Ebrahim Mamdani

Avatar Markup Language

Synchronization of speech, facial expressions and body gestures is one of the most critical problems in realistic avatar animation in virtual environments. In this paper, we address this problem by proposing a new high-level animation language to describe avatar animation. The Avatar Markup Language (AML), based on XML, encapsulates the Text to Speech, Facial Animation and Body Animation in a unified manner with appropriate synchronization. We use low-level animation parameters, defined by the MPEG-4 standard, to demonstrate the use of the AML. However, the AML itself is independent of any low-level parameters as such. AML can be effectively used by intelligent software agents to control their 3D graphical representations in the virtual environments. With the help of the associated tools, AML also facilitates to create and share 3D avatar animations quickly and easily. We also discuss how the language has been developed and used within the SoNG project framework. The tools developed to use AML in a real-time animation system incorporating intelligent agents and 3D avatars are also discussed subsequently.

Open standards for interoperating agent-based systems

This paper provides an overview of the Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA) standardisation effort in the area of specifying standards for heterogeneous, interoperating agent-based systems. JONATHAN DALE and EBRAHIM MAMDANI describe the types of software agents which are of interest to FIPA, the methods by which FIPA members collaborate and produce specifications and also descriptions of the specifications that FIPA has produced. They also list the available implementations of FIPA specifications and applications that use these implementations, as well as the current and future work of FIPA. Copyright

The Emotional Wardrobe

Since the industrial revolution, fashion and technology have been linked through the textile and manufacturing industries, a relationship that has propelled technical innovation and aesthetic and social change. Today, a new alliance is emerging through the integration of electronic technology and smart materials on the body. This study addresses the integration of technology with clothing from a fashion perspective, and examines its expressive and interactive potential. It proposes the concept of “The Emotional Wardrobe”: clothing that represents and stimulates emotional response through the interface of technology. It asks if fashion can offer a more personal and provocative definition of self, which actively involves the wearer in a mutable aesthetic identity. A multi-disciplinary framework combines fashion, material science and the real-time, affective computing platform, called “AffectiveWare”. By merging technology and fashion, The Emotional Wardrobe becomes a poetic interface, shifting emphasis from human–computer interaction to computer-aided, human–human communication.

Evaluating the FIPA standards and their role in achieving cooperation in multi-agent systems

Focuses on the analysis and evaluation of certain aspects of the current specification standards provided by FIPA (Foundation of Intelligent Physical Agents). The work reported in this paper is based on the development of a multi-agent application-an audio-visual entertainment broadcasting (AVEB) system. This has resulted in determining the advantages and limitations of using the FIPA standards to build complex multi-agent systems (MASs). The development and testing of the AVEB application are part of an EU project called FACTS (FIPA Agent Communication Technologies and Services, ACTS Project No. AC317). A main result of using FIPA has been the identification of the usefulness and power of its protocols. The reason for the importance of the protocols in developing MASs is that it provides a degree of expressing cooperation within the MAS architecture. As the protocols stand currently, they are not sufficient to capture a complete explicit model of the cooperative requirements in MASs. However, they do provide a basis from which to start. We examine this feature of FIPA further, in order to evaluate its role as a bridge between the mental agency and social agency requirements in the development of cooperation in MASs.

Responsible agent behavior: a distributed computing perspective

Software agents that are autonomous, communicative, and possibly intelligent processes raise new questions for developers of distributed systems. Specifically, what is responsible agent behavior, and who, as the owner, is legally responsible for it? The answers involve an understanding of human-agent interaction, agent-oriented middleware, and social behavior. Some software agents will have a sufficiently large number of internal states to be capable of seemingly intelligent behavior. Hence, an agents future external behavior cannot be guaranteed on the basis of its past behavior, even if that behavior has been monitored over time. Complete compliance tests of intelligent agents, therefore, may not be achievable because of the (possibly) large number of internal states. Thus, the best we can say is that an agent has not exhibited noncompliant behavior yet. Communication between agents implies a contract between owners, and the complexity of agents implies possibly unpredictable behavior. Therefore, an appropriate legal framework is required to underwrite the consequences of communicative actions and to provide safeguards against unlawful activities. The legal implications of agent technology require new ways of thinking about working with an agent, new requirements for agent-oriented middleware, and additional types of social behavior to be considered when designing a multiagent system.

