G. D'Amico, S. Ercoli, A. Del Bimbo

A Framework for Itinerary Personalization in Cultural Tourism of Smart Cities

Roadmap of cultural tourism approaches

today: new tools- mobile location-based systems- social media platforms- e-commerce web-sites- augmented reality systems

~2005smultimedia guide

~1995saudio/video guide

~1985stourist guide

- recorded spoken commentary- more than traditional guide

- area-specific qualification- personal knowledge- historical and contemporary

heritage interpretation

- multiple systems- alternative content corresponding to different personal preferences

- audio/video/textual content- user hight interaction

Roadmap of tourism approaches

- understanding of users needs during the visit- capability to adapt services and information to users requests and needs

- time optimization- quality of information

‣Objectives

‣Objectives are also critical aspects

- Smart city infrastructures offer more integrated opportunities to support sustainable economic development

- Cities of art, in particular, are a special context where such opportunities can be experimented

‣Where ?

‣With- web mapping services to track users and suggest information- mobile tourism location-based services- augmented reality applications

Smart Tourism

‣ Easy definition of a visiting plan

‣ Capability of making changes or update to plan during the visit

‣ Prototype of a framework to personalize visit in a city- different devices (wall mounted touchscreen, dedicated mobile application)

‣ Customized itinerary in daily basis

‣ Adapt travel experience to the individual user requirements at different stages of the visit

‣Goals- living a multiple environment and multi device experience- improve users travel as a learning practice- give the opportunity to discover and visit resources of a geographical area

Main Idea and Workflow

‣ Personal plan is viewed through personal mobile device- functions that allows advanced services as well as modification of the plan

‣ User finds information at the visitor center through a wall interactive display- defines a personalized plan of visit

‣ Application Server Platform collects datas and personal user profiles- provides functions for access and distribution of information

System Framework

‣ System Core- database system connected

- web services- mapping services connected

‣ Mapping Layer - provide geographical information

‣ Users Profiles Layer - profile individual user interests

‣ Contents Layer - provide multimedia contents

‣ Recommendation Engine - provide useful recommendations

System Framework: Application Server Platform

‣ Implements web map services functions

‣ Extracts and understands geographic data

‣ Guarantees real-time and dynamic data update

Application Server Platform: Mapping Layer

‣ Archives all data from user session (through display or mobile)

‣ Creates related user profile ID and send it to mobile app

‣ Implements additional functions to update itineraries with mobile app

Application Server Platform: Users Profiles Layer

‣ Composed of database with geographic data and metadata descriptions

‣ Cooperates with mapping layer services

‣ Implements functions to send geo info and metadata to display and mobile app

Application Server Platform: Contents Layer

‣ Implements a set of web services for users

‣ Elaborates data coming from mobiles devices

‣ Provide recommendation of points end extra contents (location/interests based)

Application Server Platform: Recommendation Engine

‣ Natural interactivity over a map of the town

‣ Allowing user to select most interesting locations and create a visit plan

‣ Large touchscreen device (Natural Interaction System)

‣ Offers some detailed information of the location

‣ Suggests location of potential interest

‣ Shows expected duration of the visit in real-time

‣ Google Maps API to update data in real-time

System Framework: Wall Interactive Display (1/2)

‣ QR-Code generation process

- unique ID to identify current user

- ensure consistency

- custom url for each user

- link between desktop and mobile

System Framework: Wall Interactive Display (2/2)

‣ Web-Application approach

- not installation required- not updates required- platform and device independent- user experience optimization

‣ User “active” mobile application reading QR-Code with smartphone- dedicate URL- connection to Application Server Platform- download userID to identify personal visit plan

‣ Run via native browser of any smartphone

‣ Itinerary divided into distinct days of visit

‣ Persistent local storage of data

System Framework: Mobile System (1/2)

‣ Simple and usable user interface

‣ Points of interest (POI) displayed into a map

‣ Complete personalization of visit plan- adding/removing points- adding/removing reference hotel

‣ Recommendation engine- nearby locations (haversine formula)- user interest locations

System Framework: Mobile System (2/2)

‣What has been done- framework to enhance travel experience- natural interaction system to create an itinerary using a wall display- web application platform to collect and process data- mobile application to provide personalized informations to each user

‣Future works- improve and add new recommendation techniques

- include indoor and outdoor augmented reality systems- adding new functions like museum booking through mobile application

Conclusions

Thanks !

http://www.micc.unifi.it

simone.ercoli@unifi.it