The Second International Conference on
AUTONOMOUS AGENTS (Agents '98)
Sunday May 10-Wednesday May 13, 1998
Minneapolis/St Paul
http://www.cis.udel.edu/~agents98/
Sponsored by ACM/SIGART and in cooperation with AAAI
INTRODUCTION
Autonomous agents are computer systems that are capable of independent
action in dynamic, unpredictable environments. Agents are also one of
the most important and exciting areas of research and development in
computer science today. Agents are currently being applied in domains
as diverse as computer games and interactive cinema, information
retrieval and filtering, user interface design, and industrial process
control. The aim of the Agents'98 conference is to bring together
researchers and developers from industry and academia in order to
report on the latest scientific and technical advances, discuss and
debate the major issues, and showcase the latest systems. Agents'98
will build on the enormous success of the First International
Conference on Autonomous Agents (Agents'97), held in Marina del Rey
in February 1997, which was attended by some 500 people.
The conference welcomes submissions of original, high quality papers
and videos with summaries concerning autonomous agents in a variety of
embodiments and playing a variety of roles in their environments. The
Agents'98 conference, like its predecessor, will focus primarily on
systems that have been or are being implemented; theory papers are
welcome provided that they clearly relate to such systems, for example
by helping us to predict their behaviour, explain, or understand
them. The submission of pure theory papers is not encouraged: there
are other, more appropriate forums for such work.. Papers that address
isolated agent capabilities (such as planning or learning) are
similarly discouraged. Evaluation of agents or multi-agent systems
will be a necessary component of each submission.
In addition to technical presentations of papers and videos, the
conference will include panel sessions involving internationally
recognised experts in the field, software and robotic agent
demonstrations, and an exhibits session. More generally, the
conference will strive towards an informal atmosphere with plenty of
time for presentations, questions, and discussions. Accepted papers
will be formally published in a Conference Proceedings. A limited
number of student scholarships will be available. The conference will
also include tutorials and workshops that will take place May 9, 1998.
CONFERENCE THEMES
Technical isses to be addressed include, but are not restricted to:
* action selection and planning
* agent architectures
* agent communication languages and their semantics
* autonomous robots
* believability
* collaboration between people and agents
* communication between people and agents
* coordinating perception, thought, and action
* expert assistants
* evolution of agents
* human-like qualities of synthetic agents
* information agents
* instructability
* integration and coordination of multiple activities
* knowledge acquisition and accumulation
* life-like qualities
* longer-term adaptation and learning
* artificial market systems
* meta-modeling of an agent by itself
* middle-agents (e.g., matchmakers, brokers, routers)
* mobile agents
* modeling the environment
* modeling the behavior of other agents
* models of emotion
* models of motivation
* models of personality
* multi-agent communication, coordination, and collaboration
* multi-agent simulation
* multi-agent teams
* network and mobile agents
* organization of agent societies
* real-time performance
* synthetic agents
* user modeling
PAPER & VIDEO SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Paper and video submission is a 2 part process:
1. You *must* send in an electronic title page and abstract. This
must be done via the following WWW page:
http://www.aaai.org/Conferences/AA98ss/submit.html
Full instructions are provided on this page. Title pages must
be submitted no later than **1 October, 1997**. If you are
genuinely unable to complete the online form (e.g., you do not
have WWW access), then please contact the conference program
chairs as soon as possible, and in any event before the submission
deadline.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The electronic title page site is likely to be
very busy on 1 October. You are strongly urged to submit this
title page *as far* in advance of 1 October as possible.
2. You *must* submit hardcopies of your papers -- electronic
submission is NOT acceptable. Paper submissions must arrive
no later than **October 1, 1997**. Submissions received after
this date will be returned unopened. Authors should submit six
(6) copies of papers. All papers will be reviewed by the
program committee, and authors will be notified of acceptance
by December 15, 1997. Submitted papers must be printed on 8
1/2" x 11" or A4 paper using 12 point type (10 characters per
inch for typewriters). Each page must have no more than 38
lines and an average of 75 characters per line. (This
corresponds to LaTeX article style, 12 point.) Paper bodies
should be no longer than 6500 words, including references and
figures (assumed to represent the number of words they replace
on the manuscript page). Videos should be no longer than 10
minutes and accompanied by two page summaries, including
references and figures, but not including the title page.
