Bridging Models and Systems at Runtime to Build Adaptive User Interfaces

Adapting applications and user interfaces at runtime requires a deeper understanding of the underlying design. Models formalize this design, express the underlying concepts and make them accessible to machines. In our work we utilize runtime models to reflect the state of the interactive system (its UI respectively) and to change its underlying configuration. So called executable models combine design information, runtime state, and execution logic. From the perspective of adaptive UIs this allows the dynamic reconfiguration of UIs according to design information and the current state of the application at runtime. Dedicated elements of the model create a causal interconnection between model and user interface and facilitate a continuous information exchange between the two. This creates a feedback loop between model and UI where external stimulations influence the model execution and where projections to the outside allow the dynamic alteration of user interfaces.