Narrowing the Gap between Humans and Agents in E-commerce 3D Electronic Institutions

Institutions

AntonBogdanovych1,HelmutBerger2,SimeonSimoff1,andCarlesSierra3

FacultyofInformationTechnology,UniversityofTechnologySydney,

Sydney,NSW,Australia

{anton,simeon}@it.uts.edu.au

2

ElectronicCommerceCompetenceCenter–ec3,Donau-City-Strasse1,A-1220Wien,Austria,

helmut.berger@ec3.at

ArtificialIntelligenceResearchInstitute(IIIA-CSIC),

Barcelona,Catalonia,Spainsierra@iiia.csic.es

1

3

Abstract.ElectronicInstitutionareregulatedenvironmentspopulatedbyautonomoussoftwareagentsthatperformtasksonbehalfofusers.Users,however,arereluctantindelegatingfullcontrolofcriticaldecisionstoagentsandprefertomakethemontheirown.Inordertoincreasetrustinagentswepropose3DElectronicInstitutionsasanenvironmentinhabitedbyaheterogenoussocietyofhumansandagents.WepresentanovelapproachthatintroduceshumanstoElectronicInstitutionsvia3DVirtualWorlds.Sucha3DVirtualWorldprovidesanimmersiveuserinterfacethatallowshumanstoobservethebehavioroftheiragentsaswellastheinterventionintheagents’decisionprocessifnecessary.WestepbeyondtheagentsviewonElectronicInstitutions,takeahuman-centeredperspectiveandconcentrateontherelationbetweenhumansandagentsintheamalgamationof3DElectronicInstitutions.

1Introduction

Nowadaysindividualsaretheproductofaparticularlymobileandentrepreneurialsociety.Asaresult,individualsaresociallyconstitutedandsociallysituatedineverydaybusinessactivities.Preeceetal.criticizethatthesatisfactionofsocialneeds,despiteofitsgreatimportance,iswidelyneglectedinnowadayssystems[1].Atrulyfeasiblee-Commercesystemthatsupportsbusinessactivitiescanhardlybeobtainedwithouttakingcareofthesocialissuesbehindtheseactivities[2].Mostsystemanalysts,however,perceivee-Commercesystemsfromapurelytech-nicalviewpointwithouttryingtoestablishthesocialandbusinessnormsthatcompaniesandconsumerscomplywith.

Immersiveenvironmentssuchas3DVirtualWorldsaddressthesatisfactionofusers’socialneedsandarecomplementedwitharealisticexperience.VirtualWorldssupporttoacertainextentthewayhumansactandcommunicateinreal

K.Bauknechtetal.(Eds.):EC-Web2005,LNCS3590,pp.128–137,2005.cSpringer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2005󰀁

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lifeandofferanenvironmentto“meet”people.Suchinterfacesgobeyondtheform-basedapproachesdominatingtheWorldWideWebandgraphicallyrepre-senttheuserintermsofan“avatar”[3].Usersareliterally“in”theWorldWideWebratherthan“on”it.Overall,thedesignanddevelopmentofVirtualWorldshasemergedasaphenomenonshapedbythehomecomputeruserratherthanbyresearchanddevelopmentactivitiesatuniversitiesorcompanies.Asaresult,VirtualWorldsaremoreorlessunregulatedenvironments.InordertoexploitthebenefitsofVirtualWorldsinterfacinge-Commercesystems,strongmethod-ologiesforreliableinteractionsneedtobeapplied.ElectronicInstitutions,forinstance,focusoncontrollingtheseaspects.Inparticular,anElectronicInstitu-tionisanenvironmentpopulatedbyautonomoussoftwareagentsthatinteractaccordingtopredefinedconventions.Furthermore,ElectronicInstitutionsguar-anteethatcertainnormsofbehaviorareenforced.Thisviewpermitsthatagentsbehaveautonomouslyandmaketheirdecisionsfreelyuptothelimitsimposedbythesetofnormsoftheinstitution[4].However,notmuchattentionhasbeenpaidtotherelationshipbetweenanautonomousagentanditsprincipal.Usersareratherreluctantindelegatingfullcontrolofcriticaldecisionstoagentsandprefertomakethemontheirown.Abettermodelingand,aboveall,under-standingofthisrelationshipisneeded.

