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HAI - A Human Agent Interface for JIAC
Sebastian Ahrndt, Marco Lutzenberger, Axel Heßler, and Sahin Albayrak
DAI-Labor, Technische Universitat Berlin, Germany
Ernst-Reuter-Platz 7
10587 Berlin, Germany
{
sebastian.ahrndt,marco.luetzenberger,axel.hessler,
sahin.albayrak
}
@dai-labor.de
Abstract.
There are many different application frameworks, which
accelerate user interface development by simplifying repetitive and time
consuming tasks. Most of these frameworks follow the widely accepted
Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture. Although, the existing frame-
works are optimized for the implementation of object-oriented applica-
tions. The special features and possibilities offered by agent applications
are not supported. Within this work, an architecture is designed, which
allows the integration of any user interface in agent applications. As an
extension of the MVC architecture, the advantages of agent-orientated
software engineering will be combined with the advantages of the exist-
ing application frameworks. This structure provides the base for the Hu-
man Agent Interface, which allows the integration of any user interface in
JIAC V agent systems.
Keywords:
Human Agent Interaction, Interface, Agent to non-agent
interoperability.
1
Introduction
The implementation of high-quality user interfaces (UI) is considered to be an
essential phase of almost any software project. The importance of UIs and the
complexity in developing them has been recognised long since. In an early work,
Myers
and
Rosson
[10] have analysed the implementation of user interfaces in
detail and estimate the expenses on up to 50% of the total budget. In order to
manage and accelerate the UI development, a large number of approaches and
technologies have been presented so far. Support is mainly provided by so-called
Application Frameworks
, which simplify repetitive and time consuming tasks by
providing tools, structures and reusable artefacts. Yet, as comprehensive and
sophisticated these frameworks are, their principle is usually geared towards
object-oriented structures and neglects support for other paradigms.
Due to their distributed nature, agent-based systems have an increased de-
mand for user interfaces. Each involved agent usually requires an interface for
configuration, management and observation purposes and, as the benefits of ap-
plication frameworks are indisputable, we invented a way to extend common