Computer Aided Emotional Fashion

Abstract It has been shown by Picard, in her book ‘Affective Computing’ that human–computer interaction can be improved by simulating social interaction between human beings. Within the field of affective computing, human–computer interaction is explored through computers that recognise, represent and respond appropriately to our emotional states. By amalgamating this technology with fashion design, a new paradigm is proposed. We have named this paradigm CAEF, which stands for Computer Aided Emotional Fashion. In contemporary culture one of the functions of fashion is as an interface between the individual and society. It is a visual display of choice and a powerful cultural communicator of self. By merging fashion with an existing real-time platform termed ‘AffectiveWare’ we aim to create clothing that is personalised by the emotions of the individual. The physiological states strongly connected with human emotion will be measured in real-time and expressed through the clothing display to create an ‘Emotional Wardrobe’. This is a clothing that is able to represent and stimulate emotional response in human–human interaction.

Character animation scripting languages: a comparison

Designing lifelike animated agents presents a challenging agenda for research. Such agent metaphors will only be widely applicable to real-time applications when there is a standardised way to map underlying engines with the visual presentation of the agents. As a number of such scripting languages are now emerging, there appears to be the need for the research community to look at and agree upon the requirements of and the expectations from them.In this paper we address the current fragmentation in the field of embodied character animation and representation. We outline functions and specifications of the markup languages for scripting animation and the representing attributes of virtual characters.

Toward a Unified Scripting Language: Lessons Learned from Developing CML and AML

Life-like animated agents present a challenging ongoing agenda for research. Such agent metaphors will only be widely applicable to online applications when there is a standardized way to map underlying engines with the visual presentation of the agents. This chapter delineates functions and specifications of two markup languages for scripting the animation of virtual characters. The first language is Character Markup Language (CML) which is an XML-based, embodied agent, character attribute, definition and animation scripting language designed to aid in the rapid incorporation of life-like agents into online applications or virtual reality worlds. CML is constructed based jointly on motion and multi-modal capabilities of virtual human figures. The other is Avatar Markup Language (AML) which is also an XML-based multi-modal scripting language designed to be easily understandable by human animators as well as easily generated by a software process such as an agent. We illustrate the constructs of the two languages and look at some examples of usage. The experience gained through the development of two such languages with different approaches yet similar aims highlights the need for a degree of unification. This is especially true given that a number of other similar languages exist as illustrated in other parts of this book. We attempt to define metrics for comparison of a set of these languages with the aim of identifying salient constructs for a unified scripting language.

A Developer's Perspective on Multi-agent System Design

This paper draws upon the practical experience gained in the development of software agents for the deployment of intelligent distributed services and information access. We review a set of multi-agent architectures starting from the communication and co-ordination requirements of such systems. The aim is to illustrate the common components in current designs and implementations of MAS which are often based on the communication nature of these systems. Further to this we show some benefits and drawbacks of these systems that are developed form this aspect. Part of the limitations of these systems is due to basing their communication semantic interpretation on the belief desire and intention model (BDI) which is a mental agency. The mental agency is used for the internal reasoning part of the agent and places implicit assumptions on the communication behaviour. We examine this limitation and report on how two MASs overcome some of the constraints. In light of these practical solutions we outline some pragmatic design concepts in reducing potential constraints of the BDI model on the communication layer. The result is a discussion about how to bridge between mental agency dependencies and the role of social agency when developing multi-agent systems.

Using an Asset Model for Integration of Agents and Multimedia to Provide an Open Service Architecture

KIMSAC — Kiosk-based Integrated Multimedia Service Access for Citizens — is a project supported by EUs ACTS program (030). It aims to provide a flexible way for citizens to access intricate and complex information provided on public information kiosks. An open agent architecture is used to co-ordinated, enhance and extend service provision and the necessary information flow which characterises satisfaction of service requests. The metaphor of a personal service assistant (PSA) builds on this architecture and is used to provide citizens with flexible and efficient access to services and information to realise a client-centred design which is targeted to use. An appropriate technology for providing information services is multimedia in terms of information visualisation and user interaction. Information services are provided by agents, which will simplify the addition of new services to the kiosk. An open agent architecture is used and it requires a comprehensive asset model to support the integration of multimedia services. This paper explains how to achieve integration, from defining assets, supporting the PSA metaphor, rendering the dynamically created assets to the requirements of the agent technology to provide open services.