Hummel and Landy : Statistical Viewpoint on Theory of Evidence

Abstrucl-We describe a viewpoint on the DempsterlSbafer “theory of evidence,” and provide an interpretation which regards the combination formulas as statistics of the opinions of “experts.” This is done by introducing spaces with binary operations that are simpler to interpret or simpler to implement than the standard combinat ion formula, and showing that these spaces can be mapped homomorphical ly onto the DempsterlShafer theory of evidence space. The experts in the space of “opinions of experts” combine information in a Bayesian fashion. W e present alternative spaces for the combinat ion of evidence suggested by this viewpoint.