Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 2

Mobile computing is pervasive in our society; every aspect of our daily lives has been touched by the ubiquitous nature of mobile devices. We have experienced an exponential growth of mobile computing - a trend that seems to have no limit. More than half of the world's population owns a mobile phone, and there are close to seven billion mobile subscribers worldwide. Canada's potential for strengthening its mobile applications and network technology markets lies in its technological innovations, supportive infrastructure and human resources. The proposed research to be carried out will focus on creating innovative mobile apps that draw contextual information from nearby locations via iBeacons (an Internet of Things device) to provide powerful and personalized user experiences (e.g., personalized messages when a patron browses products in a shoe store). Leaders in the mobile computing field from both academia and industry have identified these research topics as areas of tremendous growth where innovative solutions are both needed and likely to have the biggest impact. Furthermore, the proposed research builds on the strong relationship established between SOTI and Sheridan to continue previous successful (NSERC Engage 1) funded research and development endeavours. The benefits of this project to the partner include securing competitive advancement, as well as gaining insight and knowledge on best practices in developing leading-edge mobile apps. The collaborative research team aims to be amongst the first to provide these kinds of rich experiences by exploring wearable devices (e.g., Apple Watch) to provide personalized contextual experiences to SOTI's clients. The benefit to Sheridan is increased student engagement in applied research and real-world challenging problems. The benefits to the research discipline include new knowledge and expertise that will be disseminated and transferred to Canadian companies locally, provincially, and nationally.