4I (FOR EYE) TECHNOLOGY

Intelligent Interface for Integrated Information

Oleksiy Khriyenko

Industrial Ontologies Group, MIT Department, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35(Agora),FIN-40014 Jyväskylä, Finland

Keywords: Groupware visual interfaces, integrated information visualization, GUI technology, context-aware GUI.

Abstract: Next generation of integration systems will utilize different methods and techniques to achieve the vision of

ubiquitous knowledge: Semantic Web and Web Services, Agent Technologies and Mobility. Nowadays,

unlimited interoperability and collaboration are the important things for industry, business, education and

research, health and wellness, and other areas of people life. All the parties in a collaboration process have

to share data as well as information about actions they are performing. Development of Global

Understanding eNvironment (GUN) (Kaykova et al., 2005), which would support interoperation between all

the resources (GUN-Resources) and exchange of shared information, is a very profit-promising and

challenging task. And generally, a graphical user interface, that helps to perform this interoperation and

collaboration processes in handy and easy for human/expert way, is one of the important things in a process

performing, and creation. Following new technological trends, it is time to start a new stage in user visual

interface development – a stage of semantic-based context-dependent multidimensional resource

visualization. Presented 4i technology is a step to achieve this goal.

1 INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, unlimited interoperability and

collaboration are the important things for industry,

business, education and research, health and

wellness, and other areas of people life. Thus, we

need an open environment to allow different

heterogeneous resources (software, data, devices,

humans, organizations, processes and etc.)

communicate and interoperate with each other. And

as usually, graphical user interface is one of the

important things in performing and creation of

interoperation and collaboration processes, and it is

one of the challenging tasks during the middleware

development.

Several information visualization techniques

have been developed in the last years due to the need

of representing and analyzing the huge amount of

data generated by several applications or made

available through the World Wide Web. Previously,

we had a deal with data visualization, precisely with

a data format representation. Depending on a data

format, whether it is a text, an image or a video,

graphical user interface presents the data in certain

way. On the next stage, small step has been done in

visualization of object part-of relations, namely as a

tree visualization. The second step was a step when

we came to semantic definition of the objects, and

have found a need to represent ontology concept tree

and semantic graph (Yuxin et al., 2005). But it was

just a step to semantics and ontology representation.

Next generation of integration systems will utilize

different methods and techniques to achieve the

vision of ubiquitous knowledge: Semantic Web and

Web Services, Agent Technologies and Mobility.

Recent expectations regarding a new generation of

the Web strongly depend on a success of Semantic

Web technology. Integration of heterogeneous

applications and data sources into an interoperable

system is one of the most relevant challenges for

many knowledge-based corporations nowadays.

Development of Global Understanding eNvironment

(GUN), which would support interoperation between

all the resources and exchange of shared

information, is a very profit-promising and

challenging.

Following new technological trends, we have a

need somehow to visualize resource properties (in

specific way, different from “directed arc between

objects” representation), various relations between

resources and inter-resource communication process.

And even more, we have a need to make context

278

Khriyenko O. (2007).

4I (FOR EYE) TECHNOLOGY - Intelligent Interface for Integrated Information.

In Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - HCI, pages 278-281

DOI: 10.5220/0002361602780281

 SciTePress

dependent visualization, to be able to represent

information in handy and adequate to a certain case

(context) way, to reach a plasticity of UIs (Thevenin

and Coutaz, 1999). Thus, the main focus in GUI

development will be concentrated on the resource

visualization aspects. Now, we have a challenging

task of semantic-based context-dependent

multidimensional resource visualization.

Regarding to the core characteristics of Web 2.0,

a website is no longer a static page to be viewed in a

browser, but is a dynamic platform upon which users

can generate their own experience. The richness of

this experience is powered by the implicit threads of

knowledge that can be derived from the content

supplied by users and how they interact with the site.

Another aspect of this Web as platform is sites

which provide users with access to their data

through well defined APIs and hence encourage new

uses of that data, e.g. through its integration with

other data sources.

The paper describes a technology for context-

aware intelligent visualization of integrated

information and a vision to groupware collaboration

approach.

2 4I (FOR EYE) TECHNOLOGY

Now it has become evident that we cannot separate

visual aspects of both data representation and

graphical interface from interaction mechanisms that

help a user to browse and query a data set through its

visual representation. Following GUN-Resource

centric approach, let us consider user interfaces for

context-based resource access and contextually

related information retrieving. The challenging task

is to create a visual interface that provides integrated

information from variety of information providers in

context-dependent way.

