Examining the Society of Mind

This article examines Marvin Minsky's Society of Mind theory of human cognition. We describe some of the history behind the theory, review several of the specific mechanisms and representations that Minsky proposes, and consider related developments in artificial intelligence since the theory's publication

Cloudlet architecture for dashboard in cloud and ubiquitous manufacturing

The aim of this paper is to present a cloudlet architecture for dashboard in Cloud and Ubiquitous Manufacturing. In practice means that, with Cloud Computing adoption, Manufacturing requires management applications where ubiquity and effectiveness are enabled. If ubiquity and resources scalability, availability and capacity can be well supported by cloud, pragmatics instruments are required to support effectiveness. The architecture here presented shows the integration of enriched existing (cloud) services, as instances of resources, with layers of new services towards direct and synchronous communication between users. These Rich Internet Application (RIA) components, here named cloudlets, integration, follow dashboards organization patterns and will be supported by emergent web3.0 interaction technologies. In fact, the paper proposes a new Presentation Layer to be used in UMS and (that may be used) in any multi-layer cloud-based web application. (C) 2013 Authors. Published by Elsevier B. V.The authors wish to acknowledge the support of: 1) The national Foundation for Science and Technology - FCT (Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia) scholarship, reference number SFRH/BD/49540/2009, 2) The Foundation for Science and Technology - FCT, Project PTDC/EME-GIN/102143/2008, 'Ubiquitous oriented embedded systems for globally distributed factories of manufacturing enterprises', 3) EUREKA, Project E! 4177-Pro-Factory UE

AgentOWL: Semantic Knowledge Model and Agent Architecture

MAS is a powerful paradigm in nowadays distributed systems, however its disadvantage is that it lacks the interconnection with semantic web standards such as OWL. The aim of this article is to present a semantic knowledge model of an agent suitable for discrete environments as well as implementation and a use of such model using the Jena semantic web library and the JADE agent system. The developed library allows interconnection of Agent and Semantic Web technologies can be used in an agent based application where such interconnection is needed. The defined model and methodology show the use of the library in knowledge management applications where the proposed model has been used and evaluated in the scope of the Pellucid and K-Wf Grid IST projects

A Partially Automated Process For the Generation of Believable Human Behaviors

Modeling believable human behavior for use in simulations is a difficult task. It re- quires a great deal of time, and frequently requires coordination between members of different disciplines. In our research, we propose a method of partially automating the process, reducing the time it takes to create the model, and more easily allowing domain experts that are not programmers to adjust the models as necessary. Using Agent-Based modeling, we present MAGIC (Models Automatically Generated from Information Collected), an algorithm designed to automatically find points in the model’s decision process that require interaction with other agents or with the sim- ulation envionment and create a decision graph that contains the agent’s behavior pattern based upon raw data composed of time-sequential observations. We also present an alternative to the traditional Markov Decision Process that allows actions to be completed until a set condition is met, and a tool to allow domain experts to easily adjust the resulting models as needed. After testing the accuracy of our algorithm using synthetic data, we show the results of this process when it is used in a real-world simulation based upon a study of the medical administration pro- cess in hospitals conducted by the University of South Carolina’s Healthcare Process Redesign Center. In the healthcare study, it was necessary for the nurses to follow a very consistent process. In order to show the ability to use our algorithm in a variety of situations, we create a video game and record players’ movements. However, unlike the nursing simulation, the environment in the game simulation is more prone to changes that limit the appropriate set of actions taken by the humans being modeled. In order to account for the changes in the simulation, we present a simple method using the addition of a hierarchy of rules with our previous algorithm to limit the actions taken by the agent to ones that are appropriate for the current situation. In both the healthcare study and the video game, we find that there are multiple distinct patterns of behavior. As a single model would not accurately represent the behavior of all of the humans in the studies, we present a simple method of classifying the behavior of individuals using the decision graphs created by our algorithm. We then use our algorithm to create models for each cluster of behaviors, producing multiple models from one set of observational data. Believability is highly subjective. In our research, we present methods to partially automate the process of producing believable human agents, and test our results with real-world data using focus groups and a pseudo-Turing test. Our findings show that under the right conditions, it is possible to partially automate the modeling of human decision processes, but ultimately, believability is greatly dependent upon the similarity between the viewer and the humans being modeled

