Agent Metamodel for virtual reality applications

10 pagesInternational audienceThe various existing agent models do not cover all the possible uses we consider for virtual reality applications. In this paper, we present an agent metamodel (Behave) based on an environment metamodel (Veha). This metamodel allows defining agents and organizing teams of agents in a virtual environment. The use of this metamodel is illustrated by the Gaspar application which simulates activities on an aircraft carrier

Dynamic Model-based Management of Service-Oriented Infrastructure.

Models are an effective tool for systems and software design. They allow software architects to abstract from the non-relevant details. Those qualities are also useful for the technical management of networks, systems and software, such as those that compose service oriented architectures. Models can provide a set of well-defined abstractions over the distributed heterogeneous service infrastructure that enable its automated management. We propose to use the managed system as a source of dynamically generated runtime models, and decompose management processes into a composition of model transformations. We have created an autonomic service deployment and configuration architecture that obtains, analyzes, and transforms system models to apply the required actions, while being oblivious to the low-level details. An instrumentation layer automatically builds these models and interprets the planned management actions to the system. We illustrate these concepts with a distributed service update operation

PEGASE: A generic and adaptable intelligent system for virtual reality learning environments

International audienceThe context of this research is the creation of human learning environments using virtual reality. We propose the integration of a generic and adaptable intelligent tutoring system (Pegase) into a virtual environment. The aim of this environment is to instruct the learner, and to assist the instructor. The proposed system is created using a multi-agent system. This system emits a set of knowledge (actions carried out by the learner, knowledge about the field, etc.) which Pegase uses to make informed decisions. Our study focuses on the representation of knowledge about the environment, and on the adaptable pedagogical agent providing instructive assistance

CHRYSAOR: an Agent-Based Intelligent Tutoring System in Virtual Environment

11 pagesInternational audienceThe various existing Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) models do not capitalize on all the possibilities permitted by the use of virtual reality. In this paper, we first establish the important characteristics of ITS (genericity, modularity, individualization, scenario edition, adaptativity). Subsequently we present our studies using an agent metamodel (Behave) based on an environment metamodel (Veha), in order to make a generic ITS. We focus on describing our agent model and its knowledge of the pedagogical situation and incorporate a pedagogical scenario model in our ITS. The use of this ITS is illustrated by an application of a virtual biomedical analyzer which enables to learn the technical procedures of the device

Using emotions in intelligent virtual environments: the EJaCalIVE framework

Nowadays, there is a need to provide new applications which allow the definition and implementation of safe environments that attends to the user needs and increases their wellbeing. In this sense, this paper introduces the EJaCalIVE framework which allows the creation of emotional virtual environments that incorporate agents, eHealth related devices, human actors, and emotions projecting them virtually and managing the interaction between all the elements. In this way, the proposed framework allows the design and programming of intelligent virtual environments, as well as the simulation and detection of human emotions which can be used for the improvement of the decision-making processes of the developed entities. The paper also shows a case study that enforces the need of this framework in common environments like nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Concretely, the case study proposes the simulation of a residence for the elderly. The main goal is to have an emotion-based simulation to train an assistance robot avoiding the complexity involved in working with the real elders. The main advantage of the proposed framework is to provide a safe environment, that is, an environment where users are able to interact safely with the system.This work is partially supported by the MINECO/FEDER TIN2015-65515-C4-1-R and the FPI Grant AP2013-01276 awarded to Jaime-Andres Rincon. This work is also supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 and Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) within the projects UID/CEC/00319/2013 and Post-Doc scholarship SFRH/BPD/102696/2014 (A. Costa).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

GSO: Designing a Well-Founded Service Ontology to Support Dynamic Service Discovery and Composition

A pragmatic and straightforward approach to semantic service discovery is to match inputs and outputs of user requests with the input and output requirements of registered service descriptions. This approach can be extended by using pre-conditions, effects and semantic annotations (meta-data) in an attempt to increase discovery accuracy. While on one hand these additions help improve discovery accuracy, on the other hand complexity is added as service users need to add more information elements to their service requests. In this paper we present an approach that aims at facilitating the representation of service requests by service users, without loss of accuracy. We introduce a Goal-Based Service Framework (GSF) that uses the concept of goal as an abstraction to represent service requests. This paper presents the core concepts and relations of the Goal-Based Service Ontology (GSO), which is a fundamental component of the GSF, and discusses how the framework supports semantic service discovery and composition. GSO provides a set of primitives and relations between goals, tasks and services. These primitives allow a user to represent its goals, and a supporting platform to discover or compose services that fulfil them

The Challenge of Artificial Socio-Cognitive Systems

This paper is an invitation to carry out science and engineering for a class of socio-technical systems where individuals ¿ who may be human or artificial entities ¿ engage in purposeful collective interactions within a shared web-mediated social space. We put forward a characterisation of these systems and introduce some conceptual distinctions that may help to plot the work ahead. In particular, we propose a tripartite view that highlights the interplay between the institutional models that prescribe the behaviour of participants, the corre- sponding implementation of these prescriptions and the actual performance of the system. Building on this tripartite view we explore the problem of developing a conceptual framework for modelling this type of systems and how that framework can be supported by technological artefacts that implement the resulting models. The last section of this position paper is a list of challenges that we believe are worth facing. This work draws upon the contributions that the MAS community has made to the understanding and realization of the concepts of coordination, norms and institutions from an organisational perspective.The authors wish to acknowledge the support of SINTELNET (FET Open Coordinated Action FP7-ICT-2009-C Project No. 286370) in the writing of this paper.Peer Reviewe

Digital-Twins towards Cyber-Physical Systems: A Brief Survey

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are integrations of computation and physical processes. Physical processes are monitored and controlled by embedded computers and networks, which frequently have feedback loops where physical processes affect computations and vice versa. To ease the analysis of a system, the costly physical plants can be replaced by the high-fidelity virtual models that provide a framework for Digital-Twins (DT). This paper aims to briefly review the state-of-the-art and recent developments in DT and CPS. Three main components in CPS, including communication, control, and computation, are reviewed. Besides, the main tools and methodologies required for implementing practical DT are discussed by following the main applications of DT in the fourth industrial revolution through aspects of smart manufacturing, sixth wireless generation (6G), health, production, energy, and so on. Finally, the main limitations and ideas for future remarks are talked about followed by a short guideline for real-world application of DT towards CPS