The Internet of Things Supporting Context-Aware Computing: A Cultural Heritage Case Study

We’re currently shifting from the Information Age to the Intelligence Age. The Intelligence Age will be characterized by autonomous communication between intelligent devices that are sensitive to a person’s presence and respond by performing a specific task that enhances that person’s lifestyle. In this perspective, the Internet of Things envisages a plethora of heterogeneous objects interacting with people and the physical environment. Things are able to sense a user’s presence, movement and behaviour, analyse that data in order to learn about that user, and then make an intelligent decision to perform a task based on the data. Context-aware computing has proven to be successful in understanding data captured by sensors. In this paper, we present a Internet of Things (IoT) context-aware system and its application in the Cultural Heritage domain. Cultural Heritage is a domain where the widespread diffusion of ICT technology and sensors, within its spaces like museums, art exhibition, etc., can strongly enhance the quality of the offered services and subsequently create a Smart Cultural Environment.