Folks, Joe is refering to a sketch I made yesterday at the Unrev meeting at
SRI. The sketch was a depiction of the three layer architecture. To recall:
The bottom layer is comprised of the written record of human discourse. Raw
data, Peirce's possibility space.
The middle layer is the *lens* to which Joe refers. Its function is to serve
as what I call a *universal ontology* to which and from which information
taken from any view or context can reside or be viewed. This is Peirce's
Actuality space, though I am beginning to learn that I may not have that
right. The lens is to be comprised of a dense knowledge representation
layer, one that, in all likelihood, we do not yet know the nature of. This
layer will probably be one of an evolutionary nature. Howard Liu suggests it
might start with really simple representations (not unlike those of a
child), which evolve over time to be more refined, more complex, and perhaps
more generalized and specialized in order to serve the many contexts
encountered.
The upper layer is, in my original words, a kind of API (application
programming interface) to the OHS, which I originally viewed as an external
entity. I have called this layer Peirce's Probability Space. Doug clarified
my view: an OHS is the upper layer, plus the lower 2 layers. The lower 2
layers comprise the DKR. In reality, there could be one DKR serving one or
very many upper layers. The upper layer is the user at a workstation
interacting with the DKR.
Joe speaks to the middle layer, the lens. The visualization that Mary
Keeler gave to the group was an image of a single lens. Howard Liu and I
were talking about a fly's eye, an object with very many tiny lenses, Joe's
multifaceted lens. We're speaking in metaphors here. To my mind, it
matters not which kind of lens you choose (single or multi), the metaphor
still works. The lens puts a kind of focus on what's really *out there* in
the bottom layer. How you achieve that focus can be implemented many ways.
Joe brings up that subject.
One lense, with the top layer being a user-taylored secondary lens. That's
one approach. The user constructs a personal view through the big lens,
selecting those objects desired (recall the library search on all books by
Joe Bag'O'Donuts).
Multiple lenses, each prefocussed onto a particular point of view, with the
user just navigating (by parametric search) to the appropriate lens.
Those are the two candidates that I can think of now. My take on these
candidates is that I favor the first candidate. Construct the middle layer
such that it can potentially satisfy any view request. Were I to implement
the second approach, odds are that I would miss a needed view. I think I am
saying that the first candidate -- a single lens middle layer -- is general
enough that it can evolve to satisfy any view requested. Indeed, it's the
request for views, the user interaction that makes the system grow. What
could satisfy the biological learning metaphor more soundly?
To go slightly nonlinear, consider this: I happen to think that the API is
the key to the whole Unrev II project. Standardize the way you interact
with a DKR and anyone can build the OHS layer, or the DKR layer in any way
they wish.
Thanks for the comments, Joe.
BTW: I'm going to see if I can get permission to put a gif of that sketch up
on a web site. Film at 11...
From: <altintdev@webtv.net>
> I liked your diagram showing the content and 'lens' which forms vews of
> the content and structure. I think placing the 'lens' only in the DKR
> caused a question of where functionality resides.
>
> This middle layer of providing a view of DKR content actually resides in
> both the DKR and the OHS. The DKR 'lens" (multiple multifaceted) forms
> DKR content and structure views while the OHS 'lens' forms presentation
> views of the content delivered to it by the DKR.
>
> Of course the OHS may have added tools to form views of DKR content and
> structure independent of the DKR 'lens(es)' capability.
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