Inthispaperwepresentanovelapproachthataddressesthisissueandin-troduceshumanstoElectronicInstitutions(EI)via3DVirtualWorlds.Sucha3DVirtualWorldprovidesanimmersiveuserinterfacethatallowshumanstoobservethebehavioroftheiragentsaswellastheinterventionintheagents’decisionprocessifnecessary.Themajorobjectiveofthisapproachistotakeahuman-centeredperspectiveonElectronicInstitutionsandconcentrateontherelationbetweenhumansandagentsinthenewmetaphorof3DElectronicIn-stitutions.Weexpectthatthisnewmetaphorwillrevealnewinsightsabouttherelationshipbetweenhumansandagentsand,moreover,increasetrustinagentsinhabitingsuche-Commerceenvironments.

Thispaperisstructuredasfollows.InSection2,applicationsofMulti-AgentSystemsine-Commercearereviewedandrelatedworkintheareaofhuman-computerinteractionispresented.InSection3,designconsiderationsfor3DElectronicInstitutionsareoutlinedandtherelationbetweenhumansandsoft-wareagentsinthisenvironmentisdescribed.Thearchitectureof3DElectronicInstitutionsispresentedinSection4.Finally,aconclusionisgiveninSection5.

2RelatedWork

Multi-AgentSystems(MAS)haveproventobeaperfectparadigmformodelingenvironmentsthatarecomposedofmanyautonomousindividuals.Inordertode-velopcomplexMAS,sophisticatedmethodologiessupportingtheentiredevelop-mentlifecycleincludingdesign,analysisanddeploymentareneeded[5].Method-ologiesthatdistinguishbetweenthesocial(macro-level)andagent(micro-level)aspectsofthesystemarepreferable.However,considerableresearcheffortstakeanagent-centeredviewwhileignoringsocialaspectsofindividualparticipants.

130A.Bogdanovychetal.

So,mostresearchconcentratesonthedevelopmentoftheories,languagesandmethodologieswhereofGaia[6],Madkit[7]andElectronicInstitutions[8]areprominentrepresentatives.Moreover,notmuchattentionhasbeenpaidtoap-plicationsofMulti-AgentSystems.OneamongthefewistherecentlycompletedMASFITproject[9].MASFITisaMulti-AgentSystemsthatenablespartici-pantstodelegatethetaskoffishtradingtoautonomousagents.So,usersareabletoparticipateinmultiplefishmarketsatthesametimewhileensuringtraditionalauctioningofgoods.ThisprojectwasdesignedasanEIandwasdeployedatthemarketsofVilanovaandTarragona,Spain.

AnotherinterestingapplicationofMulti-AgentSystemsistheair-trafficman-agementsystemOASIS(OptimalAircraftSequencingusingIntelligentSchedul-ing).OASIScombinesartificialintelligence,softwareagentsandconventionalsoftware[10].Itspurposeistocalculateestimatedlandingtimes,determinethesequenceinwhichaircraftsaresupposedtolandandadviseairtrafficcontrollersonappropriatecontrolactions.ThesystemwassuccessfullytrialedatSydneyairportduringthelatenineties.

Socialinteractionplaysanimportantroleinrealworldcommerceandareanimportantissueforthefutureofe-Commerce[1]aswell.Someoperatorsofe-CommerceWebsitesevenbelievethatonlinecommunitiessupportingsocialinteractionsservethesamepurposeasthe“sweetsmellofbakingcakes”doesinapastryshop.Bothevokeimagesofcomfort,warmth,happinessandprob-ablyeventrust.Ane-Commerceenvironmentfosteringsocialinteractionswasimplementedby[11].Itincorporatesanovel,spatially-organizedandinteractivesitemapthatprovidesvisibilityofpeople,activitiesandmechanismsforsocialinteractions.3DVirtualWorldsimplicitlyaddresstheissueofsocialinteractionssincelocationawareness,presenceaswellasdirectcommunicationareintrinsicelements.Inspiredbythesuccessof3Dgraphicaluserinterfacesinapplicationdomainssuchascomputergames,CADaswellasmedicalandscientificvisual-ization,researchersappliedthisemergingtechnologytonewdomainsincludinge-Commerce.In[12]a3De-Commerceenvironmentisproposedfeaturingan-imatedproducts,whichactasnavigationalaids,andguideusersthroughthe3Drepresentationoftheonlineshop.3Dproductvisualizationsliterally“movearound”andassistusersinfindingtheappropriatesectionwithintheshop.Anotherinterestingrepresentative,eventhoughintheareaofculturalher-itage,isthereconstructionofLeonardodaVinci’s“IdealCity”[13].Basedonoriginalsketchesthecitywasrealizedasa3DVirtualWorld.ThemainobjectivewastoprovideanimmersivevirtualexperienceofdaVinci’sideasandconceptsandtoofferusersthepossibilitytoexplorethecityinacollaborativefashion.

