Using Customized Navigational Models to Deliver More Efficient Interaction with Mobile Computing Devices on Construction Sites

Mobile computing devices have started to become useful tools on construction sites. These devices can make large amounts of data available and support data collection tasks on a construction site. Even though battery life, computing power and data storage capacity have greatly improved and will probably not be limiting factors for mobile computing solutions, it is still difficult to interact with mobile computing devices efficiently. Some of the factors limiting efficient interaction are the size of the screen of a mobile computing device, the deficiency of a keyboard and the limited accuracy of the pointing device. The approach we pursue is to limit the interaction needed for specific tasks that are carried out using a mobile computing device. To do this we are working on developing Navigational Models, which reduce navigation through large data sets by grouping data entities closely together, according to the need to be accessed for a specific task. Moreover, Navigational Models appear to be a useful construct to enter and access data at the right level of detail, which they needed. In this paper, we discuss the need for more efficient interaction with mobile computing devices on construction sites and introduce Navigational Models.