Over-length papers will either be rejected or penalized in the
review process.
Paper and video submissions should be sent to:
AAAI (AGENTS 98)
445 Burgess Drive
Menlo Park CA 94025-3496
USA
TUTORIALS AT AGENTS 98
The program committee invites proposals for the tutorial program.
Tutorials will be offered on a variety of aspects of agent-related
research related to the main conference themes. The above list is by
no means exclusive; other agent-related topics will be considered, but
in correspondence with the general direction of the conference, we
especially encourage proposals for tutorials that emphasize the view
of agents as complete autonomous systems.
Anyone interested in presenting a tutorial should submit a proposal to
the Agents'98 Tutorial Chair, Anand Rao. A tutorial proposal should
contain the following information:
* A brief description of the tutorial, suitable for inclusion in the
conference registration brochure.
* A detailed outline of the tutorial.
* A clear statement of the necessary background and the potential
target audience for the tutorial.
* A description of why the tutorial topic is of interest to a
substantial part of the Agents'98 audience.
* A brief resume of the presenter(s), which should include
- name
- postal address
- phone and fax numbers
- email address (if available)
- background in the tutorial area (e.g., teaching experience,
any available example of work in the area).
It is suggested that potential tutorial proposers contact the Tutorial
Chair in advance if they have any questions or queries. Those
submitting a proposal should keep in mind that tutorials are intended
to provide an overview of the field; they should present
state-of-the-art information in a balanced way. Tutorials should not
be used to advocate a single avenue of research, nor should they
promote a specific product. It is planned that the Tutorial Program
will consist of about six half-day or full-day tutorials at the
beginning of the conference.
Proposals must be received no later than by October 1, 1997. The
electronic submission of proposals in PostScript format is
possible. Decisions about topics and speakers will be made by December
15, 1997. Tutors will be sent a set of guidelines for the preparation
of course materials. Completed course materials must be received for
duplication by January 15, 1998. Please note that Agents'98 will
normally only duplicate up to 200 pages per participant.
Please send proposals and any questions to:
Anand S. Rao (AGENTS 98 TUTORIALS)
Australian Artificial Intelligence Institute
Level 6, 171 La trobe Street
Melbourne, Victoria 3000
Australia
Tel +61-3-9663-7922
Fax +61-3-9663-7937
Email anand@aaii.oz.au
WORKSHOPS AT AGENTS 98
The Program Committee invites proposals for workshops to be held at
Agents'98. Workshops are intended to provide opportunities for
in-depth meetings and informal discussions about particular aspects of
agents. The topics listed above provide an indication of the types of
issues that might be addressed by workshops, though other
agent-related topics are welcome.
Potential Workshop organizers should e-mail the following information
to the workshop chair, Michael Huhns (huhns@sc.edu) no later than
September 15, 1997:
* Title of the proposed workshop
* Description of the workshop, including a strategy for recruiting and
selecting papers and participants
* List of workshop organizers
* The name, address, e-mail address, phone number, and fax number of
the person to contact
* Estimated number of participants
* Length (half-day/full-day) and suggested format.
All workshops will be held on May 9, 1997 (the day before the main
conference). All workshops will be either half-day or full-day.
The workshop organizers will be responsible for:
* Producing a call-for-participation and distributing it.
* Selecting workshop participants. A list of participants should be
submitted to the Agents'98 Organizing Committee by March 16, 1998.
* Producing the workshop notes. If camera ready copy of the notes is
submitted to the Agents'98 Committee by April 10, 1998, the Agents'98
Committee will produce copies of the workshop notes for workshop
participants.