3DesignConsiderationsfor3DElectronicInstitutions

ThedesignofVirtualWorldshasbeengovernedbydifferentprinciples.Brickenidentifiedin[14]theshiftfromtheuserroletoaparticipantintheactualdesign,themovefrominterfacetowardsinclusion(i.e.embeddingparticipantsinthede-signprocesswithintheenvironment),andthechangefromvisualtomultimodalinteraction.ItisarguedthatthedesignofVirtualWorldschangesfromusing

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familiarmetaphorstowardsapplyingappearancesthatarecompletelyarbitrary.However,inVirtualWorldsdesignsrelatedtohumaneverydayexperienceshavebeenpredominant.Theemphasishasbeenplacedonthedesignofthestaticvi-sualspaces.Thedevelopmentandresearchindistributedgamingenvironmentsaswellasincomputer-mediatedcollaborativedesignidentifiedtheneedofdy-namicgenerationofVirtualWorldsoutofdesignspecifications.Forexample,Smithetal.changedstatic3DVirtualWorldsintoadaptableworldsbyin-corporatingagentsasthebasisforrepresentingtheworld’selements[15].Theemphasis,however,wasplacedonthesoftwareside,i.e.the“societyofagents”ratherthanontheheterogenoussocietyofhumansandagents.Contrary,wecon-centrateonthisissueanddescribemaindesignconsiderationsfor3DElectronicInstitutionsinordertoaddressheterogenoussocieties.

Firstly,appropriateuserinterfacedesigniscrucialforsophisticatedhuman-computerinteraction,whichespeciallyappliesto3DVirtualWorlds,assuchinterfacesaredesignedwiththegoalinmindtoemulatethewayhumansop-erateandinteractintherealworld.Moreprecisely,3DVirtualWorldsaimatcombiningtheuseofspacewithanimmersiveexperienceinordertoconstructauseablevirtualrepresentationofaparticulardomain.Spaceandobjectsinspaceareusedtomodeldifferentimpressions.Socialpower,forinstance,mightbeexpressedintermsof“height”.Proximityofthingscouldindicatethattheybelongtothesamegrouporareofasimilartype.Humansliveinawellstruc-turedenvironmentfollowingdifferentmetaphors.MetaphorssuchasbuildingsorstreetsmightbeusedinVirtualWorldsaswell[16].ConsideringanElectronicInstitution,apossible3Dvisualizationmightbethemetaphorofatown.Eachbuildingidentifiesaninstitution,differentinstitutionsareaccessedviapublictransportandroomsrefertodifferentactivitiesthatcanbeperformed.

VirtualWorldsvisualizedin3Dareenvironmentswherepeople“meet”.Suchenvironmentsprovideaconsistentandimmersiveuserinterfacethatfacilitatesawarenessofotherparticipants.Communicationandinteractionbetweenpar-ticipantsaremainissuesintheseenvironments.Smithetal.pointoutin[15]thattheseenvironmentshavetoprovideappropriatemechanismswhichenableuserstocommunicateandencouragesocialinteractions.Satisfyingsocialneedsofusersisregardedakeyissueinnowadaysvirtualcommunitiesbut,however,remainsmostlyneglected[1].3DVirtualWorldsstimulatesocialinteractionsjustbysimple“visualpresence”ofothervisitors.Beingawareofotherusersconstitutesanimplicitandintegralfeatureofthisuserinterfaceandofferscom-municationpossibilitiesatanytimedetachedfromanyphysicalplace.

Anotherimportantissueinuserinterfacedesignistheavoidanceofover-loadedinterfaces.Traditionalwebpagesoverloadedwithformelementssuchasinputfieldsorcheckboxesoverwhelmanddistractusers.Thisissueisaddressedin3DVirtualWorldsbytaking“distance”intoaccount.Moreprecisely,thede-taillevelincreasesordecreasesaccordingtotheavatar’sdistancetoaparticularobject,i.e.thecloseranavataristoanobjectthemoreinformationisvisibleandpresentedtotheuser.Thisreducestheinformationoverloadknownfromconventionalinterfaceswhilestillconveyingabasicimpressionofthecontext.

132A.Bogdanovychetal.

