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Facilitating ubiquitous interaction using intelligent agents

2012-01-19, Campbell, Abraham G., Collier, Rem, Dragone, Mauro, Gorgu, Levent, Holz, Thomas, O'Grady, Michael J., O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.), Sassu, Antonella, Stafford, John W.

Facilitating intuitive interaction is a prerequisite for the ubiquitous computing paradigm in all its manifestations. How to achieve such interaction in practice remains an open question. Such interfaces must be perceived as being intuitive across a variety of contexts, including those of the hosting devices. Indeed, the heterogeneity of the device population raises significant challenges. While individual devices and the interaction modalities supported by, each satisfy the requirements of individual domains, integrating diverse devices such that the user experiences is perceived as consistent and intuitive is problematic. This chapter discusses and illustrates how intelligent agents may be harnessed for integrating a range of diverse interface and interaction modalities such that the ubiquitous user interface concept may be validated.

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Implicitly and intelligently influencing the interactive experience

2011-01, O'Grady, Michael J., Dragone, Mauro, Tynan, Richard, O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.), Wan, Jie, Muldoon, Conor

Enabling intuitive interaction in system design remains an art more than a science. This difficulty is exacerbated when the diversity of device and end user group is considered. In this paper, it is argued that conventional interaction modalities are unsuitable in many circumstances and that alternative modalities need be considered. Specifically the case of implicit interaction is considered, and the paper discusses how its use may lead to more satisfactory experiences. Specifically, harnessing implicit interaction in conjunction with the traditional explicit interaction modality, can enable a more intuitive and natural interactive experience. However, the exercise of capturing and interpreting implicit interaction is problematic and is one that lends itself to the adoption of AI techniques. In this position paper, the potential of lightweight intelligent agents is proposed as a model for harmonising the explicit and implicit components of an arbitrary interaction.

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Exploiting multi-agent systems in realizing adaptivity in the mobile tourist domain

2009-04, O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.), O'Grady, Michael J., Poslad, Stefan, Titkov, Leonid

Ongoing developments in an array of mobile computing technologies have rendered the deployment of intelligent agents feasible on lightweight computational devices such as mobile phones. This development extends the Multi-Agent System (MAS) paradigm to a new frontier, opening up significant avenues of research in intelligent mobile computing, amongst others. To demonstrate the potential of this approach, the practical realization of adaptivity in two classic agent-based mobile computing applications is considered. Though focusing on the tourist domain, it is contended that the approach adopted is generalisable to a broad category of mobile computing applications.

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Realising an Agent-oriented middleware for Heterogeneous Sensor Networks

2008, Muldoon, Conor, Tynan, Richard, O'Grady, Michael J., O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.)

Classic computing systems are characterised by heterogeneity, with its inherent advantages and disadvantages. This raises a number of difficulties for software engineers. The vision offered by a mix-and-match approach is an attractive one, though its practical realisation comes at a cost, as the process of integration is rarely smooth. This scenario will be repeated as Wireless Sensor Networks are increasingly incorporated into mainstream computing. One potential paradigm for managing this heterogeneity is that of intelligent agents. This paper considers the viability and potential of lightweight agents as a paradigm for harnessing the potential of heterogeneous wireless sensor networks.

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Agent migration and communication in WSNs

2008-12, Muldoon, Conor, O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.), O'Grady, Michael J., Tynan, Richard

Intelligent agents offer a viable paradigm for enabling AmI applications and services. As WSN technologies are anticipated to provide an indispensable component in many application domains, the need for enabling the agent paradigm to encompass such technologies becomes more urgent. The resource-constrained ad-hoc nature of WSNs poses significant challenges to conventional agent frameworks. In particular, the implications for agent functionality and behaviour in a WSN context demand that issues such as unreliable message delivery and limited power resources, amongst others, be considered. In this paper, the practical issues of agent migration and communication are considered in light of WSN constraints. The discussion is illustrated through a description of approaches adopted by Agent Factory Micro Edition (AFME).

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Sensorworld – A simulator for resource-bounded intelligence

2010-11-15, Shen, Song, O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.), O'Grady, Michael J.