A society of mind approach to cognition and metacognition in a cognitive architecture

This thesis investigates the concept of mind as a control system using the "Society of Agents" metaphor. "Society of Agents" describes collective behaviours of simple and intelligent agents. "Society of Mind" is more than a collection of task-oriented and deliberative agents; it is a powerful concept for mind research and can benefit from the use of metacognition. The aim is to develop a self configurable computational model using the concept of metacognition. A six tiered SMCA (Society of Mind Cognitive Architecture) control model is designed that relies on a society of agents operating using metrics associated with the principles of artificial economics in animal cognition. This research investigates the concept of metacognition as a powerful catalyst for control, unify and self-reflection. Metacognition is used on BDI models with respect to planning, reasoning, decision making, self reflection, problem solving, learning and the general process of cognition to improve performance.One perspective on how to develop metacognition in a SMCA model is based on the differentiation between metacognitive strategies and metacomponents or metacognitive aids. Metacognitive strategies denote activities such as metacomphrension (remedial action) and metamanagement (self management) and schema training (meaning full learning over cognitive structures). Metacomponents are aids for the representation of thoughts. To develop an efficient, intelligent and optimal agent through the use of metacognition requires the design of a multiple layered control model which includes simple to complex levels of agent action and behaviours. This SMCA model has designed and implemented for six layers which includes reflexive, reactive, deliberative (BDI), learning (Q-Ieamer), metacontrol and metacognition layers

AFRANCI : multi-layer architecture for cognitive agents

Tese de doutoramento. Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 201

Foundations of research in creative computing

Human creativity needs improvement in contemporary society. Because of fast development and pervasive utilisation, computing has been a loyal servant to support human creativity. It is not only utilised to facilitate creativity research, but also leveraged to assist creative activities in everyday life. However, due to increasingly complicated human life and ever-evolving nature of computer, up to now, people have never stopped exploring the great potentials of computing to facilitate human creativity. As a result, various kinds of new concepts in computing are continuously emerging dedicating to make contributions to human creativity. Creative Computing is one of the promising ones. Its most important advantage is inspiring a novel approach to facilitating human creativity. By making computing itself become creative, the services supplied by Creative Computing can be more active and better reconcile the contradiction between subjective creativity and objective computing. Instead of imitating or duplicating human creativity, the core idea of Creative Computing is to leverage the uniting power of knowledge to tackle problems in computing field to facilitate human creativity. My research aims to consolidate Creative Computing as a knowledge discipline to facilitate its development. As Creative Computing is a new field, several important issues are required to be studied. First things first are the fundamental issues. In order to do that, my research devotes to proposing kind of framework of Creative Computing by consolidating it as a knowledge discipline. Various crucial elements of Creative Computing will be studied and described by this thesis. It is hoped that the results of my research can be able to provide valuable suggestions for the following researchers of Creative Computing

SKIL 2012 - Dritte Studentenkonferenz Informatik Leipzig: Dritte Studentenkonferenz Informatik Leipzig 2012Leipzig, Deutschland, 25. September 2012Tagungsband