Fig.1.Relationbetweenagentsandhumansin3DElectronicInstitutions

Secondly,besidehumans,othertypesofparticipantsmightbepresentine-Commerceenvironments.Usersdelegateactivitiestoautonomous(software)agentsthatactontheirbehalfinsuchenvironments.Ourviewontherelationbetweenhumansandsoftwareagentsin3DElectronicInstitutionsisillustratedinFigure1.Thecoupleagent/principalisrepresentedinaVirtualWorldasanavatar.Eitherahumanoranagentmaycontroltheavatarthroughtheinter-face.Metaphoricallyspeaking,theinterfaceisa“glovepuppet”thattranslatesallactionsofits“puppeteer”intoaninstitutionalandmachine-understandablelanguage.Agentandhumancooperateduringtheaccomplishmentoftasksthehumanhastodealwith.Representingautonomousagentsasavatarsallowshu-manstoperceiveagent’sactionsinatransparentwaythatassistsindecidingwhetherthehumanshouldinterveneornot.Itisenvisionedtoprovideaddi-tionalinteractionpossibilitiesbetweenhumansandagents.Considerahumanissuinginstructionstoanagentoranagentsuggestingsolutionstothehumanlikean“expandedintelligence”mechanismsimilarto“expandedreality”offeredbystate-of-the-artvirtualrealitytools.

Theduality,agent/principal,introducesthepossibilityofco-learningbetweenhumansandtheiragents.Ontheonehand,theagentlearnstomakeproperdecisionsfromitsprincipalandontheotherhandtheagentassiststhehumaninlearningtherulesthatapplyintheenvironment.Additionally,ahumanmightbeadvisedbyitsagentsabouttheconsequencesofcertainactionsbycompilinginformationgatheredfromexternalinformationsources.Behaviourpatternsofotherparticipantsinspecificsituationsmightbeobservedinordertoderivesolutionsforcurrenttasks.

43DElectronicInstitutions

3DElectronicInstitutionscombinethetwometaphorsofElectronicInstitutionsand3DVirtualWorldswhileretainingthefeaturesandadvantagesofboth.Originally,anElectronicInstitutionisanenvironmentpopulatedbyautonomoussoftwareagentsthatinteractaccordingtopredefinedconventionsonlanguageandprotocol.Furthermore,ElectronicInstitutionsguaranteethatcertainnorms

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Fig.2.Systemarchitectureof3DElectronicInstitutions

ofbehaviorareenforced.Thisviewpermitsthatagentsbehaveautonomouslyandmaketheirdecisionsfreelyuptothelimitsimposedbythesetofnormsoftheinstitution[4].3DElectronicInstitutionsbroadenthisviewandareenvironmentsthatenablehumanstoparticipateinaheterogenoussocietyofindividuals.TheessenceistostepbeyondtheagentsviewonElectronicInstitutions,takeahumancenteredperspectiveandconcentrateontherelationbetweenhumansandagentsintheamalgamationofthetwometaphors.

Basically,3DElectronicInstitutionsarebuiltaccordingtoathree-layeredframework[17].ThesystemarchitecturefollowingthisframeworkisdepictedinFigure2.ThebottomlayerhoststheruntimeenvironmentAMELIforarbi-traryElectronicInstitutionsthataredesignedwithISLANDER[18],agraphicalspecificationtool.Both,AMELIandISLANDER,arepartoftheElectronicIn-stitutionDevelopmentEnvironment,EIDE[19].AMELIloadsaninstitutionspecificationandmediatesagentsinteractionswhileenforcinginstitutionalrulesandnorms.ToexecuteanElectronicInstitution,AMELIislaunchedup-frontandagentsjointheinstitutionbyconnectingtotheruntimeenvironment.

ThesecondlayercontainstheCausalConnectionServerthatcausallycon-nectstheElectronicInstitutionsruntimeenvironmentAMELIwiththe3DVir-tualWorldatthetoplayer.AsMaesetal.pointoutin[20],isasystem“causallyconnected”toitsrepresentationwhenthefollowingaspectsaretakenintoac-count:First,whenevertherepresentationofasystemischanged,thesystemitselfhastochangeaswell.Second,wheneverthesystemevolves,itsrepresen-tationshastobemodifiedinordertomaintainaconsistentrelationship.The

134A.Bogdanovychetal.

