ECAgents Project Page

Short introduction to ECAgents

The project will develop concepts, tools, and models for analysing collections of both natural and artificial agents, and algorithms, definitions of dynamical systems, and performance analysis tools for designing artefacts that consist of evolving populations of interacting and communicating embodied agents. The project will also investigate basic properties of different communication systems, from simple communication systems in animals to human language and technology-supported human communication, to clarify the nature of existing communications systems and to provide ideas for designing new technologies based on collections of embodied and communicating devices.
Technologies, models and concepts created in the ECAgents project can have great potential to enable novel applications of information technology. As a multitude of devices with advanced computing and communication technology become available for everyday users, the concept of physically embodied agents that communicate and evolve through interactions between themselves and users should be applicable to many application areas.
Our objective is to generate and discuss ideas for such ECAgent-based applications, which could involve interaction with both users, the physical environment, and among the agents themselves. To facilitate this, the project will need to apply both commercially available technology (e.g. mobile phones, wireless hand-held computers) and technology that is still in the experimental stage and not yet in the mass-market (e.g. smart tags, sensors, robots and robot-like artefacts with the ability to interact with each other as well as with humans). The expected end results are new application concepts based on collections of distributed and ubiquitous artefacts which, by autonomously communicating among themselves, are able to generate new types of performances for their users. During the project we will also organize workshops to push for continous interaction between the partners within ECAgents.

(Gathered from the ECAgents homepage and the activity report)