Activity Theory as a Framework for MAS Coordination

Ricci, Alessandro; Omicini, Andrea; Denti, Enrico

doi:10.1007/3-540-39173-8_8

Cited by 51 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…They embody and enact the laws of MAS coordination and can be used by engineers to rule MAS behavior and drive the system towards the achievement of its global goals. The behavior of coordination artifacts can be adapted at runtime, cognitive agents can act over the artifacts to affect and suitably change the MAS behavior [62]. This latter reflective usage of coordination artifacts provides a potential means for self-organizing MAS.…”

Section: Perspective On the Environment In Cognitive Agent Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Environment as a first class abstraction in multiagent systems

Weyns

Omicini

Odell

2006

Auton Agent Multi-Agent Syst

Self Cite

332

205

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The current practice in multiagent systems typically associates the environment with resources that are external to agents and their communication infrastructure. Advanced uses of the environment include infrastructures for indirect coordination, such as digital pheromones, or support for governed interaction in electronic institutions. Yet, in general, the notion of environment is not well defined. Functionalities of the environment are often dealt with implicitly or in an ad hoc manner. This is not only poor engineering practice, it also hinders engineers to exploit the full potential of the environment in multiagent systems.In this paper, we put forward the environment as an explicit part of multiagent systems. We give a definition stating that the environment in a multiagent system is a first-class abstraction with dual roles: (1) the environment provides the surrounding conditions for agents to exist, which implies that the environment is an essential part of every multiagent system, and (2) the environment provides an exploitable design abstraction for building multiagent system applications. We discuss the responsibilities of such an environment in multiagent systems and we present a reference model for the environment that can serve as a basis for environment engineering. To illustrate the power of the environment as a design abstraction, we show how the environment is successfully exploited in a real world application. Considering the environment as a first-class abstraction in multiagent systems opens up new horizons for research and development in multiagent systems.

show abstract

Section: Perspective On the Environment In Cognitive Agent Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such reflective interface enables cognitive agents to modify the functional behavior of the environment. The work on artifacts is a promising approach that proposes support at the reflective level as a means for self-organizing MAS [62].…”

Section: Levels Of Support Provided By the Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environment as a first class abstraction in multiagent systems

Weyns

Omicini

Odell

2006

Auton Agent Multi-Agent Syst

Self Cite

332

205

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Roles are descriptions of the behavior which is expected by agents who, with their own mental attitudes, play these roles: the role's expected behavior is described in terms of mental attitudes, since roles are considered socially constructed agents. Modelling roles by attributing them mental attitudes allows a more expressive way to describe the expected behavior with respect, e.g., the scripts proposed by Activity Theory [14]. In this manner, we have a way to structure an organization in components with an homogeneous character -since they are all agents -in the same way as the object orientation allows structuring objects by means of objects.…”

Section: From Objects To Socially Constructed Agentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the end of the process there are only human or software agents which, to coordinate their behavior, behave as if they all attribute the same beliefs, desires and goals to the organization. This is a subjective approach to coordination [14].…”

Section: From Objects To Socially Constructed Agentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organizations as Socially Constructed Agents in the Agent Oriented Paradigm

Boella

Torre

2005

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. In this paper we propose a new role for the agent metaphor in the definition of the organizational structure of multiagent systems. The agent metaphor is extended to consider as agents also social entities like organizations, groups and normative systems, so that mental attitudes can be attributed to them -beliefs, desires and goals -and also an autonomous and proactive behavior. We show how the metaphor can be applied also to structure organizations in functional areas and roles, which are described as agents too. Thus, the agent metaphor can play a role similar to the object oriented metaphor which allows structuring objects in component objects. Finally, we discuss how the agent metaphor addresses the problems of control and communication in such structured organizations.

show abstract

“…Human organisation and organisation infrastructures, that are populated by humans (as participants and part of the organisation machinery), and by rich sets of artifacts and tools that humans use to support their activities inside the organisation and the organisation itself, encapsulating essential infrastructure services. According to psycho-sociological theories and studies such as Activity Theory and Distributed Cognition [22]-recently adopted in computer science fields such as CSCW, HCI and MAS [32,31,27]-the notion of artifact (and tool, taken here as a synonym) plays a key role for the overall sustainability of an organisation and the effectiveness and efficiency of activities taking place inside the organisation.…”

Section: An Organisational Infrastructures Based On Agents and Artifactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organisational Artifacts and Agents for Open Multi-Agent Organisations: “Giving the Power Back to the Agents”

Kitio¹,

Boissier²,

Hübner³

et al.

Coordination, Organizations, Institutions, and Norms in Agent Systems III

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The social and organisational aspects of agency have have become nowadays a major focus of interest in the MAS community, and a good amount of theoretical work is available, in terms of formal models and theories. However, the conception and engineering of proper organisational infrastructures embodying such models and theories is still an open issue, in particular when open MAS are considered. Accordingly, in this paper we discuss a model for an organisational infrastructure called ORA4MAS that aims at addressing these issues. By being based on the A&A (Agents and Artifacts) meta-model, the key and novel aspect introduced with ORA4MAS is that organisations and the organisation infrastructure itself are conceived in terms of agents and artifacts, as first-class basic abstractions giving body to the MAS from design to runtime. This is in analogy with human organisation and organisation infrastructures, that are populated by humans (as participants and part of the organisation machinery), and by rich sets of artifacts and tools that humans use to support their activities inside the organisation and the organisation itself, encapsulating essential infrastructure services.

show abstract

Activity Theory as a Framework for MAS Coordination

Cited by 51 publications

References 32 publications

Environment as a first class abstraction in multiagent systems

Environment as a first class abstraction in multiagent systems

Organizations as Socially Constructed Agents in the Agent Oriented Paradigm

Organisational Artifacts and Agents for Open Multi-Agent Organisations: “Giving the Power Back to the Agents”

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About