2.1 Information Retrieving/Access and

Representation

All GUN-Resources have a set of properties, and

some of these properties can be a basis for specific

visualization view of a resource and other related to

it resources. For example, part-of relation (if it

concerns physical relation of resources) can be

visualized as a 3D model of nested or somehow

connected resources; or 2D model, if third

dimension is not valuable (for example to present

the resources on a map, if they are part-of the

World). From the other side, part-of relation of a

GUN-Resource can be abstract and cannot mean any

physical contact with other resource. Resource can

be a part of some (business) process. In this case,

there is no physical contact between the parts and

such relation should be represented in different way

(relation graph). Or, if we consider contextual

property such as family relation of a person, then

visualization can be presented in a way of a

genealogical tree. Thus, depending on a context,

human/expert needs information (information

related to subject resource) to be visualized in

certain way. At the same time, an interface for

access to a resource also should be context

depended. This gives us one of the requirements for

visual interfaces – ability to represent information

regarding to chosen contextual property of a

resource. Such interface should allow user to simply

choose a context for data representation, and should

even support cases of multiple contextual property

selection for complex views and filtering purposes.

Such requirements can be met by MetaProviders -

sui generis portals of GUN-Resources with specific

visualization view. It is named as MetaProvider in a

sense that it provides an access and presents other

resources, which in turn are providers of own

information (data). All GUN-Resources have certain

own location (physical and digital). But it does not

mean that they should have just one way to get an

access to them. MetaProvider is an interface-

mediator that gives a possibility to mark/select a

resource (object) on its interface and provide the link

to original resource location. In other words, it

allows resource registration for further access to its

data. At the same time, any resource can be

registered on variety of different MetaProviders in

different views. The main feature of MetaProviders

is each party that take care of some GUN-Resource

registers the resource itself. It causes fast filling of

information accessible through MetaProvider. And

each user/resource in one moment has an access to

related information of amount of others. But such

interoperability brings a new requirement for the

MetaProviders and users. They should share

common ontology to be interoperable on semantic

level. Additionally to semantic interoperability,

GUN-Resources are proactive/goal-driven resources

and supplied with a Resource Agent for resource-to-

resource (R2R)/ agent-to-agent (A2A)

communication.

MetaProviders can play three main roles:

MetaProvider as a point of access to GUN-Resource

(based on a resource contextual property),

MetaProvider as a context-based search service for

InformationProviders/Consumer retrieving,

MetaProvider as an interface for integrated

4I (FOR EYE) TECHNOLOGY - Intelligent Interface for Integrated Information

279

information visualization (with context-aware

intelligent semantic filtering mechanism to present

just relevant information and avoid a glut of it).

2.2 Intelligent Context-aware GUI for

Integrated Information

Now we can define an intelligent context-aware

graphical user interface for integrated information

representation. It is a smart ensemble of Intelligent

GUI-Shell (smart middleware for context dependent

use and combination of a variety of different

MetaProviders depending on the user needs) and

MetaProviders as graphical interfaces that visualise

filtered integrated information (see Figure 1).

The

figure shows us a principle of such smart ensemble

work. There are three GUN-Resources (power line,

forest and weather) that are registered on a set of

MetaProviders. Let us consider GUN-Resource that

presents a power line as a main initiator of a

visualization process. Intelligent GUI, as a part of

GUN Platform, provides an opportunity for user to

initiate context-based search process that returns

appropriate MetaProvider or a set of them. Search

process can be performed via centralised or

decentralised system of MetaProviders registration.

Depending on a contextual property, Intelligent GUI

Shell provides an access to filtered set of retrieved

MetaProviders. Then user can register the resource

(if it is not registered yet) or/and get related to the

resource integrated information on MetaProvider

interface. It is not necessary that search result will

contain just one instance of a fit class of

MetaProviders. This is an open environment and

there is can be a set of various realizations of

MetaProviders from different producers. Also, GUI

Shell allows dynamic switching between

MetaProviders for more suitable information

representation, depending on a context (a set of

contextual resource properties). From other side,

MetaProvider provides API to specify information

filtering context – a context for visualization of

appropriate resources and their necessary properties.

In this scenario user asks the MetaProvider to show

resources in certain area around the subject resource

(power line) in the context of physical damaging and

relevant to this resource properties.

Thus, physical conditions of other two resources

(forest and weather that are shown in the figure)

have been requested and the values of correspondent

properties have shown on the interface. Now, when

GUN Platform

MetaProviders

Context-dependent retrieving

of appropriate MetaProviders

GUN-Resource

Contextual properties

Intelligent

GUI Shell

Search context

(location)

Wind direction

– N:E

Request

Request (physical condition)

Response

Response (fire, forest work)

Request

Request (weather condition)

Response

Response (wind direction)

GUN Platform

Fire

- true

Forest work

- false

GUN

Resource

Filtering

context

(physical damage)

Figure 1: Intelligent Interface for Integrated Information (4i technology).

ICEIS 2007 - International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems

280

expert has recognised alarm situation, he/she

need, for example, to change the architecture of the

electrical chain (electricity supplying) and for this

purpose can easily switch to another MetaProvider

with more appropriate internal view of power line

architecture. Another valuable benefit of such smart

ensemble architecture is possibility to perform

autonomous agent-based resource communication

via MetaProvider’s and GUI Shell APIs. It is an

open environment for MetaProviders and it is a good

base for different business models that can be built

on it. Thus, with a purpose to be an interoperable

part of open environment, each player has to be

supplied with API and should be semantically

adapted to understand the requests and to provide

understandable response.

3 CONCLUSION

Now, when human becomes very dynamic and

proactive resource of a large integration

environment with a huge amount of different

heterogeneous data, it is quite necessary to provide a

technology and tools for easy and handy human

information access and manipulation. Semantic-

based context-dependent multidimensional resource

visualization provides an opportunity to create

intelligent visual interface that presents relevant

information in more suitable and personalized for

user form. Context-awareness and intelligence of

such interface brings a new feature that gives a

possibility for user to get not just raw data, but

required information based on a specified context. 4i

(FOR EYE) is an ensemble of Platform Intelligent

GUI Shell and visualization modules –

MetaProviders that provide context-dependent

representation view of resource data and integration

on two levels. These are: information (data)

integration of the resources to be visualized; and

integration of resource representation views with a

handy resource browsing in different dimensions.

There are already a lot of developed domain-

oriented software applications, which try to visualize

the data in domain specific and suitable for human

way (graphics software from SmartDraw®

concept-browser Conzilla

and Human Semantic

Web browser Conzilla2, Google Maps, etc.) Now,

when unlimited interoperability and collaboration

demand data and information sharing, we need more

open semantic-based applications that are able to

SmartDraw® - www.smartdraw.com

Conzilla concept-browser – www.conzilla.org

interoperate and collaborate with each other. Ability

of the system to perform semantically enhanced

resource search/browsing based on resource

semantic description brings a valuable benefit for

today Web and for the Web of the future with

unlimited amount of resources. Subscribing to an

opinion of (Nixon, 2006), bridging the gap between

the emerging folksonomies of Web 2.0 and the

formal semantics of Semantic Web, ontologies

would benefit the Semantic Web community with

being able to leverage the content and knowledge

that Web 2.0 is already generating from its users and

making available over standardized APIs. Proposed

technology allows creation of a Human-centric open

environment for resource collaboration with an

enhanced semantic and context-based visual

resource browsing. It can be considered as a new

valuable extension of text-based Semantic

MediaWiki to Context-based Visual Semantic

MediaWiki. This is a good basis for the different

business, production, maintenance, healthcare, social

process models creation and multimedia content

management.

REFERENCES

Kaykova, O., Khriyenko, O., Kovtun, D., Naumenko, A.,

Terziyan, V., Zharko, A., 2005. General Adaption

Framework: Enabling Interoperability for Industrial

Web Resources , In: International Journal on

Semantic Web and Information Systems, Idea Group,

ISSN: 1552-6283, Vol. 1, No. 3, July-September 2005,

pp.31-63.

Nixon L., 2006. Multimedia, Web 2.0 and the Semantic

Web: a strategy for synergy, In: First International

Workshop on Semantic Web Annotations for

Multimedia (SWAMM), as a part of the 15th World

Wide Web Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland, 22-26

May, 2006.

Thevenin, D., Coutaz, J., 1999. Plasticity of User

Interfaces: Framework and Research Agenda. In

Proceedings of Interact'99, vol. 1, Edinburgh: IFIP,

IOS Press, 1999, pp. 110-117.

Yuxin, M., Zhaohui, W., Zhao, X., Huajun, C., Yumeng,

Y., 2005. Interactive Semantic-Based Visualization

Environment for Traditional Chinese Medicine

Information. In Web Technologies Research and

Development - APWeb 2005, 7th Asia-Pacific Web

Conference, Shanghai, China, March 29 - April 1,

2005, Springer, volume 3399/2005, ISBN 978-3-540-

25207-8, pp. 950-959.

4I (FOR EYE) TECHNOLOGY - Intelligent Interface for Integrated Information

281