Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Conflict detection and resolution in home and building automation systems: a literature review

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The evolution and increasing commoditization of home and building automation systems (HBAS) is contributing to their widespread adoption. However, an effort must still be made to render them usable, intelligent, highly adaptive and able to fulfill users’ needs. When distinct users interact with such a system, their intentions are likely to be different, often resulting in conflicting situations, which the system ought to recognize and, if possible, resolve automatically. However, conflict detection and resolution in HBAS are not yet fully understood. This work aims at investigating conflict in Ambient Intelligence systems, namely those supported by HBAS. Our main contribution is a systematization and review of existing literature concerning conflict detection and resolution in these systems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.

References

  • Abadi D, Madden S, Lindner W (2005) REED: robust, efficient filtering and event detection in sensor networks. In: Proceedings of the 31st international conference on very large data bases, VLDB Endowment, VLDB ’05, pp 769–780

  • Abielmona R, Petriu E, Whalen T (2010) Distributed intelligent sensor agent system for environment mapping. J Ambient Intell Humaniz Comput 1(2):95–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agarwal Y, Balaji B, Gupta R, Lyles J, Wei M, Weng T (2010) Occupancy-driven energy management for smart building automation. In: Proceedings of the 2nd ACM workshop on embedded sensing systems for energy-efficiency in buildings, ACM, BuildSys ’10, pp 1–6

  • Aipperspach R, Cohen E, Canny J (2006) Modeling human behavior from simple sensors in the home. Pervasive computing. In: Lecture notes in computer science, vol 3968, Springer, Berlin, pp 337–348

  • Alcañiz M, Rey B (2005) New technologies for ambient intelligence. Ambient Intell 6(1):3–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Alshabi W, Ramaswamy S, Itmi M, Abdulrab H (2007) Coordination, cooperation and conflict resolution in multi-agent systems. In: Innovations and advanced techniques in computer and information sciences and engineering, Springer, Berlin, pp 495–500

  • Armac I, Kirchhof M, Manolescu L (2006) Modeling and analysis of functionality in eHome systems: dynamic rule-based conflict detection. In: 13th annual IEEE international symposium and workshop on engineering of computer based systems, 2006, ECBS 2006

  • Baldauf M, Dustdar S, Rosenberg F (2007) A survey on context-aware systems. Int J Ad Hoc Ubiquitous Comput (IJAHUC) 2(4):263–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ballagas R, Ringel M, Stone M, Borchers J (2003) iStuff: a physical user interface toolkit for ubiquitous computing environments. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems, ACM, CHI ’03, pp 537–544

  • Becker C, Handte M, Schiele G, Rothermel K (2004) PCOM—a component system for pervasive computing. In: Proceedings of the 2nd IEEE annual conference on pervasive computing and communications workshops, 2004, pp 67–76

  • Bell D, Grimson J (1992) Distributed Database Systems. Addison-Wesley, Reading

  • Bensaid N, Mathieu P (1997) A framework for cooperation in hierarchical multi-agent systems

  • Bottaro A, Gerodolle A (2008) Home SOA: facing protocol heterogeneity in pervasive applications. In: Proceedings of the 5th IEEE international conference on pervasive services, ACM, ICPS ’08, pp 73–80

  • Bucceri R (2006) Latest technology in automated home control: system design manual using X-10 & hardwired protocols. Silent Servant Inc.

  • Buchmayr M, Kurschl W (2011) A survey on situation-aware ambient intelligence systems. J Ambient Intell Humaniz Comput 2(3):175–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Capra L, Emmerich W, Mascolo C (2003) CARISMA: context-aware reflective middleware system for mobile applications. IEEE Trans Softw Eng 29(10):929–945

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casti J (1989) Alternate realities: mathematical models of nature and man. Wiley, New York

  • Chalmers D (2011) Sensing and systems in pervasive computing: engineering context aware systems. Springer, Berlin

  • Cialdini R (2001) Harnessing the science of persuasion. Harv Business Rev 79(9):72–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook D, Das S (2004) Smart environments: technology, protocols and applications. In: Wiley Series on Parallel and Distributed Computing. Wiley, New York

  • Coombs C, Avrunin G (1988) The structure of conflict. L. Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale

  • Coutaz J, Fontaine E, Mandran N, Demeure A (2010) About composing our own smart home. In: Proceedings of the international conference on advanced visual interfaces, ACM, AVI ’10, pp 405–406

