Agent Technology Diffusion National Roadshow

1. Agent Technology DiffusionNational Roadshow Canberra May 24, 2000

2. Overview • Context • The excitement of agents • Coffee break • The definition of agents • The reality of agents • International update

3. Presenters • Professor Liz Sonenberg • University of Melbourne • Dr Andrew Lucas • Agent-Oriented Software • Dr Klaus Fischer • DFKI • Company Presenters • AOS, The Distillery, DFKI, DSTO

4. Rapid Technology Diffusion Project • Supported by DCITA under SEQC programme • Provide Australian Software Industry with access to the latest technology • National Roadshow • Develop a model for technology diffusion (Under development, not addressed here) • Consultant visits for agent assessments

5. Agents in a Nutshell • An agent is a software program that operates autonomously in a (distributed) environment sensing events and interacting with other agents to perform its goals • New in its emphasis on environment and autonomy, consolidates need for communication

6. Why agents are useful • Aid to model a complex environment • Ability to perform in an open, dynamic, unpredictable environment • Ease of interfacing with legacy software • Potential for exploiting the Internet • Potential for more intelligent software

7. Agent developments • Activities in the U.S. • featured in SEA 2000 • AgentLink in Europe • Discussed later in morning

8. The excitement of agents • Virtual marketplace • Virtual enterprise • Virtual knowledge store • Virtual environments • Simulations • Robocup • Animated characters

9. Virtual Marketplace

10. Current Examples Worlds First Virtual Market Place http://www.icw.com/

11. E-Commerce ... Electronic Commerce: comprises activities of selling and purchasing products and services on line. • Business-to-Business (EDI/WebEDI Transactions) • Business-to-Consumer (Online Retailer, Auctions) • Consumer-to-Consumer (Marketplace, Auctions) • Consumer-to-Business (Reverse Auctions) Electronic Business: covers all activities devoted to electronic business processes and transactions.

12. single double outcry SB outcry SB descending ascending FPSB, Vickrey Call Market English Dutch CDA Classification of Classical Auction Types

14. Consumer Buying Behaviour (CBB) Comprises actions and decisions involved in buying and using goods and services on retail markets. Three stages of E-Commerce: • Stage 1 - Information • Need Identification • Product Brokering • Merchant Brokering What to buy? Who to buy from? • Stage 2 - Purchase • Negotiation & Order • Payment & Delivery What terms of transactions? • Stage 3 - Service • Product and Customer Service, • Evaluation of buying experience and vendor

15. Agents in electronic commerce • software agents in helping mediate online transactions • six primary consumer buying behavior stages and where several representative agent systems fall

16. “Tete-a-Tete helps consumers match their needs with on-line merchants' offerings via agent-mediated integrative negotiation techniques” • sales agents automate negotiation for merchants • shopping agents provide decision support to help shoppers determine the best merchant offering

17. Tete-a-Tete negotiates not only price but warranty length and options, shipping time and cost, service contract, return policy, payment options … • decision support is based upon multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT) • “T@T's MAUT mechanism provides shoppers with a real-time, utilitarian shopping experience”

18. www.frictionless.com • sales agents automate merchant negotiation • shopping agents help shoppers • multi-attribute comparisons • price, warranty length and options, shipping time and cost, service contract, return policy, payment options … (another university startup (USA))

19. Towards agents for trading • technology mediated, e.g. • purchaser and goods physically separated • negotiation conducted with IT support • agent mediated • www.frictionless.com • www.extempo.com • agent driven • ...

20. Virtual Enterprises (VE)

21. Definition of a VE • [Byrne+93] VE = temporary union of independent enterprises which share abilities, costs, and market chances • [Arnold+95] • co-operation of legally independent enterprises • temporary • product and service oriented • participants offer their core competencies • VE offers a unique identity to the outside • no institutionalisation (e.g. central office) • operative work is based on IT

22. Set-up and Management of a VE • Set-up of a Virtual Enterprise • Product or service specification • Specification of the business process • Allocation of sub-processes to partners • Synthesis of overall process • Management of a Virtual Enterprise • Marketing • Supply Chain Management • Accounting

