Assessing the Impact of the homeML Format and the homeML Suite within the Research Community

The lack of a standard format to store data generated within the smart environments research domain is limiting the opportunity for researchers to share and reuse datasets. The opportunity to exchange datasets is further hampered due to the lack of an online resource to facilitate this. In our current work we have attempted to resolve these issues through the development of homeML, a proposed format to support the storage and exchange of data generated within a smart environment and the homeML suite, an online tool to support data exchange and reuse. A usability and functionality study performed by 8 unbiased members of the research community is presented and discussed. All participants in the study agreed that the homeML format could address the need for a standard format within this domain. Participants also agreed that the homeML suite would be a useful tool to be available to researchers as they perform experiments in the area of smart environments.