Wolfgang Pohl & Christoph G. Thomas GMD - German National Research Center for Information Technology Institute for Applied Information Technology (FIT) HCI Research Department Schloss Birlinghoven, D-53754 St. Augustin {Wolfgang.Pohl,Christoph.Thomas}@gmd.de -------------------------------------------------------------- Information Agents - Report about Recent Activities and Collaboration Needs 1. Recent Activities -------------------- The HCI department of GMD FIT has a long tradition in research on user-friendly software that features flexibility and individualization by offering user-controlled adaptation processes. In recent years, this has led to work in the following areas: (1) Information systems "for all". An example is our participation in the EU ACTS project AVANTI, which developed a tourist information web site adapting both interface and content to the specific interests and needs of individual users [Fink et al. 97]. (2) User-centered information brokering systems. Current examples are the systems ELFI and bizzyB, two agent-supported information brokering service environments currently under development at GMD. ELFI is a prototype of an information brokering service environment for the domain of research funding. It is developed as an agent-supported system that helps funding consultants at German universities and research institutes to search the Internet for information on research funding, grants, scholarships etc., to monitor information sources for relevant updates and to provide their clients with a timely, well-focused awareness and search service. COBRA is an EU ACTS project with the objectives of (a) creating an open architecture for distributed on-line resource brokerage, (b) actively developing consensus and contribute to a draft European standard for information brokerage architecture, and (c) demonstrating a prototype distributed resource brokerage service and validate its design and the underlying architecture with three representative pilot applications extending existing information and trading systems. That prototype system is called bizzyB (Business Information Brokering using Categories). (3) Basic individualization technology. In more basic research efforts, we work on tools and techniques for user modeling. One of them is the user modeling shell system BGP-MS [Kobsa & Pohl 95], which provides the fundamental user modeling services for the AVANTI system. Currently, the LaboUr (Learning about the User) project focuses on machine learning components for user model acquisition [Pohl 97]. Particularly in our work on user-centered information systems (2), we employ an agent-based approach. Agent technology in ELFI and bizzyB is integrated for tasks that users cannot afford or are not able to do (due to time constraints, lack of resources, unwillingness, etc.) and where agents have been proven to be reliably strong because the constraints of shared context, attention, and control are met. Examples include monitoring, comparing, and filtering of sources. We do not provide agent support where such support might be weak and unreliable and where human users do not feel a strong need for automated support. Examples include automatic information need understanding and negotiation. We plan to continue our developments of the ELFI and bizzyB systems. As new work practices for brokers develop around the use of these systems we expect new demands and new opportunities for improving functionality and we will critically evaluate how agent technology can be utilized to support these functions. We also plan to apply our knowledge about information brokering and the use of agent technology to new, commercial contexts such as a funding information system for small and medium enterprises, high technology monitoring, and personalized inhouse-information systems. Agent technology is also playing a more and more important part in our efforts to develop basic adaptivity and user modeling technology. In a first step, the user modeling shell BGP-MS was equipped with a KQML interface in order to be accessible via networks [Pohl & Höhle 97]. In 1998, we have joined the FIPA consortium and play an active part in FIPA's efforts on standardizing agent-based user modeling and profiling services. We are planning to develop powerful and flexible user modeling agents based on these standards. Moreover, we do have a special interest in analysing and evaluating the trustworthiness and competence of agent-based applications and services. One goal ist to specify and prototype an agent auditing tool to test which tracibility is achievable between observed and reported behaviour of agents and agent-based systems and the relevant policies, interests and intentions of systems owners, service providers, users and third parties. 2. Needs for collaboration -------------------------- We seek highly qualified partners for cooperation in different projects on information agents. Potential partners may have * expertise in basic agent technology; * experience in applying agent technology in different domains such as e-commerce, information retrieval, or telecommunication; * developed their own agent environment ready to be used in new application domains. In particular, we are looking for application partners with a distinguished need for user-tailored information environments, looking for technology that allows for networked and individualized information access and dissemination. Parts of such technology are already at hand, while we are in the process of developing others like agent-based user modeling and profiling systems. We are eager to make the results of this process meet real-world requirements and would like to evaluate them to this respect in cooperation projects. References ---------- (1) Projects and Activities AVANTI: http://zeus.gmd.de/projects/avanti.html COBRA: http://zeus.gmd.de/cobra/ ELFI: http://www.elfi.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/ BGP-MS: http://zeus.gmd.de/projects/bgp-ms.html LaboUr: http://zeus.gmd.de/~pohl/LaboUr/ FIPA: http://drogo.cselt.it/fipa/spec/fipa98/fipa8712.zip (2) Cited Papers [Fink et al. 97] Fink, J., Kobsa, A., and Nill, A.: Adaptable and Adaptive Information Access for All Users, Including the Disabled and the Elderly. In: Jameson, A., Paris, C., and Tasso, C. (eds.): User Modeling -- Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference UM97. Wien, New York: Springer-Verlag, 1997. ISBN 3-211-82907-7. [Pohl 97] Pohl, W.: LaboUr -- machine learning for user modeling. In Smith, M.J., Salvendy, G., and Koubek, R.J. (eds.): Design of Computing Systems: Social and Ergonomic Considerations (Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction), vol. B, pp. 27-30. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, 1997. ISBN 0-444-82183-X. [Kobsa & Pohl 95] Kobsa, A. and Pohl, W.: The user modeling shell system BGP-MS. User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction, 4(2):59--106, 1995. [Pohl & Höhle 97] Pohl, W. and Höhle, J.: Mechanisms for Flexible Representation and Use of Knowledge in User Modeling Shell Systems. In Jameson, A., Paris, C., and Tasso, C. (eds.): User Modeling -- Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference UM97, pp. 403-414. Wien, New York: Springer-Verlag, 1997. ISBN 3-211-82906-7. (3) Selected publications on agents by members of the HCI group: [Koenemann & Thomas 98] Koenemann, J. and Thomas, C.G.: Agent-Supported Information Brokering. To appear in: KI 3/98. [Thomas & Fischer 97] Thomas, C.G. and Fischer, G.: Using Agents to Personalize the Web. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI97) (Orlando, FL January 6-9, 1997). New York, NY: ACM, pp. 53-60. [Thomas & Fischer 96] Thomas, C.G. and Fischer, G.: Using Agents to Improve the Usability and Usefulness of the World-Wide Web. Proceedings UM-96: Fifth International Conference on User Modeling, Hawaii, pp. 5-12. User Modeling Inc., 1996. [Thomas 96] Thomas, C.G.:To Assist the User: On the Embedding of Adaptive and Agent-based Mechanisms. GMD-Bericht Nr. 258. München, Germany: Oldenbourg Verlag. [Thomas 95] Thomas, C.G.: Basar: A framework for integrating agents in the WorldWide Web. IEEE Computer, 28(5):84-86, 1995.