The Agents'98 Committee will provide meeting places for the workshops
including nominal refreshments. The workshop participants are required
to register for the Agents'98 main conference. Workshop registration
will be handled by the Agents'98 Committee along with the main
conference registration.
Please send proposals and any questions to the Workshop Chair:
Michael N. Huhns (AGENTS 98 WORKSHOPS)
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
301 South Main Street
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
Tel (803) 777-5921
Fax (803) 777-8045
Email huhns@sc.edu
SOFTWARE DEMOS AT AGENTS 98
The Agents'98 conference will include a full session of software
demonstrations, showcasing the latest agent software products and
research projects. Details of the software demos session will be
announced soon; for further information, contact the software demos
chair:
Henry Kautz (AGENTS 98 SOFTWARE DEMOS)
AT&T Labs
Room A257
Florham Park
180 Park Avenue
PO Box 971
Florham Park, NJ 07932-0971
USA
Tel (973) 360-8310
Email kautz@research.att.com
ROBOTICS DEMOS AT AGENTS 98
The Agents'98 conference will include a full session of robotics
demonstrations, showcasing the latest in autonomous robot products and
research projects. Details of the robotics demos session will be
announced soon; for further information, contact the robotics demos
chair:
Robin Murphy (AGENTS 98 ROBOTICS DEMOS)
Dept. of Mathematical and Computer Sciences
Colorado School of Mines
Room 420 Stratton Hall
Golden, Colorado 80401
USA
Tel (303) 273-3874
Email rmurphy@mines.edu
EXHIBITS AT AGENTS 98
Agents'98 will include commercial exhibits that run throughout the
conference. Details will be announced soon; for further information,
contact the exhibits chair:
David Musliner (AGENTS 98 EXHIBITS)
Honeywell Technology Center
MN65-2200
3660 Technology Drive
Minneapolis, MN 55418
USA
Tel (612) 951-7599
Email musliner@src.honeywell.com
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE VENUE
http://www.cis.udel.edu/~agents98/venue/venue.html
The conference will take place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown
Minneapolis, the largest city in Minnesota. Minneapolis is located in
the southeastern part of the State, on the west bank of the Mississippi
river. The city of Saint Paul is located on the east bank of the
Mississippi river, and together Minneapolis and Saint Paul are known
as the Twin Cities. Minneapolis offers 22 lakes within the city limits
and 153 parks woven together by a 45-mile system of paved paths.
Jogging, biking, in-line skating and golfing vie with canoeing,
sailing, water skiing, and windsurfing for outdoor enthusiasts. There
are several public golf courses. Sports fans have three professional
sports teams to choose from: Timberwolves, Vikings, and the Twins. The
Minnesota Office of Tourism maintains extensive information at their
Web site at
http://www.state.mn.us/explore/index.html.
The conference hotel is on Nicollet Mall, a lively and mostly
pedestrian mall in downtown Minneapolis, with many shops and
restaurants. The Hotel has an athletic club and swimming pool, with
facilities for aerobics, and courts for basketball, handball,
racquetball, and tennis. Downtown Minneapolis is located
approximatively 11 miles from the Minneapolis International Airport.
Taxi, limousine services, and rental cars are available at the
airport. The cost of a taxi ride to the hotel is $18-20, the
limousine is $10.
Contact address for conference hotel:
Hyatt Regency Hotel
Minneapolis
1300 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55403
USA
Tel 612-370-1458,
Fax 612-370-1233
A special room rate will be offered for delegates, details to be
announced. The cutoff date for conference rate room reservations is
April 9, 1998.
