Overview
The SMART Applications and Services Unit (SMART) Unit was established in the Department of Computing Sciences at NMU (former UPE) in 1998 with Telkom SA as the major industrial partner. Since then, Dimension Data, Sun Microsystems SA and Internet Solutions have also been actively involved as industry partners.
Title:SmartAssist: Designing Smart, Natural Interaction to improve the quality of people's lives.
The aim of this project is to design a model for a smart environment using advanced technology that can improve people’s lives. The interaction with this environment will incorporate natural interaction, including gesture-based interaction, multimodal interaction and smart devices. Personalisation will be used to recognise the user and allow customisation. This smart environment will serve as a prototype for a smart home or a smart office.
The Unit is conducting research in the areas of Intelligent User Interfaces, Contact Centre Technology, Information Visualisation and Mobile Technology for the ICT sector of South Africa. The project efforts of the CoE are intended to deliver highly skilled graduates, intellectual property and prototype software products which are of interest to the industry partners.
The unit is generously supported by its industrial partners Telkom as well as by THRIP (Technology & Human Resources for Industry Programme). THRIP has the aim of attracting matching financial support from the Government Department of Trade & Industry.
For further information on the SMART unit, it's current project and students, and contact information, please browse the menu on the left associated with the SMART unit or contact Prof Janet Wesson (Head: SMART unit) using the details below.