User preferences in intelligent environments

Intelligent Environments and other Computer Science sub-fields based on the concepts of context and context-awareness are created with the explicit or implicit intention of providing services which are satisfying to the intended users of those environments. This article discusses the pragmatic importance of Preferences within the process of developing Intelligent Environments as a conceptual tool to achieve that system-user alignment and we also look at the practical challenges of implementing different aspects of the concept of Preferences. This study is not aimed at providing a definitive solution, rather to assess the advantages and disadvantages of different available options with the view to inform the next wave of developments in the area