Within this paper, Sensorworld is proposed as a platform for the evaluation and comparison of resource-bounded intelligence, and its effectiveness is proven through the implementation of a series of simulations on effectiveness, utility and energy consumption on bold, cautious and energy-aware agents.

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Intelligent user interfaces for mobile computing

2008, O'Grady, Michael J., O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.)

In this chapter, the practical issue of realizing a necessary intelligence quotient for realizing Intelligent User Interfaces (IUIs) on mobile devices is considered. Mobile computing scenarios differ radically from the normal fixed workstation environment that most people are familiar with; and it is in this dynamicity and complexity that the key motivations for realizing IUIs on mobile devices may be found. Thus the chapter initially motivates the need for the deployment of IUIs in mobile contexts by reflecting on the archetypical elements that comprise the average mobile user's situation or context. A number of broad issues pertaining to the deployment of AI techniques on mobile devices are considered before a practical realisation of this objective through the intelligent agent paradigm is presented. It is the authors hope that a mature understanding of the mobile computing usage scenario, augmented with key insights into the practical deployment of AI in mobile scenarios, will aid software engineers and HCI professionals alike in the successful utilisation of intelligent techniques for a new generation of mobile services.

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Implicitly influencing the interactive experience

2010-05-10, O'Grady, Michael J., Dragone, Mauro, Tynan, Richard, O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.), Wan, Jie, Muldoon, Conor

Enabling intuitive interaction in system design remains an art more than a science. This difficulty is exacerbated when the diversity of device and end user group is considered. In this paper, it is argued that conventional interaction modalities are unsuitable in many circumstances and that alternative modalities need be considered. Specifically the case of implicit interaction is considered, and the paper discusses how its use may lead to more satisfactory experiences. Specifically, harnessing implicit interaction in conjunction with the traditional explicit interaction modality, can enable a more intuitive and natural interactive experience. However, the exercise of capturing and interpreting implicit interaction is problematic and is one that lends itself to the adoption of AI techniques. In this position paper, the potential of lightweight intelligent agents is proposed as a model for harmonising the explicit and implicit components of an arbitrary interaction.

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Coordinated intelligent power management and the heterogeneous sensing coverage problem

2011-03, Tynan, Richard, Muldoon, Conor, O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.), O'Grady, Michael J.

One of the most important factors to be considered when developing an application for a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is its power consumption. Intelligent Power Management (IPM) for a WSN is crucial in maximising the operational longevity. An established regime for achieving this is through the opportunistic hibernation of redundant nodes. Redundancy, however, has various definitions within the field of WSNs and indeed multiple protocols, each operating using a different definition, coexist on the same node. In this paper, we advocate the use of a MAS as an appropriate mechanism by which different stake-holders, each desiring to hibernate a node in order to conserve power, can collaborate. The problem of node hibernation for the heterogeneous sensing coverage areas is introduced and the manner by which it can be solved using ADOPT, an algorithm for distributed constraint optimisation, is described. We illustrate that the node hibernation strategy discussed here is more useful than the traditional stack-based approach and motivate our discussion using intelligent power management as an exemplar.

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OutCare : supporting dementia patients in outdoor scenarios.

2010-09, Wan, Jie, Byrne, Caroline, O'Hare, G. M. P. (Greg M. P.), O'Grady, Michael J.

Ambient Intelligence (AmI) is a profound vision of computing power that is invisibly embedded into the fabric of everyday life. It is accessible through intelligent interfaces which are so natural that they can be used unconsciously. The increasing maturity, performance and miniaturization of processors, networking technologies and wireless sensor networks enable a move towards pervasive computing, ubiquitous connectivity and adaptive software. The Intelligent Agent paradigm has proven itself to be a promising branch of Artificial Intelligence (AI), complementing the pervasive trend of network engineering. One of the possible usages of AmI is Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) which attempts to utilize appropriate technologies to support citizens in living in their preferred environment independently, for a longer period of time than may otherwise be the case. This paper proposes an AAL solution for Alzheimer’s patients based on the intelligent agent platform, exploring the practical delivery of intelligent environments that are sensitive and responsive to the patients, supporting them in performing daily activities and tasks in a natural, unobtrusive way.