Context Aware Mental Model Sharing in Dynamic Inaccessible Environments

Abstract

One of the well-known cognitive concepts, commonly used in multi-agent systems, is the Shared Mental Model (SMM). In this paper we introduce a context aware mental model sharing strategy in a dynamic heterogeneous multi-agent environment in order to maximize collaboration via minimizing mental conflicts. This strategy uses a context aware architecture that is composed of three primary layers and a cross layer part which facilitates mental model sharing between agents. We model a complex inaccessible environment with specific dynamisms where agents must share their mental models in order to make correct decisions. Our proposed strategy is compared with other methods applying some important criteria such as shared information accuracy, communication load and performance in time constraint situations. Our findings may be interpreted as strong evidence that our method enables heterogeneous agents for a qualified teamwork as well as facilitating collective commitments.

Keywords

• shared mental model
• mental model
• dynamic environment
• context awareness
• sharing method