  • Cziker A, Chindris M, Miron A (2007) Implementation of fuzzy logic in daylighting control. In: 11th international conference on intelligent engineering systems, 2007, INES 2007., pp 195–200

  • Davidoff S, Lee M, Yiu C, Zimmerman J, Dey A (2006) Principles of smart home control. In: UbiComp 2006: ubiquitous computing. Lecture notes in computer science, vol 4206. Springer, Berlin, pp 19–34

  • Deja R, Slezak D (2001) Rough set theory in conflict analysis. In: New frontiers in artificial intelligence. Lecture notes in computer science, vol 2253. Springer, Berlin, pp 349–353

  • Dey A (2001) Understanding and using context. Pers Ubiquitous Comput 5(1):4–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Ruyter B, Saini P, Markopoulos P, van Breemen A (2005) Assessing the effects of building social intelligence in a robotic interface for the home. Interact Comput 17(5):522–541

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doulos L, Tsangrassoulis A, Topalis F (2007) The impact of colored glazing and spectral response of photosensors in the estimation of daylighting energy savings. In: Proceedings of the 2nd PALENC Conference and the 28th AIVC Conference

  • Edwards W, Grinter R (2001) At home with ubiquitous computing: seven challenges. In: Ubicomp 2001: ubiquitous computing. Lecture notes in computer science, vol 2201. Springer, Berlin, pp 256–272

  • Endsley M (1988) Design and evaluation for situation awareness enhancement. In: Proceedings of the human Factors and Ergonomics Society 32nd Annual Meeting, Human Factors Society, pp 97–101

  • Epstein G, McCowan B, Birleanu D (2003) Integrating daylighting and electrical lighting for premium efficiency and performance. GreenBuild conference, US Green Building Council

  • Findlater L, Gajos K (2009) Design space and evaluation challenges of adaptive graphical user interfaces. AI Mag 30(4):68–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher R (2000) Sources of conflict and methods of resolution. The American University, Washington, DC

  • Floyd D, Parker D (1995) Field commissioning of a daylight-dimming lighting system. In: Right light 3: proceedings of the 3rd European conference on energy-efficient lighting

  • Fogg B (2003) Persuasive technology: using computers to change what we think and do. In: Morgan Kaufmann series in interactive technologies. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Burlington

  • Furey E, Curran K, Kevitt P (2012) Probabilistic indoor human movement modeling to aid first responders. J Ambient Intell Humaniz Comput pp 1–11

  • Furlong G (2005) The conflict resolution toolbox: models and maps for analyzing, diagnosing and resolving conflict. Wiley, Canada

  • Galasiu A, Atif M, MacDonald R (2004) Impact of window blinds on daylight-linked dimming and automatic on/off lighting controls. Solar Energy 76(5):523–544

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García-Herranz M, Haya P, Alamán X, Martín P (2007) Easing the smart home: augmenting devices and defining scenario. In: 2nd international symposium on ubiquitous computing and ambient intelligence. Thomson editorial, pp 67–74

  • Garg V, Bansal N (2000) Smart occupancy sensors to reduce energy consumption. Energy Build 32(1):81–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghanam Y, Shouman M, Greenberg S, Maurer F (2009) Object-specific interfaces in smart homes. Research report 2009-937-16, Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

  • Granzer W, Kastner W, Neugschwandtner G, Praus F (2006) A modular architecture for building automation systems. In: IEEE international workshop on factory communication systems, 2006, pp 99–102

  • Gross T (2008) Cooperative ambient intelligence: towards autonomous and adaptive cooperative ubiquitous environments. Int J Auton Adapt Commun Syst 1(2):270–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ha T, Jung J, Oh S (2006) Method to analyze user behavior in home environment. Pers Ubiquitous Comput 10(2):110–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hasan M, Anh K, Mehedy L, Lee Y, Lee S (2006) Conflict resolution and preference learning in ubiquitous environment. In: Computational intelligence. Lecture notes in computer science, vol 4114. Springer, Berlin, pp 355–366

  • Huerta-Canepa G, Lee D (2008) A multi-user ad-hoc resource manager for smart spaces. In: International symposium on a world of wireless, mobile and multimedia networks, 2008, pp 1–6

  • Jacak W, Proll K (2007) Heuristic approach to conflict problem solving in an intelligent multiagent system. In: Computer aided systems theory—EUROCAST 2007, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4739, Springer, Berlin, pp 772–779

