Example for chapter 1 - The Semantic Web Vision

Michael had just had a minor car accident and was feeling some pain in the neck. His GP suggested a series of physical therapy sessions. Michael asked his Semantic Web agent to work out some possibilities.

The agent retrieved details of the recommended therapy from the doctor’s agent, and looked up the list of therapists maintained by Michael’s health insurance company. The agent checked for those located within a radius of 10km from Michael’s office or home, and looked up their reputation according to trusted rating services. Then it tried to match between available appointment times and Michael’s diary. In a few minutes the agent returned two proposals. Unfortunately Michael was not happy with either of them. One therapist had offered appointments in two weeks’ time, for the other Michael would have to drive during rush hour. Therefore Michael decided to set stricter time constraints and asked the agent to try again.

A few minutes later the agent came back with an alternative: A therapist with excellent reputation who had free appointments starting in two days. However there were a few minor problems:

• A few of Michael’s less important work appointments would have to be rescheduled. The agent offered to make arrangements if this solution was adopted.
• The therapist was not listed on the insurer’s site because he charged more than the insurer’s maximum coverage. The agent had found his name from an independent list of therapists, and had already checked that Michael was entitled to the insurer’s maximum coverage, according to the insurer’s policy. It had also negotiated with the therapist’s agent a special discount. The therapist had only recently decided to charge more than average, and was keen to find new patients.

Michael was happy with the recommendation, since he would have to pay only a few dollars extra. However, because he had installed the Semantic Web agent a few days ago, he asked it for explanations for some of its assertions: how was the therapist’s reputation established, why was it necessary for Michael to reschedule some of his work appointments, how was the price negotiation conducted. The agent provided appropriate information.

Michael was satisfied. His new SemanticWeb agent was going to make his busy life easier. He asked the agent to take all necessary steps to finalize the task.