Applying ontologies and agent technologies to generate ambient intelligence applications

Abstract

The specification of agent systems comprises different dimensions normally defined using distinct formalisms. Since this lack of a uniform representation makes harder to express how each level affects the others, we propose an ontology to integrate the formalisms that originally cover a single multi-agent system dimension. In doing this, we align semantic technologies and knowledge representation for agents, environments, and organisations providing agent-oriented designers with a unified approach for developing complex systems. In our approach, we represent the abstractions typical of each multi-agent system dimension as an ontology, and we exemplify both the use of such ontologies to model an eldercare application in the context of ambient intelligence and smart cities, as well as how the ontology concepts support coding in agent platforms. We discuss the implications of such integrated view for designing agents, and highlight its advantages for agent-based software development.