  • Jiao S, Liu Y, Hu H, Wei D, Zhang Y (2008) Dynamic policy access model based on formal concept analysis. In: 4th international conference on wireless communications, networking and mobile computing, 2008, WiCOM ’08, pp 1–5

  • Jiao S, Liu Y, Qi X, Zhu Y, Wang J (2009) Detecting conflict policy rules with concept lattice. In: 5th international conference on wireless communications, networking and mobile computing, 2009, WiCom ’09, pp 1–4

  • Kaptein M, Markopoulos P, de Ruyter B, Aarts E (2009) Can you be persuaded? Individual differences in susceptibility to persuasion. In: Proceedings of the 12th IFIP TC 13 international conference on human–computer interaction: Part I, INTERACT ’09. Springer, Berlin, pp 115–118

  • Kawsar F, Nakajima T (2007) Persona: a portable tool for augmenting proactive applications with multimodal personalization support. In: Proceedings of the 6th international conference on mobile and ubiquitous multimedia, ACM, MUM ’07, pp 160–168

  • Kindberg T, Fox A (2002) System software for ubiquitous computing. IEEE Pervasive Comput 1(1):70–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korpipaa P, Mantyjarvi J, Kela J, Keranen H, Malm E (2003) Managing context information in mobile devices. IEEE Pervasive Comput 2(3):42–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kovach-Hebling A, Goller M, Herkel S, Wienold J (1997) Assessing the energy saving potential of daylighting technologies for non-residential buildings in Germany. In: Right light 4: proceedings of the 4th European conference on energy-efficient lighting

  • Kung H, Lin C (2006) Application-layer context-aware services for pervasive computing environments. In: First international conference on innovative computing, information and control, 2006, ICICIC ’06, vol 3, pp 229–232

  • Lah M, Zupancic B, Krainer A (2005) Fuzzy control for the illumination and temperature comfort in a test chamber. Build Environ 40(12):1626–1637

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lah M, Zupancic B, Peternelj J, Krainer A (2006) Daylight illuminance control with fuzzy logic. Solar Energy 80(3):307–321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ledlie J, Ng C, Holland D (2005) Provenance-aware sensor data storage. In: 21st international conference on data engineering workshops, 2005

  • Lee E, DiBartolomeo D, Vine E, Selkowitz S (1998) Integrated performance of an automated Venetian Blind/electric lighting system in a full-scale private office. In: Proceedings of the ASHRAE/DOE/BTECC conference, thermal performance of the exterior envelopes of buildings VII

  • Li K (2012) Smart home technology for telemedicine and emergency management. J Ambient Intell Humaniz Comput, pp 1–12

  • LIFX (2012) Lifx: The light bulb re-invented. http://lifx.co Accessed on October 2012)

  • Littlefair P, Ortiz J, Bhaumik C (2010) A simulation of solar shading control on UK office energy use. Build Res Inf 38(6):638–646

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lupu E, Sloman M (1997) Conflict analysis for management policies. In: Proceedings of the 5th IFIP/IEEE international symposium on integrated network management V: integrated management in a virtual world. Chapman and Hall, London, pp 430–443

  • Maeda Y, Senoo K, Tanaka H (1999) Interval density functions in conflict analysis. In: New directions in rough sets, data mining, and granular-soft computing. Lecture notes in computer science, vol 1711. Springer, Berlin, pp 382–389

  • Markopoulos P (2005) Designing ubiquitous computer human interaction: the case of the connected family. In: Future interaction design. Springer, Berlin, pp 125–149

  • Markopoulos P, de Ruyter B, Privender S, van Breemen A (2005) Case study: bringing social intelligence into home dialogue systems. Interactions 12(4):37–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masoumzadeh A, Amini M, Jalili R (2007) Conflict detection and resolution in context-aware authorization. In: 21st international conference on advanced information networking and applications workshops, 2007, AINAW ’07. IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos, pp 505–511

  • Maybury M, Wahlster W (1998) Intelligent user interfaces: an introduction. In: Readings in intelligent user interfaces. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., Burlington, pp 1–13

  • Merz H, Hansemann T, Hübner C (2009) Building automation: communication systems with EIB/KNX, LON und BACnet. Signals and communication technology, Springer, Berlin

