Now showing 1 - 10 of 16
  • 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
    Just-in-time multimedia distribution in a mobile computing environment
    Disseminating multimedia content to users in a mobile computing environment such that they receive it in an appropriate and timely manner is fundamental to the success of mobile information systems. Too often, however, this endeavour is hindered by the poor data rates supported by wireless telecommunications networks and by the limited computational resources available on mobile devices. We describe an approach to overcome these limitations, which is based on extremely dynamic and proactive precaching. This approach, which we have termed intelligent precaching, is realised through the innovative deployment of intelligent agents on mobile devices. To illustrate this concept, the design and implementation of an archetypical mobile computing application is provided, namely that of an electronic tourist guide. This is augmented with a description of the salient points derived from a user evaluation, from which emerging avenues for further research are identified.
      583Scopus© Citations 27
  • 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
    Social robotics: reality and virtuality in agent-based robotics
    This paper advocates the application of multi-agent techniques in the realisation of social robotic behaviour. We present the Social Robot Architecture, which integrates the key elements of agenthood and robotics in a coherent and systematic manner. This architecture seamlessly integrates real world robots, multi-agent development tools, and VRML visualisation tools into a coherent whole.
      307
  • Publication
    A Methodology for the development of multi-agent systems on wireless sensor networks
    Recent technological advances in wireless networking, IC fabrication and sensor technology have lead to the emergence of millimeter scale devices that collectively form a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). The cost of production for a single node has been reduced to less than 1 dollar, paving the way for large scale deployments (millions of nodes per network) of such devices. It would seem that agent technology should be useful for these highly distributed networks in terms of intelligent network management and data harvesting for example. Indeed this has been shown to be the case, however multi-agent systems for WSNs are scarce. One reason for this is the difficulty in the deployment, testing and debugging of a distributed application for these devices due to the minimal (if any) user interfaces they possess. In this paper we will propose a methodology for the rapid development of a MAS for WSNs that allows for comprehensive testing and debugging, a luxury not available on current WSN devices. We also instantiate this methodology in a case study for evaluation purposes.
      313
  • Publication
    Delivering Adaptivity through Context Awareness
    Developing applications and deploying services for mobile users raises a number of issues and challenges that must be successfully addressed before the era of truly ubiquitous computing will dawn. In particular, the desire to deploy rich multimedia applications and services is severely curtailed by the limited capabilities of the current range of mobile devices as well as the limited bandwidth of current wireless cellular networks. How best to overcome these limitations remains the focus of much research. Intelligent agents have been demonstrated as a promising solution for inherently complex and dynamic domains and their use is proposed as the basis of a solution for assembling and disseminating multimedia content to a mobile audience. Attention is particularly directed to issues concerning the adaptation of content according to the end-user physical context and their personal profile or model.
    Scopus© Citations 18  576