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The auto-scheduling algorithm, in addition to the above heuristics, tries to minimize the average euclidean distance between each activity. This was also done to generate better schedules: given a set of activities, the user wants to complete as many as possible in a fixed amount of time. The algorithm internals are traveling-salesman-like: we have a set of unscheduled items which we add to the schedule in different ways (while observing the "principle of least destruction"). Then, we choose the best complete configuration based on the weight function we described above plus the distance metric. Despite our small problem scale, the brute force approach did not work time-wise; so our algorithm is greedy, with intelligence to avoid getting stuck in bad schedules.
Evaluation
TODO Chris, user test information (volunteers?)
We chose users who had a desire to travel to foreign places and had different travel. For example, young people who travel through Europe do so "by the heals of their pants," jumping from hostel to hostel. Older travelers, however, probably want a more set-in-stone schedule. Older travelers are probably more experienced in traveling, as well.
Briefing
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SMak helps you plan your schedule. When people travel to foreign countries, they typically know what you want to see but not how to go about doing it. With SMak, your job is to specify what your activities are and give hints as to how you want to carry out those activities. Smak's job is to help fill in the details of your schedule: how to get from place to place, in what order to do your activities---these sorts of things.
Tasks
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- You want to visit Florence.
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- You want to wake up at 8am and go to bed at 10pm.
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- You want to do the following activities throughout the day: eat breakfast/lunch/dinner, visit the dome, and go to the opera
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- Now, you want to visit tourist places in Florence *and want to do as little walking as possible.* You want to visit the dome (at the piazza del duomo) at some point in the day for two hours; it doesn't matter when you go. The dome opens at 10am and closes at 5pm. You also want to go to the Medici chapel for a special opera showing that starts at exactly 3pm and lasts for 2 hours.
Reflection
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