  • Miki M, Hiroyasu T, Imazato K (2004) Proposal for an intelligent lighting system, and verification of control method effectiveness. In: IEEE conference on cybernetics and intelligent systems, 2004, vol 1, pp 520–525

  • Moore C (2003) The mediation process: practical strategies for resolving conflict. Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco

  • Nakashima H, Aghajan H, Augusto J (eds) (2010) Handbook of ambient intelligence and smart environments. Springer, Berlin

  • Neisse R, Wegdam M, van Sinderen M (2008) Trustworthiness and quality of context information. In: The 9th international conference for young computer scientists, 2008, ICYCS 2008, pp 1925–1931

  • Newsham G, Mancini S (2006) The Potential for demand responsive lighting in non-daylit offices. LEUKOS J Illum Eng Soc 3(2):105–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Nichols J, Myers B, Higgins M, Hughes J, Harris T, Rosenfeld R, Pignol M (2002) Generating remote control interfaces for complex appliances. In: Proceedings of the 15th annual ACM symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, ACM, UIST ’02, pp 161–170

  • Park I, Lee D, Hyun S (2005) A Dynamic Context-Conflict Management Scheme for Group-Aware Ubiquitous Computing Environments. In: 29th annual international computer software and applications conference, 2005, COMPSAC 2005, vol 1. IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos, pp 359–364

  • Park T, Hong S (2006) Development of an experimental model of BACnet-based lighting control system. In: IEEE international conference on industrial informatics, 2006, pp 114–119

  • Pawlak Z (1984) On conflicts. Int J Man Mach Stud 21(2):127–134

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Ramachandran V, Ramaswamy S, Rajan P (2001) Complex negotiation protocols for a distributed simulation environment. Summer computer simulation conference. Orlando, FL

  • Ranganathan A, Campbell R (2003) An infrastructure for context-awareness based on first order logic. Pers Ubiquitous Comput 7(6):353–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rashidi P, Cook D (2009) Keeping the resident in the loop: adapting the smart home to the user. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern Part A Syst Humans 39(5):949–959

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reinisch C, Kofler M, Iglesias F, Kastner W (2011) Thinkhome energy efficiency in future smart homes. EURASIP J Embed Syst 2011(1):18

  • Remagnino P, Foresti G (2005) Ambient intelligence: a new multidisciplinary paradigm. IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern Part A Syst Humans 35(1):1–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Retkowitz D, Kulle S (2009) Dependency management in smart homes. Distributed applications and interoperable systems. In: Lecture notes in computer science, vol 5523. Springer, Berlin, pp 143–156

  • Richman E, Dittmer A, Keller J (1995) Field analysis of occupancy sensor operation: parameters affecting lighting energy savings. In: Proceedings of the illuminating engineering society of North America 1995 Annual Conference

  • Roberts F (1976) Discrete mathematical models, with applications to social, biological, and environmental problems. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River

  • Saini P, de Ruyter B, Markopoulos P, van Breemen A (2005) Benefits of Social intelligence in home dialogue systems. In: Human–computer interaction—INTERACT 2005. Lecture notes in computer science, vol 3585. Springer, Berlin, pp 510–521

  • Sandole D, Byrne S, Sandole-Staroste I, Senehi J (2009) Handbook of conflict analysis and resolution. Routledge, London

  • Santos A, Tarrataca L, Cardoso J, Ferreira D, Diniz P, Chainho P (2009) Context inference for mobile applications in the UPCASE Project. In: Mobilewireless middleware, operating systems, and applications. Lecture notes of the institute for computer sciences, social informatics and telecommunications engineering, vol 7. Springer, Berlin, pp 352–365

  • Satoh I (2007) Visual components for pervasive computing management. In: IEEE international conference on pervasive services, pp 19–28

  • Schaefer R, Muller W, Groppe J (2006) Profile processing and evolution for smart environments. In: Ubiquitous intelligence and computing. Lecture notes in computer science, vol 4159. Springer, Berlin, pp 746–755

  • Silva T, Ruiz L, Loureiro A (2010) How to conciliate conflicting users’ interests for different collective, ubiquitous and context-aware applications? In: IEEE 35th conference on local computer networks (LCN), 2010, pp 288–291

