Introducing Intelligent Environments, Agents and Autonomy to Users

Abstract

There is a long-standing debate over the role that intelligent agents should play and how much autonomy they should be given in user-centric systems such as intelligent environments and other pervasive computing technologies. A recent online survey has been conducted to assess people's opinions of the use of autonomy in intelligent environments. In order to conduct this survey, an animated video was created to explain the necessary concepts of intelligent environments to the survey participants. This short paper gives an overview of the online survey and discusses the explanation video.

One size does not fit all: Understanding user preferences for building automation systems

“…Ourfindingsdemonstrate the willingness of occupants to have some level of automation in their homes, as no automation choice appeared to be the least preferred option.This probably emerges from the fact that people have recently gained access to a more matured automation technology in different aspects of their lives and hence, they have more trust on the concept and applications of automation. Despite of the common desire for automation, as suggested by previous studies (e.g., [12,35]) and also confirmed by our findings, the preferred automation level is not common across the different contexts. As indicated by our results, regardless of the effectsfrom other variables (i.e., demographic and personality related variables), the highest probabilities of preferring full automation, inquisitive automation and adaptive automation are, respectively, associated with the contexts of rescheduling an activity (using a dishwasher or a washer and a dryer), standby power management, and turning off unneeded appliances and lights.…”

“…There are also studies conducted on user automation preferences for automation in buildings. Along this line, Ball et al, carried out a survey to assess university students'automation preferencesto control different services in a smart home(i.e., controlling doors and windows, monitoring energy usage, automatic indoorheating, automatic room lighting, and providing entertainment services such as choosingmovies) [35]. The survey results revealed the usefulness of adjustable autonomy, asparticipants' automation preferenceswere found to be different across the services (equivalent to context in our study).…”

Team reactions to voiced agent instructions in a pervasive game

“…As such, it is important to understand the different roles and relationships between humans and agents in HACs. Agents are capable of managing complex information that would overwhelm humans [1], and giving them the role of the instructor is ideal. This places the agent as an intelligent interface between the humans and the complex information they need to complete their task.…”

Potential of imprecision

“…Agents are capable of dealing with some types of information in quantities and complexities that would overwhelm humans [2], and it is in these situations that they are ideally suited for a role as instructor, making quick decisions with vast amounts of data. A lot of work has been done on the role agents can play in the management of complex and information rich situations such as emergencies [21] and damage control [6].…”