Proceedings of the 52nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences | 2019 Software Development for Mobile Computing, the Internet of Things and Wearable Devices: Inspecting the Past to Understand the Future Tor-Morten Grønli Andreas Biørn-Hansen Tim A. Majchrzak Kristiania University College, Kristiania University College, University of Agder, Dep. Technology, Oslo, Norway Dep. Technology, Oslo, Norway Kristiansand, Norway [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Abstract texting a friend on the phone, and over time as the conversation is flowing s/he is on the move, and begin Currently a convergence in software development to consume the messages on a wearable device such as for mobile computing (including mobile devices and a smartwatch whilst moving. Back at the office s/he special technology such as wearables) and the Internet will move over to use the stationary computer as input of Things (IoT) can be observed. Devices from the device. Extending further, voice recognition can be fields are becoming part of a joint ecosystem and enabled by the IoT device residing on the office desk share the same infrastructure. Moreover, development and complete the multi-dimensional interaction. processes have changed and user requirements have Mobile technology and IoT form a multidisciplinary become very heterogeneous. We have been studying field where sensing devices with communication this development for a while, also by offering the fitting capabilities that can be applied to ordinary objects HICSS minitrack. In this article, we look into the in order to make the object “smart”. They add a past of software development for mobile devices, in the whole new dimension of content to the current Internet context of IoT, and for wearables. We analyse joint paradigm [2]. The topic of wearable computing and characteristics and show differences. Then we invite to smart garments have been researched and developed a discussion that leads to a research outlook. While for several decades [3], but only in recent years has neither for industry nor for academia the journey is become a popular research field. Gartner first introduced over, the convergence of fields should offer many new Wearable User Interfaces into their Hype Cycle for possibilities, prevent problems we faced in the past, but Emerging Technologies in 2013, two years after also introduce novel challenges. introducing Internet of Things [4]. This exemplifies how a field with root back decades has been re-established with a contemporary consumer focus and created a new 1. Introduction arena of possible outlets for software developers. Mobile computing, Internet of Things (IoT) and Because of this extensive heterogeneous wearable devices are joining forces and becoming part environment, it is important that research focuses of the same ecosystem and infrastructure. In modern on established architectures and integration with applications of today the focus is (and should) be on existing business practices, and not only provides solving a specific user’s or group of users’ needs. This prototypes and single-case studies. The landscape for has traditionally been done through the investigation of software development has become highly dynamic requirements, prototyping, design, implementation and and given the diversity of the field, we showcase how testing [1]. Multi-disciplinary teams collaborating in mobile devices, Internet of Things and wearables are all order to create a satisfactory solution. parts coming together in one ecosystem. We explore Today this has changed. We still need to solve this phenomena by looking into the past, and highlight specific needs, but the user environment has become research contributions and challenges. even more heterogeneous, as we continue to investigate Our article makes two contributions. First, we draw throughout this paper. The focus has shifted to not a comprehensive picture of software development for (only) solving needs, but to completing tasks. The user mobile computing – both looking at mobile devices in is agnostic to what kind of device the task is solved on, general and at wearables in particular – and IoT. Second, and would often utilise more than one device before we provide an outlook into the expected research completion. Further to this, interaction is based on activities and development in the field. convenience and availability. For instance, a user starts The remainder is structured as follows. First URI: https://hdl.handle.net/10125/60182 ISBN: 978-0-9981331-2-6 Page 7451 (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) we present an overview of state-of-the-art in mobile or criteria originating from the industry (e.g. [27]), computing, Internet of Things and wearable computing. although we rarely encounter case studies in which the Following this we venture into the development engineering itself is in focus. This section will introduce ecosystems for these three concepts before discussing research in some frequently encountered topics. the current state of affairs. We then present a synthesis While there exist numerous papers on these and in the form of a research outlook. related topics (e.g. [8, 9, 15, 16, 26]), we frequently find ourselves questioning what to focus on going 2. Background forward. In studies on mobile security, we tend to encounter discussions on attack surfaces (e.g. [28, We will in the following section highlight related 29, 30]), ecosystem vulnerabilities (e.g. [31]), and work, and give an overview of the major research investigations of app-level security measures through streams and contributions in the fields of mobile permissions (e.g. [32, 33]). However, from the computing, Internet of Things and wearable devices. literature, we note that security is not necessarily a topic that practitioners are devoted to, according to interviews 2.1. Basics conducted by Ahmad et al. [34], whom also mention a lack of security-oriented studies in the related research As depicted in 1, the three fields are closely related. community. Mobile computing spawned the dawn of Internet of Things for the masses. It is no longer confined to We find that on the topic of performance research, industry projects. Building closely on this, the wearable studies span from the introduction of modern computing paradigm evolved out of sensors becoming smartphone devices, and continue to regularly emerge common place and its use being proven to a large portion in academic outlets [15, 16, 35]. Nevertheless, due of the general public. to the rapid and constantly evolving nature of both software, hardware, and surrounding ecosystems, the continuation of empirical performance measurements is Mobile Computing Internet of Things Wearable Computing key to keeping up with- and staying relevant to industry and stakeholders. Lastly, studies involving end-users Figure 1. Technological progress are less frequently encountered than the previous topics traversed. This is especially true in research on Today, we take all three paradigms for granted and as cross-platform mobile software development, in which part of our environment at home, at the office or on the case we only identify a mere handful of user-oriented move. To get a better understanding of the way forward studies (e.g. [26, 25, 21]). We are interested in seeing until today, we will start looking into the research stream this corpus of research extended, as the perception and of mobile computing. experience of app usability and quality should be core 2.2. Mobile Computing topics of interest for academics and practitioners alike. From both the research literature and practitioner Since the release of app-enabled smartphones, outlets we note that traditional approaches and counting from the 2007 announcement of iPhone [5], techniques for development of mobile apps are millions of apps have found their way to the various challenged by a wide array of new technologies and app marketplaces [6]. With the app economy generating novel concepts, some of which we will elaborate on billions of USD yearly [7], developing software and discuss throughout this paper. While the field targeting mobile devices can indeed be a profitable of mobile computing goes beyond the development endeavour. We find that numerous studies investigate the of software applications, the pace at which tools and “hows” of software application development targeting frameworks facilitating the development of mobile apps mobile devices. are released, is seemingly more rapid than ever. The Within this literature body, we find topics ranging high turnover of tools could although have serious from business predictability and development processes implications on decision-making, and consequently add (e.g. [8, 9, 10, 11]) to security (e.g. [12, 13, 14]), to quickly to technical debt. empirical performance-oriented studies (e.g. [15, 16, 17, 18, 19]), and studies focused on end-users’ perception 2.3. Internet of Things of the quality of mobile apps (e.g. [20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26]). Research on software development for mobile The Internet of Things (IoT) are amongst the fastest computing conducted in the intersection of business growing of emerging technologies of today. The IoT and software engineering often relies on requirements technologies and applications are still in their infancy, Page 7452 and so the academic community must thoroughly fitness device. The authors report of an overall increase address the area [36]. Although IoT was initially meant in activity levels across demographics, regardless of to describe a network of RadioFrequency ID-enabled gender, weight, and prior levels of activity. Studies devices, it has since been expanded a wider definition similar in nature, e.g. by Fountaine et al. [45] also report of the term incorporating sensors, actuators and agents. of an increase in activity levels for their participants in According to Perera et al. [2], most of the research done the context of benefits in individual health related to the on IoT during the last two decades has been focused use and adoption of Pokemon´ Go. around prototypes, systems and solutions with a limited However, while there are definite benefits to the number of data sources.