Exploring a Cyber/Physical/Social Model of Context

Posted by SIGIR Beijing Chapter on October 12, 2018

Title: Exploring a Cyber/Physical/Social Model of Context

Speaker: Mark Sanderson

Time: September 25th 2018 (14:00)

Venue: ICT 948

Abstract:

The primary challenge for a search engine is to cope with the underspecified queries or questions that users provide as input. Most of the research innovations in information retrieval have been attempts to cope with such an underspecified information need. One approach to trying to determine what is needed is to examine the context of the user when they search. At RMIT, we have been exploring a context that sits at the junction of the physical and the online. Our so-called cyber/physical/social context examines simultaneously what a user is doing online, where they are, and who they are with. I will describe the datasets, analysis, and modelling that we have undertaken to understand how this context can be exploited in a range of different scenarios. I will also describe some of the early work that we are conducting in a project with Microsoft Research to extend analysis of this context further.