Die Studentenkonferenz des Instituts für Informatik der Universität Leipzig richtet sich an alle Studierende der Informatik sowie angrenzender Disziplinen mit Schwerpunkt Informatik. Die Konferenz setzt sich zum Ziel, Studierenden eine Plattform zu bieten, ihre Projekte und Forschungsvorhaben vorzustellen. Im Mittelpunkt der Tagung stehen studentische Projekte aus Seminaren, Praktika, Abschlussarbeiten oder extracurricularen Aktivitäten. Die SKIL bietet den Studierenden die Möglichkeit, vor einem akademischen Publikum Ideen, Pläne und Ergebnisse zu präsentieren und zu diskutieren. Die Organisation der Konferenz unterscheidet sich nur wenig von wissenschaftlichen Fachkonferenzen. Die Einreichung der Beiträge erfolgte mit Hilfe eines Conference Systems; anschließend wurden alle Einreichungen durch das Programmkomitee bewertet. Angenommene Beiträge wurden am Konferenztag vorgestellt und in dem hier vorliegendem Tagungsband publiziert. Die dritte Studentenkonferenz Informatik Leipzig 2012 fand im Rahmen der SABRE am 25.09.2012 statt. Die SABRE ist eine internationale integrative Multikonferenz auf dem Gebiet zukunftsweisender Technologien der Softwareentwicklung, Agententechnologien und Servicecomputing für Wirtschaft, Entwicklung und Wissenschaft. Die SKIL 2012 wurde am Institut für Angewandte Informatik (InfAI) e.V. organisiert. Initiiert und maßgeblich realisiert wurde die SKIL 2012 von den Forschungsgruppen Agile Knowledge Engineering and Semantic Web (AKSW) und Service Science and Technology (SeSaT) der Universität Leipzig

Architectures for integration of information systems under conditions of dynamic reconfiguration of virtual enterprises

Tese Doutoramento Programa Doutoral em Industrial and Systems EngineeringThe aim of this thesis is to explore Architectures of information systems Integration under conditions of dynamic reconfiguration of Virtual Enterprises. The main challenge that we identify and which formed the basis of the research is that information technologies alone cannot support efficiently and effectively the human knowledge and their natural way of interacting. Already from Sausurre (1916) it could be argued that part of knowledge resides in person, and the attempt to try to model it is sufficient for it to be misrepresented. And this is the motto of all this work. Enhance the capabilities of emerging technologies, but in the sense that allow humanto- human interaction, having the information system merely a means to make this possible. Thus we argue that a communicational architecture of information systems integration (where Pragmatics mechanisms are enabled) in virtual enterprises in dynamic reconfiguration scenarios, are better able than the existing transactional architectures. We propose a communicational architecture able to achieve an effective integration of information systems, as well as designing its logical and functional model. We also define the necessary semiotic framework in order to a communicational integration architecture could be efficient and effective. We implemented two prototypes to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed architecture. The demonstration of the research hypothesis was demonstrated with the realization of two experimentations where the ontologies have been unable to resolve disagreements or absences of opinion inherent in people who collaborated. This was overcome with the implementation of mechanisms that allow the co-creation between members of the group that participated in the trial.O objectivo desta tese é explorar Arquitecturas de Integração de Sistemas de Informação em condições de Reconfiguração Dinâmica de Empresas Virtuais. O principal desafio que identificamos e que serviu de base da pesquisa é que as tecnologias de informação por si só não conseguem suportar de forma eficiente e efectiva o conhecimento humano e a sua forma natural de interagir. Já Sausurre (1916) defendia que parte do conhecimento residirá sempre na pessoa, e a tentativa de o tentar modelar é suficiente para que seja deturpado. E esse é o mote de todo este trabalho. Enaltecer as capacidades das tecnologias emergentes mas no sentido de elas permitirem a interacção homem-to-homem, sendo o sistema de informação meramente um meio para que tal seja possível. Argumentamos por isso que uma arquitectura comunicacional de integração de sistemas de informação, onde Pragmatics mechanisms are enabled, em empresas virtuais em cenários de reconfiguração dinâmica, são mais capazes que as actuais arquitecturas transacionais. Propomos para isso uma arquitectura comunicacional capaz de conseguir uma integração efectiva de sistemas de informação, assim como desenhamos o seu modelo lógico e funcional. Definimos ainda o quadro semiótico necessário para que uma arquitectura comunicacional de integração seja eficiente e effectiva. Implementamos dois protótipos capazes de demonstrar a aplicabilidade da arquitectura proposta. A demonstração da hipótese de pesquisa ficou demonstrada com a realização de uma experimentação onde as ontologias se mostraram incapazes de resolver discordâncias ou ausências de opinião inerentes às pessoas que colaboram. Tal foi superado com a aplicação de mecanismos que permitiram a co-criação entre os membros do grupo que realizou a experimentação

