Research on Optimized Problem-solving Solutions: Selection of the Production Process

In manufacturing industries, various problems may occur during the production process. The problems are complexand involve the relevant context of working environments. A problem-solving process is often initiated to create asolution and achieve a desired status. In this process, determining how to obtain a solution from the variouscandidate solutions is an important issue. In such uncertain working environments, context information can providerich clues for problem-solving decision making. This work uses a selection approach to determine an optimizedproblem-solving process which will assist workers in choosing reasonable solutions. A context-based utility modelexplores the problem context information to obtain candidate solution actual utility values; a multi-criteria decisionanalysis uses the actual utility values to determine the optimal selection order for candidate solutions. Theselection order is presented to the worker as an adaptive knowledge recommendation. The worker chooses areasonable problem-solving solution based on the selection order. This paper uses a high-tech company’sknowledge base log as a source of analysis data. The experimental results show that the chosen approach to anoptimized problem-solving solution selection is effective. The contribution of this research is a method which iseasy to implement in a problem-solving decision support system

An approach for a negotiation model inspired on social networks

Supporting group decision-making in ubiquitous contexts is a complex task that needs to deal with a large amount of factors to be successful. Here we propose an approach for a negotiation model to support the group decisionmaking process specially designed for ubiquitous contexts. We propose a new look into this problematic, considering and defining strategies to deal with important points such as the type of attributes in the multi-criteria problem and agents' reasoning. Our model uses a social networking logic due to the type of communication employed by the agents as well as to the type of relationships they build as the interactions occur. Our approach intends to support the ubiquitous group decision-making process in a similar way to the real process, which simultaneously preserves the amount and quality of intelligence generated in face-to-face meetings and is adapted to be used in a ubiquitous context.This work is part-funded by ERDF - European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project FCOMP-01-0124- FEDER-028980 (PTDC/EEISII/1386/2012) and SFRH/BD/89697/2012.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Intelligent negotiation model for ubiquitous group decision scenarios

Supporting group decision-making in ubiquitous contexts is a complex task that must deal with a large amount of factors to succeed. Here we propose an approach for an intelligent negotiation model to support the group decision-making process specially designed for ubiquitous contexts. Our approach can be used by researchers that intend to include arguments, complex algorithms and agents' modelling in a negotiation model. It uses a social networking logic due to the type of communication employed by the agents and it intends to support the ubiquitous group decision-making process in a similar way to the real process, which simultaneously preserves the amount and quality of intelligence generated in face-to-face meetings. We propose a new look into this problematic by considering and defining strategies to deal with important points such as the type of attributes in the multicriteria problems, agents' reasoning and intelligent dialogues.This work has been supported by COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) within project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043, by National Funds through the FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within the Projects UID/CEC/00319/2013, UID/EEA/00760/2013, and the João Carneiro PhD grant with the reference SFRH/BD/89697/2012 and by Project MANTIS - Cyber Physical System Based Proactive Collaborative Maintenance (ECSEL JU Grant nr. 662189).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Where is the Bot in our Team? Toward a Taxonomy of Design Option Combinations for Conversational Agents in Collaborative Work

With rapid progress in machine learning, language technologies and artificial intelligence, conversational agents (CAs) gain rising attention in research and practice as potential non-human teammates, facilitators or experts in collaborative work. However, designers of CAs in collaboration still struggle with a lack of comprehensive understanding of the vast variety of design options in the dynamic field. We address this gap with a taxonomy to help researchers and designers understand the design space and the interrelations of different design options and recognize useful design option combinations for their CAs. We present the iterative development of a taxonomy for the design of CAs grounded in state of the art literature and validated with domain experts. We identify recurring design option combinations and white spots from the classified objects that will inform further research and development efforts

Policy Management across Multiple Platforms and Application Domains

One of the challenges of building a policy management framework is making it flexible enough to handle differences in both policy semantics and enforcement strategies across multiple platforms and application domains. The system must be expressive enough in each application domain to provide the richness needed for interesting policies. It must also provide a simple and flexible enforcement mechanism for adaptation to a variety of systems. In this paper we discuss the application of the KAoS policy services framework to human-robot teamwork—an application that involves a variety of application domains and enforcement at different levels of control; from low level network resource control to high level organizational constraints and coordination management. The study culminated in an outdoor field exercise that required coordination of mixed sub teams composed of two people and five robots whose task was to find and apprehend an intruder on a Navy pier. 1

Simulating a Human Cooperative Problem Solving

International audienc

Finding the ghost with the machine: Breaking through the assessment center validity ceiling by exploring decisional processes using new sources of behavioral data within virtual assessments

