As Indra is the Spanish market leader in Transport and Traffic, and first in Air Traffic around the world is highly relevant to mention that Indra´s Space Department provides the infrastructure required to set satellite and terrestrial communications systems described in SMARCOS´ WP6.
Indra has also a key role in SMARCOS´s simulations and pilots, as well as making a specific effort on UI Model design and evaluation, simulations and pilots. These simulations and pilots will be supported by Indra´s national and international commercial channels.

Development of new components based on other interface standards and adaptation of architecture components to other applications.
The knowledge and know-how gained from SMARCOS might be the basis for the development of a new range of software aimed at a new target market: embedded system based health environment.

Transfer of SMARCOS’s knowledge. Knowledge acquired on embedded system based health environments and relevant new technologies developed in the project will also be reused in the existing and new services of the company.

Markets/sectors of Indra will potentially benefit from SMARCOS, and internal embedded system designers will learn about SMARCOS applications.

In relation with SMARCOS´ dissemination and exploitation Indra leads these tasks making emphasis on the good selection of the information provided, on a clear and obvious presentation and on the protection of specific background of the project partners so as not to endanger the results exploitation.

SMARCOS will bring to Indra, as an organisation, the effect on the marketplace to stimulate the creation of health environments and the attractiveness of Indra services to potential customers.

Indra will act as a distributor of SMARCOS developments and services in Spain and in the countries were Indra is present. Indra could explore the opportunity for becoming a service provider or reseller of SMARCOS services, interfaces and protocols (products) in Spain.

Providing additional added-value services to the ones already developed by SMARCOS could also bring in new business opportunities to Indra, together with the collaboration of other members of the consortium in the provision of SMARCOS services.

Universities and Technological Centres

Technologies used

• Embedded Systems: An embedded system is a computer system designed to perform, usually in real time, one or more dedicated functions. The term "embedded" means that the embedded circuits are an integral part of the system in which they are. In other words, an "embedded system" can be implemented and its presence may become hidden or could not be obvious to the viewer.
• Augmented Reality: Set of devices that add virtual information to the existing physical information. This is the main difference with virtual reality, since it does not replace the physical reality, but superimposes computer data to the real world.
• Virtual Reality: It consists in generating interaction virtual spaces facilitating new communication contexts.
• Datamatrix: 2D data encryption is a new two-dimensional industrial coding that allows the generation of a large information volume in a very small format, with a high reading reliability.
• RFID: Radio Frequency IDentification, data storage and remote retrieve system through devices called RFID tags. The main purpose is to convey the identity of an object using radio waves.
• Sensors: They are devices capable of transforming physical or chemical quantities (called instrumentation variables) into electrical quantities.
• Ontological Models: It is the knowledge representation through a data structure containing all the relevant entities and the relationships within the domain.
• Internet of things: Internet on the world of objects, so that it can be possible the identification and be able to connect with each other and exchange information.
• ZIGBEE: Zigbee is the name of the specification of a set of high level wireless protocols to be used with low-power digital radios with applications based on secure communications that require low data transmission rate and maximizing the batteries life. The main scope of this protocol is home automation.

More information

This R&D project (100249) is partially financed by ARTEMIS Joint Undertaking, the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism (under the code: ART-010000-2010-8); AgentschapNL and the Flemish government Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT) under contract number 090787.