Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
  • Publication
    Embedding intelligent decision making within complex dynamic environments
    Decision-making is a complex and demanding process often constrained in a number of possibly conflicting dimensions including quality, responsiveness and cost. This paper considers in situ decision making whereby decisions are effected based upon inferences made from both locally sensed data and data aggregated from a sensor network. Such sensing devices that comprise a sensor network are often computationally challenged and present an additional constraint upon the reasoning process. This paper describes a hybrid reasoning approach to deliver in situ decision making which combines stream based computing with multi-agent system techniques. This approach is illustrated and exercised through an environmental demonstrator project entitled SmartBay which seeks to deliver in situ real time environmental monitoring.
      1372Scopus© Citations 12
  • Publication
    OutCare : supporting dementia patients in outdoor scenarios.
    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.
    Scopus© Citations 15  1780
  • Publication
    Implicitly and intelligently influencing the interactive experience
    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.
      567
  • Publication
    Fuzzy decision making through energy-aware and utility agents within wireless sensor networks
    Multi-agent systems (MAS) through their intrinsically distributed nature offer a promising software modelling and implementation framework for wireless sensor network (WSN) applications. WSNs are characterised by limited resources from a computational and energy perspective; in addition, the integrity of the WSN coverage area may be compromised over the duration of the network's operational lifetime, as environmental effects amongst others take their toll. Thus a significant problem arises--how can an agent construct an accurate model of the prevailing situation in order that it can make effective decisions about future courses of action within these constraints? In this paper, one popular agent architecture, the BDI architecture, is examined from this perspective. In particular, the fundamental issue of belief generation within WSN constraints using classical reasoning augmented with a fuzzy component in a hybrid fashion is explored in terms of energy-awareness and utility.
    Scopus© Citations 11  2001
  • Publication
    Distributed network intelligence : a prerequisite for adaptive & personalised service delivery
    Mobile computing is undoubtedly one of the predominant computer usage paradigms in operation today. The implications of what might be cautiously termed a usage paradigm shift have still not crystallised fully, either for society, or those envisaging a new raft of applications and services for mobile users. However, fundamental to the current and future success of mobile computing are mobile telecommunications networks. Such networks have been a success story in their own right in recent years, both as traditional voice carriers and, increasingly importantly, as a conduit of mobile data. The potential for new mobile data applications is immense, but, crucially, this potential is severely compromised by two factors inherent in mobile computing: limited bandwidth and computationally restricted devices. Hence, the academic and commercial interest in harnessing intelligent techniques as a means of mitigating these concerns, and ensuring the user experience is a satisfactory one. In this paper, the broad area of intelligence in telecommunications networks is examined, and issues relating to the deployment of intelligent technologies are explored. In particular, the potential of intelligent agents is identified as a viable mechanism for realising a full end-to-end deployment of intelligence throughout the network, including possibly the most crucial component: the end user's device. As an illustration of the viability of this approach, a brief description of a mobile blogging application is presented.
    Scopus© Citations 13  1825
  • Publication
    Facilitating ubiquitous interaction using intelligent agents
    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.
    Scopus© Citations 5  1086
  • Publication
    Implicitly influencing the interactive experience
    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.
      351
  • Publication
    Intelligent user interfaces for mobile computing
    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.
      1255
  • Publication
    An agent-based domestic electricity consumption advisory system
    This paper introduces an agent-based domestic electricity consumption advisory system. It reflects upon the diffculties of realizing the ubiquitous sensing vision which underpins such systems. It advocates the need for an effective middleware which will support the evolution of heterogeneous, distributed, collaborative intelligent sensing artifacts. To this end, it introduces the SIXTH Middleware.
      781