Middleware mechanisms for supporting multimodal interactions in smart environments

Smart and intelligent environments can proficiently benefit a new generation of multimodal dialog systems, which enable users to interact in natural ways like voice, gesture, facial motions, and so on. However, in order to make this possible, it is necessary to integrate such systems and services, possibly in a transparent way. In the present paper, we propose an architectural model for multimodal smart environments; then, an agent-based middleware infrastructure that provides basic components for the integration of multimodal interaction systems; and, a set of ontologies and rules for semantically handling interacting properties of devices and resources available in smart environments. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.