Public displays and mobile devices in an augmented objects framework for Ubiquitous Learning

We are facing promising developments in the area of mobile services where context-aware systems can take the location and position of a user, her preferences and `smart´ objects into account, adding (implicit) interaction between a mobile device (of the user) and the real world. The assimilation of ubiquitous computing by education marks an important step forward, as being pervasive and persistent it allows students to access education calmly, flexibly, and seamlessly. This paper focus on a framework proposal with a well contained and defined application goal in Ubiquitous Computing and a prototype directed for Ubiquitous Learning environments. This system can augment physical objects in an educational environment with additional multimedia information, which is displayed in public shared displays according to the user (student or teacher) that faces the system. The information is contextual, based not only in the object, but also in its specific location, in the environment and in the detected user profile. A generic architecture was designed to help on the implementation of this augmented objects framework in any physical space.