Deliverables Asset Compiler - a system for compiling declarative asset descriptions Summary: The KIMSAC project has proposed a declarative approach to asset description. An asset description contains certain characteristics that are completely determined (typically rendering characteristics), but also a parametric part, where the "values" are determined when the asset is to be rendered ("binding the asset"). To turn the declarative descriptions into an operational form, an asset compiler and run-time support system has been developed. The compiler translates the asset description into (1) Java code that defines the non-changeable properties of the asset, and (2) a code template where the actual bindings are filled in. This compiler is complemented by an asset creation run-time system, where the code templates are filled in and the completely determined asset is sent off to be rendered. Agent Services Layer Summary: The Agent Services Layer is a software component that enables the development of applications utilizing Intelligent Agent technology. The intention is for Broadcom to commercially exploit the ASL by developing it as a standalone software product as well as providing consultancy on its use for developing Intelligent Agent systems. The ASL has been used in a number of prototype systems and is thus more tested and hence reliable than a typical prototype but less so than a commercial software product. Potential application domains for this technology is very wide, it has or is being applied in the domains of Telecoms network management, Electronic Commerce, Multimedia service delivery, travel planning. An additional attraction of the ASL is the support it provides for the development of software applications spanning different operating systems and written in different programming languages. PS - a multimedia presentation system Summary: Multimedia rendering is supported by the Presentation System. This system provides support for automatic layout management of multimedia assets using media-specific content handlers. It also provides life-cycle management of these content handlers, on-the-fly property parameterization and behavioural tailoring via scripts, as well as safe mechanisms for communication between asynchronous content handlers. It is Java-based, and hence portable to practically all platforms, and integratable in modern Java-based applications. It can function as a component of a complete Java application, or as a separate presentation system communicating with other application components via a number of communication mechanisms. The system has been developed in the KIMSAC project, and has also been used in a number of other demonstration projects. Video System Summary: 1. Video System During the project the Video System has been developed. Four main releases have been produced : - Release 1 : a prototype - Release 2 : a distributed version, installed on both KIMSAC server and each kiosk - Release 3 : a helper then a plugin application - Release 4 : a final system, integrated in a CORBA environment Release 2, 3, and 4 have been / will be reused : A block of release 2 has already been reused in an other telecom application : communication by sockets encapsulated in a JAVA environment Release 3 has been reused when video display had to be integrated in an intranet web server Release 4 has not yet been reused, but there is no doubt that implementation of a software system in a CORBA environment will be required in the next years LAE - Prolog Based Agent Environment Summary: The prolog-based agent framework is aimed at situations where agents need complex reasoning on large problems. The Prolog platform on which this framework is based is an industrial Prolog that adheres to the Prolog standard, and offers high performance. As the Prolog system is available on a large number of platforms (from PCs to high-end workstations) the agent framework achieves the same high platform independence. The framework supports direct, high-speed communication between agents living in the same framework instance, and transparently supports communication with agents living outside this framework. The framework is can concurrently offer several different message transport mechanisms, and can be tailored to use any kind of message formats. Methodology for intelligent user interfaces design and testing. Summary: As a third level education and research institution TCD's approach to exploitation of project results necessarily differs from its industrial partners. Primarily exploitation takes place within the context of education and research as input to lecture materials and foundation and support for continuing research. Lecture materials - showing practical applications of theoretical topics - mean that students can see real implementations of a multimedia information system incorporating use of software agents and up-to-date encoding and compression technology such as use of MPEG-4. In the research area the Department of Computer Science at Trinity College have over 150 post graduate research students and Kimsac has provided source material and implementation studies for a number of these while three students will soon be awarded MSc degrees as a direct result of their contribution to Kimsac. As part of the continuing research effort within the College the know-how and methodology developed in the area of multimedia asset management and annotation for agent based systems will be a foundation for continued research in the area of multimedia and hypermedia object management in distributed systems which is a key research area of the department. The development of intelligent user interfaces, in addition to the extensive usability testing of the Kimsac interface, has led to additional research in the implementation of intelligent user interfaces. Specifically TCD has been successful, along with other partners, in a proposal under the Esprit thematic call "Intelligent Information Interfaces". Additionally as a result of a Kimsac demonstration TCD was invited to participate in a commercial tender to provide a graphical user interface for an interactive electronic magazine to be published by Cartermill International. The College provides a mechanism for development of research material into the commercial sector through the development of "campus companies". This mechanism provides premises and infrastructure support for researchers provided the research contributes to the education and research objectives of the college. Asset model (asset tool) Summary: The KIMSAC architecture was designed to support integration of multimedia and agent technology. The complexity of such an integration had to be simplified for a number of reasons: lack of existing technologies to support the project's aims, time constraints and the tackling of a new interface paradigm - the personal service assistant. The complexity of the technologies KIMSAC addressed meant that only parts of the system were designed for automation. The automation of multimedia content selection and content re-use was supported through the development of an asset tool. The asset tool was used by the user interface designers to describe multimedia content in a structured manner. This description of multimedia content can be understood as meta-data about content. A number of research bodies currently exist looking at different aspects of the need to provide structured semantic abstractions of content (W3C, SRKB Group (Shared Reusable Knowledge Bases), ADEPT project (service description language). The requirements of the KIMSAC project has placed it in the unique position to develop a system, which considers content from four different perspectives: - multimedia, - ontological level (domain as minimum), - service provision (task identification) and - co-ordination through an action language. Searching for OpenAIRE data... There was an error trying to search data from OpenAIRE No results available