  • Silva T, Ruiz L, Loureiro A (2011) Conflicts treatment for ubiquitous collective and context-aware applications. J Appl Comput Res 1(1):33–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skowron A, Deja R (2002) On some conflict models and conflict resolutions. Romanian J Inf Sci Technol 5(1–2):69–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Skowron A, Ramanna S, Peters J (2006) Conflict analysis and information systems: a rough set approach. In: Rough sets and knowledge technology. Lecture notes in computer science, vol 4062. Springer, Berlin, pp 233–240

  • Slezak D, Wang G, Szczuka M, Düntsch I, Yao Y (2005) Rough sets, fuzzy sets, data mining, and granular computing. In: 10th international conference, RSFDGrC 2005. Lecture notes in computer science. Springer, Berlin

  • Smartthings (2012) Smarthings: make your world smarter. http://smartthings.com. Accessed on October 2012

  • Sorrentino F (2009) Ambient intelligence. In: Encyclopedia of information communication technology, IGI Global, pp 32–39

  • Spinellis D (2003) The information furnace: consolidated home control. Pers Ubiquitous Comput 7(1):53–69

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Syukur E, Loke S, Stanski P (2005) Methods for policy conflict detection and resolution in pervasive computing environments. In: Policy management for web workshop in conjunction with WWW’05 conference, ACM, pp 10–14

  • Szewcyzk S, Dwan K, Minor B, Swedlove B, Cook D (2009) Annotating smart environment sensor data for activity learning. Technol Health Care 17(3):161–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Tapia D, Abraham A, Corchado J, Alonso R (2010a) Agents and ambient intelligence: case studies. J Ambient Intell Humaniz Comput 1(2):85–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tapia D, Rodríguez S, Corchado J (2010b) A distributed ambient intelligence based multi-agent system for Alzheimer health care. In: Pervasive computing, computer communications and networks. Springer, Berlin, pp 181–199

  • Thomas K (1992) Conflict and conflict management: reflections and update. J Organ Behav 13(3):265–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas K, Kilmann R (1978) Comparison of four instruments for measuring conflict behavior. Psychol Rep 42 (3):2

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuttlies V, Schiele G, Becker C (2007) COMITY: conflict avoidance in pervasive computing environments. In: On the move to meaningful internet systems 2007: OTM 2007 workshops. Lecture notes in computer science, vol 4806. Springer, Berlin, pp 763–772

  • Venkatesh V, Morris M, Davis G, Davis F (2003) User acceptance of information technology: toward a unified view. MIS Q 27(3):425–478

    Google Scholar 

  • Vernon P (1933) Some characteristics of the good judge of personality. J Soc Psychol 4(1):42–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang W, Ting S (2011) Development of a computational simulation model for conflict management in team building. Int J Eng Business Manag 3(2):9–15

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Weiser M (1991) The computer for the twenty-first century. Sci Am 265(3):94–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiser M (1993) Hot topics: ubiquitous computing. IEEE Comput 26(10):71–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Welbourne E, Lester J, LaMarca A, Borriello G (2005) Mobile context inference using low-cost sensors. In: Location- and context-awareness. Lecture notes in computer science, vol 3479. Springer, Berlin, pp 95–127

  • Yamazaki T (2007) The ubiquitous home. Int J Smart Home (IJSH) 1(1):17–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou H, Rao M, Chuang K (1993) Artificial intelligence approach to energy management and control in the HVAC process: an evaluation, development and discussion. Dev Chem Eng Mineral Process 1(1):42–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmer T (2004) Towards a better understanding of context attributes. In: Proceedings of the second IEEE annual conference on pervasive computing and communications workshops, 2004, pp 23–27

Download references

Acknowledgments

The work reported in this article was supported by national Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) funds under contract PEst-OE/EEI/LA0021/2011 and grant SFRH/BD/47409/2008.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. IST-Technical University of Lisbon, Avenida Prof. Dr. Cavaco Silva, Taguspark, 2744-016, Porto Salvo, Portugal

    Sílvia Resendes

  2. INESC-ID and Technical University of Lisbon, Avenida Prof. Dr. Cavaco Silva, Taguspark, 2744-016, Porto Salvo, Portugal

    Paulo Carreira & André C. Santos

Authors
  1. Sílvia Resendes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Paulo Carreira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. André C. Santos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paulo Carreira.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Resendes, S., Carreira, P. & Santos, A.C. Conflict detection and resolution in home and building automation systems: a literature review. J Ambient Intell Human Comput 5, 699–715 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-013-0184-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-013-0184-9

Keywords