Edinburgh Earth Observatory (EEO) Seminar Series in
GIS, Remote Sensing and GeoInformatics

Organised jointly by the University of Edinburgh and AGI (Scotland)
http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/research/eeo/seminars/

3rd Fenruary 2006

Prof. Austin Tate

The Helpful Environment - geographically dispersed intelligent agents
that collaborate

Imagine in the not too distant future that every citizen, vehicle,
package in transit and other "active devices" can be treated as a
potential sensor or responder. Individuals or vehicles that need help,
as well as local, regional, national and international emergency
agencies, could look up specialized capabilities, or find local
availability of help and seek support to enable a much more responsive
and effective environment. Systems could inter-operate to enable
preventative measures to be taken so that those in imminent danger of
natural and other hazards could be forewarned by their own systems,
and by the people, vehicles and buildings around them. A truly
"helpful environment" could be created that is accessible by all.