Artificial Intelligence Methods for Ambient Intelligence

Ambient Intelligence (ISTAG (2001) Scenarios for Ambient Intelligence in 2010) is a vision that enables intelligent environments with pervasive technology. In this vision human users are at the cent re, but machine and human are seen as equal, collaborating, to improve both human being and machine performance. Ambient Intelligence offers many benefits. For example, by inst rumenting public and private spaces to understand their user s activities and requirements, embedded intelligent systems can react by guiding an elderly person, helping shoppers in a mall, entertaining children, performing safety checks in the operation of complex machinery, maintaining the environment , and monitoring large and crowded concourses. Artificial intelligence is the key technology for enabling and catalyzing this vision. In particular, AI methods will make it possible to model complex evolving scenes, recognize and represent user intent , and tailor system behavior to the needs of its users. This spec ia l i ssue seeks submiss ions in the f o l l owing (but no t l im i t ed t o ) :