Real-time information distribution at a shopping mall using android phones

A demonstration experiment called “Timely & Timely” was a evaluation of a system in which ubiquitous sensor´s data and reporter´s reports are displayed on digital signage and smart phones. This experiment was taken place at a shopping mall called “Lalaport Kashiwanoha” in Chiba, Japan. We have designed and implemented an information distribution system in which we can specify which information should reach which customers. Specifying the certain information is called “Channel” and the information receiving software running on Android smart phones is called “Ubiroid.” Each channel is defined by a USDL (Universal Service Description Language) based on XML. The developers and users can easily search and use channels thanks to this markup language. We rent 20 Android smart phones to the guests and received questionnaire results from those who participated in this experiment. This paper presents design, implementation, and evaluation of “Timely & Timely” and also shows the results from the experiment questionnaires.