ElectronicInstitutionexecutionitselfisrepresentedintermsofa3DVirtualWorldconsistingofrooms,avatars,doorsandothergraphicalelements.So,thecausalconnectionneedstomaterializeintwodirections.First,messagesutteredbytheagentintheinstitutionhaveimmediateimpactonthe3Drepresentation.Movementsbetweenscenes,forinstance,mustlettheavatar“move”withintheVirtualWorldaccordingly.Messagesutteredbytheagentmustbeconsid-eredasutteredbytheavatar.NotethatinthisexpositiontheterminologyofElectronicInstitutionsisadopted.Scenes,areactivitiesfollowingastructureddialoguethatagentscanengagein.Transitionssynchronizeandre-routeagentsbetweenscenes.Second,eventscausedbythehumanviatheinterfaceintheVirtualWorldareunderstoodascausedbytheagent.Thisimpliesthatactionsforbiddentotheagentatthecurrentexecutionstate,cannotbeperformedbytheuserviatheinterface.Forinstance,ifanagentisnotallowedtoleaveaparticularscene,theavatarisnotpermittedtoopenthecorrespondingdoor.Twotypesofparticipantsneedtobeconsideredin3DElectronicInstitutions,namelyhumanusersandautonomoussoftwareagents.Humanusersconnecttothesystemviathewebinterface.Theuseraccessisvalidatedandifadmissiontotheinstitutionisgranted,theAdobeAtmospherePlayer[21]startsandvisu-alizesthe3DVirtualWorld.Atthesametime,amessageissentviatheCausalConnectionServertotheAgentLauncherthat,inturn,spawnsanewsoftwareagent.ThissoftwareagentrepresentsthehumanuserattheElectronicInstitu-tionlevel(cf.Figure2,theleftbrowserwindowcorrespondstoAgent2,therighttoAgent3).EachagentparticipatinginanElectronicInstitutioncommunicatesviaaGovernor.TheGovernorservesthepurposeof“safe-guarding”theinstitu-tion,i.e.itcheckswhetheraparticularmessageisallowedtobeutteredatthecurrentstageornot.Thesecondtypeofparticipantsareautonomousagents,i.e.softwareprograms,thatcontactAMELIdirectly.Eachsoftwareagentre-questsaccessand,ifgranted,communicatesviaaGovernoraswell.

Anarbitraryevent,e.g.amouseclickonadoorhandle,causedbyahumanuserleadstoasequenceofprocessingsteps.First,theeventiscaughtbytheAtmospherePlayerandtransmittedintermsofa2–tupletotheCausalConnectionServer.ThentheeventtupleisstoredintheEventQueuewhichisobservedbytheEventMonitor.AssoonastheEventMonitornoticesthearrival,ittranslatestheeventbymeansoftheEvent/Messagemap-pingtableintothecorrespondingmessage.Inanalogytothat,theAvatarIDismappedontotheAgentID,thistimethough,bymeansoftheAvatarID/AgentIDmappingtable.A2–tupleiscomposedandstoredintheMessageQueue.ThistimetheMessageMonitordetectsthearrivalandsendsittothecorrespondingagentusingtheCommunicationFacility.Finally,theagentactuallyuttersthemessageandthestateoftheElectronicInstitutionevolves.AMELIvalidateswhetherthereceivedmessageadherestotheinstitu-tionalrulesandgeneratesanadequateresponse.Messages,however,originatingfromAMELIneedtobereflectedintheVirtualWorldandareprocessedinexactlytheoppositeway.

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Fig.3.Theuserinterfaceofa3DElectronicInstitutionexemplifiedbymeansofagraffitipostershop

TheInstitutionMonitor,whichoffersaninterfacetoAMELI,allowstheobservationofallmessageswithinasingleElectronicInstitution.Moreprecisely,theCausalConnectionServerisconnectedtoasocketprovidedbytheInstitutionMonitor,andcollectsavailablemessages.Thesemessagesassistinmaintainingthesynchronizedandconsistentrelationbetweenthe3DVirtualWorldandtheElectronicInstitution.Consider,forexampleanautonomoussoftwareagentthatintendstoentertheEI(cf.externalagentinFigure2).Thisparticularsoftwareagentisnotdrivenbyahumanuser,i.e.itisnotrequiredtovisuallyrepresenttheagentforitsownsake.However,takingthepresenceofhumanparticipantsintoaccountthissoftwareagentneedstobevisualizedaswell.So,theCausalConnectionServergeneratessucharepresentationandassemblesitbasedonthemessagesobtainedviatheInstitutionMonitor.However,sincemorethanoneEImightbeexecutedatonetime,theFederationMonitornotifiesaboutnewlylaunchedElectronicInstitution.ThisisratherfeasiblesincemovementsbetweenElectronicInstitutionsarepossibleindeed.

