Context Spaces as the Cornerstone of a Near-Transparent & Self-Reorganizing Semantic Desktop

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new semantic desktop system that uses context spaces and self-reorganization to improve usability, scalability, and user support, demonstrated through an early prototype.

Contribution

It presents the concept of context spaces and a self-reorganizing architecture for semantic desktops, enhancing scalability and user interaction.

Findings

Prototype demonstrates improved scalability.

System enables transparent integration across applications.

Self-reorganization supports dynamic tidying-up and user support.

Abstract

Existing Semantic Desktops are still reproached for being too complicated to use or not scaling well. Besides, a real "killer app" is still missing. In this paper, we present a new prototype inspired by NEPOMUK and its successors having a semantic graph and ontologies as its basis. In addition, we introduce the idea of context spaces that users can directly interact with and work on. To make them available in all applications without further ado, the system is transparently integrated using mostly standard protocols complemented by a sidebar for advanced features. By exploiting collected context information and applying Managed Forgetting features (like hiding, condensation or deletion), the system is able to dynamically reorganize itself, which also includes a kind of tidy-up-itself functionality. We therefore expect it to be more scalable while providing new levels of user support. An early prototype has been implemented and is presented in this demo.