Marcelo Blois

Using agents and ontologies for application development on the semantic web

The Semantic Web provides access to heterogeneous, distributed information, enabling software products to mediate between user needs and the information sources available. Agents are one of the most promising technologies for the development of Semantic Web software products. However, agent-based technologies will not become widespread until there are adequate infrastructures for the development of semantic multi-agent systems (MAS). Some challenges, such as turning software agents into practical abstractions for dealing with ontologies, taking advantage of the distributed nature of the Web to create distributed agents and making a seamless integration with existing Web tools, e.g. the browser, still need to be addressed. This paper describes the main features of the SemantiCore framework, an agent infrastructure to develop semantic MAS. A look at a benchmark Semantic Web application illustrates the SemantiCore potential as an infrastructure for the deployment of semantic agent applications.

Deploying Agents with the CORBA Component Model

In the past few years, the multi-agent systems (MAS) area has presented an accelerated growth. New techniques and tools are constantly being proposed and several methodologies have been published to support the development of MAS. Most of these methodologies concentrate on the system analysis phase, giving almost no support for MAS implementation. Since agents can be seen as sort of specialized distributed components, in this paper we propose an agent deployment model based on the CORBA Component Model. We also describe a case study to show the potential of an agent-based application development using this model.

Using AulaNet for Web-based course development

A variety of technologies are being used to replace or supplement the face-to-face learning process, including the World Wide Web. We present AulaNet, an environment for creating, updating and attending Web-based courses. We illustrate some dynamics of three experiments of course development and delivery with AulaNet, pointing out their features. We discuss how easy and how difficult it is to orchestrate technology for educational purposes.