Technicallyspeaking,theuserinterfacecomprisestheAdobeAtmospherePlayer,embeddedinaHTMLpage,accessibleviawebbrowsers.Eventscausedbyuserswithinthe3DVirtualWorldarecaughtandprocessedwithJavaScript.Conceptually,theembodimentofparticipantsinthe3DVirtualWorldcreatesadditionalopportunitiestoinvolvepeopleinsocialinteractionsjustbythefactoftheirpresence.Beingawareofsomeone’spositionorher/hislineofsightallowsobservingtheenvironmentalcontextofeachparticularuser.Thepresenceofotherscreatesamoreopenandalessformalenvironment.Peoplearemorelikelytoengageinconversationsiftheyperceivethesocialcontextaswell.

ThespecificationofanElectronicInstitutionisusedtoobtaina3Drep-resentation.However,thisspecificationdoesnotcontainexplicitinformationrelatedtothevisualizationofElectronicInstitutions.Nevertheless,itispossible

136A.Bogdanovychetal.

togenerateasimple3DVirtualWorldbyexploitingavailabledata.Inastraight-forwardapproach,scenesaremappedontorooms,transitionsbetweenscenesarerepresentedascorridorsanddoorslimittheaccessbetweenscenes.Themaxi-mumnumberofparticipantsperscenedeterminesthesizeofeachroom.Doorsarepositionedinordertoconnectadjacentrooms.Suchaninstitutionisalreadyfullyfunctional,i.e.allsecurityissuesareimposed,agentsarefreetojointheenvironment,interactandengageinconversations.

Figure3exemplifiesapossiblevisualizationofa3DElectronicInstitution.Thisparticularexamplefeaturesavirtualpostershopthatimitatestheatmo-sphereofareal-worldartgallery.Thegallery’svisitorsareembodiedasavatars.Visitorscommunicatewitheachotherviathechatwindowatthebottomoftheinterface.Atransparentinstitutionmap,i.e.thelayoutofthegallery,overlaystheVirtualWorldandisplacedatthetoprightcorneroftheinterface.Thelargecuboidsinthemaprepresentroomsandsmalleronescorrespondtoconnectionsbetweentheserooms.Theavatar’spositionwithintheinstitutionissymbolizedbymeansofahighlightedfigurehavinganarrowpointingatit.Allotherfiguresidentifyavatarscontrolledbysoftwareagents.Theseavatarsactonbehalfoftheuserandtrytofulfillspecifiedtasks.However,onlyoneavatarisactuallycontrolledanddrivenbythehumanatonetime.Thisexampleillustratestheheterogeneityof3DElectronicInstitutionssincethetwopossibletypesofpar-ticipantsarepresent.Theartist,forinstance,isengagedinaconversationwithapotential(human)buyerwhilethesoftwareagent(buyer)keepsobserving.

5ConclusionandFutureWork

InthispaperwepresentedanovelapproachenablinghumanparticipationinaMulti-AgentSystem,namelyElectronicInstitutions,bymeansofa3DVirtualWorldthatmaterializedin3DElectronicInstitutions.Thisnewenvironmentopensaperfectresearchplaygroundforheterogenoussocietiescomprisinghu-mansandsoftwareagentsandtoexaminetheirrelationshipindomainssuchase-Commerce.Duetothefactthatsocialinteractioniscrucialine-Commercebut,however,widelyneglectedwetookupthisissueandenableduserstoactwithinthesociallyaugmentedcontextof3DVirtualWorlds.Since3DElectronicInstitutionsallowthespecificationofarbitraryscenarios,weexemplifieditsap-plicationintermsofanonlinegraffitipostershop.Inthisenvironmentusersinteractwithotherparticipantsandareabletoobservethebehavioroftheiragentsaswellastointerveneintheagents’decisionprocessifnecessary.

Weareabouttocompletetheimplementationofthesystemandaimatinvestigatingindetailtheco-learningaspectsbetweensoftwareagentsandtheirprincipals.Additionally,weplantoconductanextensiveusabilitystudythatevaluatestheacceptanceandfeasibilityofthisnewenvironment.Weexpecttoobtainnewinsightsabouttherelationshipbetweenhumansandagentsthatassistinfuturedevelopments.

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