Coordination implicite d'interactions sensorimotrices comme fondement de la cognition

This thesis promotes a cognitive infrastructure able to model sensorimotor behaviors in animals and humans. The theoretical developments upon which this infrastructure is drawn is inspired by the philosophical interactivist framework and the enaction paradigm: any system is represented by a set of active processes, in constant interaction with their subjective environment, which includes influences between these processes. Any living organism or cognitive system is therefore fractal, decomposed in different levels of emergence based on the same principles. These principles are now widely spread but appeared progressively during species evolution. Assimilation, regulation, anticipation or coordination made it possible for concurrent processes fighting for limited resources to cooperate, develop and maintain through ages. This joint evolution of environmental conditions and internal structures led to nowadays organisms, able to adapt to a genetically unpredictable environment of growing complexity.A mathematical model using the formalism of complex systems is detailed, as well as its computer implementation. The agent's dynamics is modeled by an activity field under the continuous influence of internal anticipations and external sensations. The global behavior of the agent then results from the implicit and stable coordination of localized interactive processes. On this aspect, the model extends artificial neural networks and classical probabilistic models. This essential characteristic enables applications in various domains and a unification of all levels of cognition. A set of applications validates the model, extending from physiological need satisfaction to mechanical systems handling, through auditory and visual perception. Finally and in order to extend the model to more complex behaviors in the future, technical contributions on algorithm optimization and parallel implementations are developed.Cette thèse propose une infrastructure cognitive permettant de modéliser les comportements sensori-moteurs animaux et humains. La réflexion théorique ayant conduit à cette infrastructure s'inspire du cadre philosophique interactiviste et du paradigme de l'énaction : tout système est représenté par un ensemble de processus actifs, en interaction permanente avec leur environnement propre, ce qui inclut leur influence mutuelle. Tout organisme vivant ou système cognitif peut ainsi être décomposé de manière fractale, chaque niveau d'émergence reposant sur les mêmes principes. Ces principes aujourd'hui largement répandus sont apparus durant l'évolution des espèces vivantes. L'assimilation, la régulation, l'anticipation ou encore la coordination ont ainsi permis à des processus en concurrence pour des ressources limitées de coopérer, se développer et se maintenir à travers les âges. Cette évolution conjointe des conditions environnementales et des structures internes a conduit aux organismes modernes, capables de s'adapter à un environnement génétiquement imprévisible et d'une complexité croissante.Un modèle mathématique utilisant le formalisme des systèmes complexes est détaillé, ainsi que son implémentation informatique. La dynamique de l'agent y est modélisée par un champ d'activité sous l'influence permanente d'anticipations internes et de sensations externes. Le comportement global de l'agent résulte alors de la coordination implicite et stable de processus interactifs localisés. A ce niveau, le modèle étend et complète les réseaux de neurones artificiels et les modèles probabilistes classiques. Cette caractéristique essentielle permet d'appliquer le modèle à des domaines variés et d'unifier tous les niveaux de la cognition. Le modèle est validé par un ensemble d'applications s'étendant de la satisfaction de besoins physiologiques à la manipulation de systèmes mécaniques, en passant par la perception auditive et visuelle. Enfin, et afin de pouvoir étendre ce type de modèles à des problèmes plus complexes dans le futur, des contributions techniques touchant à l'optimisation et à la parallélisation des algorithmes sont développées