We present a formalism for programming complex multiagent reactive systems in a structured manner. The motivation behind this work is to obtain a simple semantic framework for such reactive systems. The approach followed is to build upon a timed extension of concurrent constraint programs that have been used to present an elegant declarative framework for reactive systems. Timed concurrent cons...

Complex systems call for a hierarchical description. Analogously, the engineering of non-trivial MASs (multiagent systems) requires principles and mechanisms for a multi-layered description, which could be used by MAS designers to provide different level of abstractions over MASs. In this paper, we first advocate the need for zooming mechanisms, promoting a coherent and consistent multi-layered...

The main possibilities and challenges of agent-based recommender systems are examined.

Although a wide variety of multi-agent systems have been developed to address various processing-specific issues, they share a number of attributes concerning visualization and control. A set of minimum functionality is proposed that may be considered when designing visualizations representing multiagent system properties and control options. Each of these guidelines helps to define a standard ...

Since 1994 we are told to believe that software agents will become the next revolution in computer science [5]. This change is to occur not only in the ways we construct software [4] but it is also to have a much broader impact on the field of human-computer interaction [3,5]. Unfortunately, as it is easy to see, the revolution prophesized in 1994 does not seem to materialize (regardless of the...

Since 1994 we are told to believe that software agents will become the next revolution in computer science [3]. This change is to occur not only in the ways we construct software [2] but it is also to have a much broader impact on the field of human-computer interaction [1,3]. Unfortunately, as it is easy to see, the revolution prophesized in 1994 does not seem to materialize (regardless of the...

One of the key requirements in collaborating distributed applications is that their sub-systems remain synchronized during their joint operation. With increasing deployment of software ”teams”, composed of distributed applications in complex, dynamic settings, there is an increasing need to also be able respond to failures that occur in their synchronization and coordinated operation, in partic...

The aim of this paper is to give a survey on the development and applications of evolutionary multi-agent systems (EMAS). The paper starts with a general introduction describing the background, structure and behaviour of EMAS. EMAS application to solving global optimisation problems is presented in the next section along with its modification targeted at lowering the computation costs by early ...

The paper contributes to research on component and multiagent systems by presenting a practical approach to the development of a modular and reusable middleware. In particular, we address the problem of the construction of the core of a middleware for MAS. Then we introduce two case studies for two different application domains: biological data integration and quality assurance in manufacturing...

We have all heard about a “science fiction” vision comprising agents running around the Web performing complex actions for normal users. Although, many people think that such a dream is far from reality, yet James Hendler thinks that such a concept is quite achievable in the Semantic Web. The Semantic Web will not primarily consist of neat ontologies, rather it will be a complex web of ontologi...