Decades of assessment center (AC) research has resulted in an inevitable “validity ceiling” whereby increasing the validity of the AC method is becoming increasingly difficult. To overcome this challenge, new avenues for collecting and evaluating AC participant behaviors must be explored, with a particular focus on overcoming the inherent limitations of human observation—a hallmark of the AC method. This study examines detailed logs of AC participant behaviors captured automatically and unobtrusively during a computer-based simulation assessment. Using a decision making framework, basic characteristics of the new behavioral data are tested against existing theories of decisional efficacy. The construct-related validity of the new decision-related behavioral data is examined through the effect of decisional efficacy on overall assessor ratings of simulation performance. Results provide support for the validity of these new behaviors containing information related to decisional processes. Additionally, multiple types of cluster analysis are considered in order to identify general patterns within the decisional process data that impact overall simulation performance as rated by assessors. Depending on the method used, either a 7-group, 3-group, or 2-group solution seemed to fit the data, and both the 7-group and 3-group solution identified groups with mean differences in assessor ratings, suggesting that despite not finding distinct, stable groups, patterns in behavioral data are related to simulation performance. Furthermore, clusters identified in all analyses seem to be driven by both time-related characteristics of decisional process steps and patterns related to how time is distributed among multiple tasks within the simulation. Conclusions, immediate next steps, and general directions for future research are discussed

Proposta de sistema de diálogo textual independente de aplicação

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciência da ComputaçãoEste trabalho propoe uma abordagem para o desenvolvimento de um sistema de dialogo. Trata-se de um sistema computacional, uma interface para humanos interagirem de forma mais natural com aplicaçoes que fornecem serviços diversos, tais como: previsao de tempo, consulta de reservas, dentre outras. Para se entender a base de funcionamento desse tipo de sistema, sao apresentados os conceitos do processamento de linguagem natural, sistema de dialogo generico e alguns exemplos de sistemas de dialogo desenvolvidos, explicitando suas caracteristicas e aplicaçoes. Com base nos conceitos e experiencias comprovadas de sistemas anteriores, apresenta-se a especificaçao de um modelo de dialogo que possui dois componentes-chaves, a saber: um componente capaz de gerenciar o dialogo por meio de principios racionais e cooperativos e outro, cujo uso da noçao computacional de ontologia toma lugar na comunicaçao entre usuarios e aplicaçoes fornecedoras de serviços. Ao final deste trabalho a proposta de um sistema de dialogo e apresentada, entretanto sua implementaçao e apenas sugerida por um exemplo, visto que o desenvolvimento de um sistema de dialogo complet

Intelligent interface agents for biometric applications

This thesis investigates the benefits of applying the intelligent agent paradigm to biometric identity verification systems. Multimodal biometric systems, despite their additional complexity, hold the promise of providing a higher degree of accuracy and robustness. Multimodal biometric systems are examined in this work leading to the design and implementation of a novel distributed multi-modal identity verification system based on an intelligent agent framework. User interface design issues are also important in the domain of biometric systems and present an exceptional opportunity for employing adaptive interface agents. Through the use of such interface agents, system performance may be improved, leading to an increase in recognition rates over a non-adaptive system while producing a more robust and agreeable user experience. The investigation of such adaptive systems has been a focus of the work reported in this thesis. The research presented in this thesis is divided into two main parts. Firstly, the design, development and testing of a novel distributed multi-modal authentication system employing intelligent agents is presented. The second part details design and implementation of an adaptive interface layer based on interface agent technology and demonstrates its integration with a commercial fingerprint recognition system. The performance of these systems is then evaluated using databases of biometric samples gathered during the research. The results obtained from the experimental evaluation of the multi-modal system demonstrated a clear improvement in the accuracy of the system compared to a unimodal biometric approach. The adoption of the intelligent agent architecture at the interface level resulted in a system where false reject rates were reduced when compared to a system that did not employ an intelligent interface. The results obtained from both systems clearly express the benefits of combining an intelligent agent framework with a biometric system to provide a more robust and flexible application

A Problem Solving Model for Collaborative Agents

This paper describes a model of problem solving for use in collaborative agents. It is intended as a practical model for use in implemented systems, rather than a study of the theoretical underpinnings of collaborative action. The model is based on our experience in building a series of interactive systems in di#erent domains, including route planning, emergency management, and medical advising. It is currently being used in an implemented, end-to- end spoken dialogue system in which the system assists a person in managing their medications. While we are primarily focussed on human-machine collaboration, we believe that the model will equally well apply to interactions between sophisticated software agents that need to coordinate their activities