Previous MSc Theses

"Designing an Internet of Things Search Engine; A User-Centred Approach." D. Markogiannis. M. Halvey. Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde. 2017. Download PDF (BibTeX) IM

Abstract:
The paradigm of Internet of Things (IoT) and the rapidly expanding deployment of smart devices are expected to revolutionise the way people live. Along with the great potentials, Internet of Things faces major challenges. One of the challenges that has been identified in the literature is the capability of harnessing the large volue of data that is being generated by the smart devices. In order to identify, collect, analyse and present the data that is relevant to the users, the implementation of an IoT search engine is considered critical.

This research aims to explore the user adoption of the IoT and their requirements in order to propose a basis on which a user-friendly IoT search engine should be implemented. Hence, this research consisted of exploring the extent to which the IoT has been integrated in peoples lives, discovering what information would the users like to retrieve from the smart devices and finally to identify the important features that an IoT search engine should have in order to serve the users' need.

It was discovered that people have adopted the IoT concept to a great extent, however, the usability of the current IoT search engines (Shodan and Thingful) is not yet sufficiently developed for the users. In addition, it was revealed that the users consider as the most important the data from smart home cameras and traffic cameras. The data from water quality sensors and room conditions sensors have also been identified as very important from the users. Finally, the capability of retrieving the data immediately after the query, the aggregated search, the facets and the text snippets have been identified as the user-preferable features for an IoT search engine.