The research will investigate the role of intelligent agents in future generation, mobile communication environments. In particular, issues related to how agents can flexibly adapt their behaviour and their interactions to the characteristics of their current communication environment will be explored. Particular focus and attention is given to automated negotiation in such systems
The aim of the mohican project is to investigate the use of high-level multi-agent interaction mechanisms for providing network services. mohican addresses the overall aim of the ``Programmable Networks Initiative'' by designing patterns of interactions that facilitate the deployment of new network services where adaptive behaviour is required. In particular, mohican objectives are related to four of the research topics identified in the call for proposals, namely
The MAVIS project was a programme of research to develop Multimedia Architectures for Video, Image and Sound. Within the architecture separate modules are responsible for all the processing associated with a particular media-based feature type and, as new feature types are introduced and associated matching techniques developed, appropriate new modules may be added to the architecture. For example, to make use of the added richness which digital video presents, modules are being developed which understand the temporal nature of the video and which can extract combined spatial and temporal features.
The aim of the MAVIS 2 project, funded by EPSRC, is to introduce multimedia thesaurus (MMT) and intelligent agent support for content-based retrieval and navigation. The earlier MAVIS 1 project was concerned with enhanced handling of images and digital video sequences in multimedia information systems. The project will extend the Microcosm architecture to support the MMT, in which representations of objects in different media are maintained together with their inter-relationships. Intelligent agents will be developed to classify and cluster information from the MMT, as well as additional knowledge extracted during information authoring and indexing, to seek out discriminators between object classes and also naturally-occurring groupings of media-based features and to accelerate media-based navigation. Multimedia content-based retrieval and navigation also demands new media viewers which incorporate facilities for processing and analysis. Such viewers are being investigated, in particular to allow rapid identification of image-based objects.
Malibu was an eLib project working on Hybrid Libraries - these contain physical books etc as well as digitalcollections. The project developed and implement prototype hybrid libraries in each of the three major partner institutions and made a new search engine called GIGA.
One of the challenges is to link up library databases (via Z39.50) with archives running different databases, plus external services such as BIDS so that queries pass to all data sources. GIGA passes searches to sites like libraries which have a structured interface as well as to database-run web sites and semi-structured sites. It collates the results and unifies their appearance.
This project aims to design and build the infrastructure that makes customised information available to intermittently connected users. For that purpose, we will investigate the use of mobile agents as autonomous intermediaries between nomadic users and fixed infrastructure services. Application specific mobile agents, spawned from users' PDAs, will migrate to the infrastructure in order to autonomously undertake their task. These mobile agents will be used to provide users with the means to access and exchange information, in an ad-hoc and secure manner, while on the move. Multi-agent interaction protocols, such as negotiation and cooperation, will help preserve the security of the environment. Open hypermedia techniques, and in particular link services, will be investigated in order to deal with information management in this context; in particular, these techniques will be used to filter and present information according to the users' needs. Funded by EPSRC (under the DIM programme) and DERA.
A three year project comprising Rolls Royce and BAE Systems with researchers from 3 research groups. The goal of the research activities can be split into 3 phases each led by one of the groups. These can be summarised as
The HyStream project addresses the application of open hypermedia to temporal media streams, which are set to become a significant part of the multimedia information space as exemplified by Internet telephony, radio and TV, and interactive TV. The models used have been applied successfully to stored multimedia documents, but little work has been done on streams. In the HyStream project, we consider streams in live and near-live scenarios. We address the link storage, transmission and resolution architecture for both point-to-point streams and multicast, and explore the quality of service issues associated with branching media.
We have also taken a longer-term view by considering connectionless networks, by addressing navigation in the context of a 'pervasive computing' environment. This is generic research towards a new open hypermedia model and we aim to provide formal models that will support further research.
The project is innovating new techniques for integrated information management in the manufacturing environment, in particular to ease maintenance and fault-diagnosis problems. This involves the creation of a large factory-wide database of multimedia information, potentially available to other site in an organisation through the use of appropriate communication technology. The initial research was funded by the EPSRC in collaboration with Pirelli Cables. The current contract is also funded by Eurotherm Drives. Additional research is being undertaken with Ford's engine plant at Bridgend in associationwith School of Manufacturing Science at Cranfield.
The central goal of the Equator IRC is to promote the integration of the physical with the digital. In particular, we are concerned with uncovering and supporting the variety of possible relationships between physical and digital worlds. Our objective in doing this is to improve the quality of everyday life by building and adapting technologies for a range of user groups and application domains. Examples include: