Athor supplied : "This paper describes an agent-based architecture for domotics. This architecture is based on requirements about expandability and hardware independence. The heart of the system is a multi-agent system. This system is distributed over several platforms to open the possibility to tie the agents directly to the actuators, sensors and devices involved. This way a level of abstraction is created and all intelligence of the system as a whole is related to the agents involved. A proof of concept has been built and functions as expected. By implementing real and simulated devices and an easy to use graphical interface, all kind of compositions can be studied using this platform."
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Conference proceedings International Symposium on Intelligent Manufacturing Environments
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Intelligent internationalization, as outlined by Laura Rumbley in 2015, is a relevant notion to explore in specific institutional settings. The setting in this contribution is that of The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS) and in order to understand intelligent internationalization in practice, the specific setting of the institution needs to be clarified first. The Hague, with its approximately 530,000 inhabitants, is not the capital of the Netherlands, but is the seat of government and therefore houses the parliament, ministries, embassies, and is also the residence of the royal house. The Hague has a long tradition as the host of international institutions. The 1899 and 1907 peace conferences were held in the city and the Peace Palace, opened in 1913, is home to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). Since 2002, The Hague also houses the International Criminal Court (ICC). The city thus provides a learning environment for all students (both domestic and international) at THUAS, not only through the internships that are a key component of all programs, but also through engagement with cultural organizations and local communities. The Hague University of Applied Sciences provides higher professional education to about 28,000 students, in more than 50 bachelor’s programs, as well as in a limited number of applied master’s programs. Nine programs are delivered in English. THUAS is an UNESCO institution and aims to be the most international university of applied sciences in the Netherlands by 2020, focusing on world citizenship skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving, and intercultural competence for all its students. THUAS’ student body is highly diverse with approximately 40% of its students having a non-Dutch background.
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The project proposal focuses on Virtual Humans (VHs) emerging as a Key Enabling Technology (KET) for societal prosperity. VHs (or embodied, digital, intelligent agents) are highly realistic and highly interactive digital representations of humans in entertainment of serious applications. Most known examples – beyond video games and virtual media productions – are virtual influencers, virtual instructors, virtual news readers, and virtual doctors/patients in health care or therapy. It is increasingly difficult for academic and applied researchers, let alone for users and policymakers, to keep up with the technological developments, societal uses, and risks of VHs. Due to its expertise in game technology, immersive media, and applied AI, BUas is one of the leading partners of the regional Virtual Human Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) agenda. MindLabs coordinates this agenda with BUas, Fontys Uas, and Tilburg University as principal partners. The multidisciplinary RDI agenda integrates design and engineering research, use case applications and evaluation as well as ethics and critical societal reflection. This regional Virtual Humans agenda, however, is not (yet) linked to the EU RDI agenda. Collaboration on Virtual Humans RDI is not yet well established in EU institutions and networks. The aim of this project is to 1) strengthen (our) European-knowledge position on VHs by joining and building networks to find out what the research and innovation agenda on VHs looks like; 2) Conduct one or more experimental studies on empathic interaction between real- and virtual humans to develop a multidisciplinary R&D agenda (pilot title: 'Virtual Humans – Real Emotions'); 3) Develop the ideas, content and partnerships for strong EU-funded RDI proposals In the VESPER project, we partner up with researchers and knowledge institutes the Humbolt University and the University of Bremen in Germany and Howest in Belgium.
