OUR VISION




   Spurred by the staggering amount of multimedia content on the web, cheaper consumer electronic devices, better access network connectivity and virtually limitless storage facility, there is remarkable increase in the use of portable devices for content delivery. These devices range from smart watches to complex table-top interactive displays. There has also been a paradigm shift in how, where and when the users access and consume the content. This poses several challenges in the design of computing and networking platforms to improve the experience of the users. Often overlooked, is the fact that the devices are used by people with diverse background in terms of age, education, culture, gender and so on. Consequently, it is very important to design applications for computing devices that caters to heterogeneous user groups. The user-centric computing paradigm (otherwise known as the human-computer interaction) therefore is indispensable in the design of such devices and applications. On one hand an increase in the number of users accessing content on mobile devices poses new challenges to the designers of web applications. On the other hand, mobility and unstable end-to-end bandwidth in wireless networks poses serious challenges to ensure good quality of content delivery. Our group envisions the pursuit of these challenges in content delivery, and the development of technologies to ensure good quality of experience to the content consumers on heterogeneous devices and networks. We aim to address the challenges that arise in the development of user-centric networked applications, both from theoretical as well as practical perspectives.