23. Set-up of a VE

24. Resource Allocation in a VE Factory scheduling market for resource allocation

25. P U L L P U S H Legend: = Material and Information Flow Legend: = Information Flow Supply Chain Management (SCM) Co-ordination of material and information flow in a network of suppliers, producers, distribution centres and retailers in which raw material is acquired, transformed into products and delivered to customers. (M. S. Fox, 94)

26. Agent-Based VE

27. Why agents are particularly useful? • Potential for exploiting the Internet • Ease of interfacing with legacy software • Aid to model a complex environment • Ability to perform in an open, dynamic, unpredictable environment • Potential for more intelligent software

28. The Virtual Knowledge Space • Information agents • AiA • Gossip • Verity • JUSTICE, an example of an info agent

29. What is an information agent? • Finding information from Internet • Automate searching task • Must cope with diversity • Beyond search engines

30. Gossip: A mobile info. agent • Written by Tryllian http://www.tryllian.com/index3.html • Agents are sent out into the Internet on the user's behalf to collect information • Gossip agents are mobile • Agents execute on other host computers • Log off the Internet or turn off your computer, and agents will be waiting to return

31. Gossip sources of information • Gossip agents draw information from a variety of sources • Search engines • Online databases • Information traded with other agents.

32. Gossip user interface • 5 agents • playground as home • carry backpacks • Internet black hole

33. Using Gossip • User selects a backpack • Backpack is loaded on agent • Search time specified • Agent dragged to the Internet • Agent returns after search is complete • Backpack opened and information browsed

35. AiA: Information Integration for Virtual Webpages PAN Travel Agent Andi Car Route Planner Yahoo News Server Yahoo Weather Server Gault Millau Restaurant Guide Hotel Guide

36. Virtual Webpage Retrieved from 5 Different Servers

37. The Personal Picture Finder

38. Verity • “Verity's Agent technology integrates advanced search and retrieval technologies to proactively search, filter, categorize, and deliver information to users from the Internet or corporate intranet” • “Use Verity's Agent Server Toolkit to build customized retrieval systems as simple as personal news pages or as complex as executive briefing systems, message routing systems or news subscription services”

39. Court Jurisdiction Division CtName Registry State City Country JUSTICE An agent-based enabling technology • concept-based search (Find all negligence cases where Judge Judy awarded for the plaintiff) • summarisation • statistics collection (Which judge is most likely to award for a plaintiff in a personal injury case?) • Performs well for Australian law cases

40. Virtual environments • Simulation for manufacturing, wargames • Robocup and Roborescue • Believable agents

41. Flexible Manufacturing Plant Model

42. 3D Simulation Environment

43. dMARSTM SWARMM • DSTO/AOD and AAII • pilot reasoning and tactics evaluation • agent component uses • Video clip

44. STOW-97/ TacAirSoar • Soar • based on production rules • TacAirSoar • modelled fixed wing aircraft (over 5000 rules) • 15 different types of aircraft • flew 722 missions over 48 hours • median mission time 3 hrs • typically 30 to 80 aircraft airborne • only 5% of missions had hardware or software problems • ran on 25 Pentiums

45. 1997 World Cup winners (small robot league) • a complex task in an adversarial environment • multiple agents need to collaborate to achieve specific objectives • a challenging research domain

46. Reactivity • Ball control Virtual Worlds, A-Life + Entertainment: RoboCup World Championship Telerobotics: ROTEX Space Lab Flexible Manufacturing: Automated Loading Dock Virtual Worlds Telerobotics Flexible Manufacturing Autonomous Agents • Deliberation • Tactics • Coordination • Team strategy • Adaptivity • Stamina • Managing time

47. Victim agents Robot agents Holonic s upport i nfra - structure Rescuer agents The RoboCup Rescue Scenario Extension of the RoboCup Soccer idea: • Practical use in disaster operations • Cooperative research – many models • Variety of planning problems Research Interests of COGs: • Rescue crews must share limited resources • Agents make decisions under time pressure and uncertain knowledge of the environment • Rescue agents must co-operate with one another - building holonic structures

48. Work on RoboCup Rescue • Developing a fast, customisable simulation engine • Implementing agents in an extended architecture • Developing resource-adapting decision support system

49. Animated characters • Ananova • Persona • Extempo

50. Video • Persona