For more information about the venue and host city, either see the
conference WWW site or contact the local organiser:
Maria Gini (AGENTS 98 LOCAL ORGANISER)
Department of Computer Science
University of Minnesota
4-192 EE/CSci Building
200 Union Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
USA
Tel (612) 625-5582
Email gini@cs.umn.edu
IMPORTANT DATES
September 15, 1997 Workshop proposals due
September 30, 1997 Notification of workshop acceptance
October 1, 1997 Tutorial proposals due
Deadline for electronic title pages
Deadline for receipt of papers and videos
October 15, 1997 Call for Workshop papers sent out
December 15, 1997 Paper/video notifications mailed
Tutors notifications will be mailed
January 15, 1998 Camera-ready copies of accepted papers due
Tutorial material due
Workshop papers due
April 9, 1998 Cutoff date for conference rate at hotel
May 9, 1998 Workshops and tutorials
May 10-13, 1998 Conference technical sessions
CONFERENCE OFFICIALS
General Chair:
Katia P. Sycara (Carnegie Mellon University)
Technical Program Co-Chairs:
Tim Finin (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
Mike Wooldridge (Queen Mary & Westfield College, UK)
Area Chairs:
Agents for Entertainment: Clark Elliot (DePaul University)
Robotic agents: Maja Mataric (Brandeis University)
Software agents: Dan Weld (University of Washington)
Finance Chair:
Milind Tambe (ISI/Uni of Sothern California)
Local Arrangements Chair:
Maria Gini (University of Minnesota)
Publicity Chair:
Keith Decker (University of Delaware)
Tutorial Chair:
Anand Rao (Australian AI Institute)
Workshops Chair:
Mike Huhns (University of S. Carolina)
Demonstration Chairs:
Software Agents: Henry Kautz (AT&T Labs)
Robotic Agents: Robin Murphy (Colorado School of Mines)
Poster Chair:
Afsaneh Haddadi (Daimler Benz)
Exhibits Chair:
David Musliner (Honeywell)
Registration Chair:
Bamshad Mobasher (U. of Minnesota)
PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Arvin Agah (JAPAN)
Ronald C. Arkin (USA)
George A. Bekey (USA)
Jeffrey M. Bradshaw (USA)
Robin Burke (USA)
Amedeo Cesta (ITALY)
Paolo Ciancarini (ITALY)
Philip R. Cohen (USA)
Marco Dorigo (BELGIUM)
Ed Durfee (USA)
Innes Ferguson (UK)
Richard Fikes (USA)
Klaus Fischer (GERMANY)
Dario Floreano (SWITZERLAND)
Erann Gat (USA)
Maria Gini (USA)
Keith Golden (USA)
Rod Grupen (USA)
Rune Gustavsson (SWEDEN)
Afsaneh Haddadi (USA)
Henry Hexmoor (USA)
Haym Hirsh (USA)
Ian Horswill (USA)
Francois Felix Ingrand (FRANCE)
Nick Jennings (UK)
Lewis Johnson (USA)
David Kinny (AUSTRALIA)
Hiroaki Kitano (JAPAN)
Matthias Klusch (D)
Craig A. Knoblock (USA)
Bruce Krulwich (ISRAEL)
Nick Kushmerick (USA)
Neal Lesh (USA)
Yves Lesperance (CANADA)
Mike Lewis (USA)
Alon Levy (USA)
Henry Lieberman (USA)
Pattie Maes (USA)
Ramon Lopez de Mantares (SPAIN)
James Mayfield (USA)
Francois Michaud (CANADA)
Joerg P. Mueller (GERMANY)
Hyacinth Nwana (UK)
Eugenio Oliveira (PORTUGAL)
Ei-Ichi Osawa (JAPAN)
Michael J. Pazzani (USA)
Alex (Sandy) Pentland (USA)
Scott Neal Reilly (USA)
Jeff Rosenschein (ISRAEL)
Daniela Rus (USA)
Munindar P. Singh (USA)
Gaurav S. Sukhatme (USA)
Gil Tidhar (AUSTRALIA)
Robert Trappl (AUSTRIA)
Jan Treur (NETHERLANDS)
Manuela M. Veloso (USA)
Peter Wavish (UK)
Gerhard Weiss (GERMANY)
Jim White (USA)
Wayne Wobcke (AUSTRALIA)
Stephane Zrehen (USA)
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