An Approach to a Knowledge Reconstruction

Engine for Supporting Event Planning

Shigeki Amitani, Mikihiko Mori and Koichi Hori

Department of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies,
The University of Tokyo

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 Outline

• Background
• Our Approach -- What is “Knowledge Reconstruction” ?
• Experiments & Methodology
• An Example of Knowledge Reconstruction
• System Image & Expected Interaction
• Future Work

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 Background

• Event Planning:
– Designing process with implicit knowledge of an
experienced planner
• Evaluation of an Event’s Effects:
– Questionnaires (5-point scale, free-answer)
• Feedback to planners:
– Statistical data and visitors’ comments

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 Problems

• Planners cannot obtain strategic knowledge:

– Statistical data do not tell why the results were
obtained. = lacking its contexts
• There is no systematic feedback to planners:
– It is difficult to accumulate and utilize
knowledge about event-plannings.

à No persuasive accountability to clients

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 Our Approach
“How and what knowledge can be utilized?”

• To see if planners’ intentions and visitors’

impressions are matched, we are going to articulate
gaps between them
• To establish a feedback loop in event planning
process à supported by Knowledge Reconstruction System
• To support persuasive explanation to clients

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 What is “Knowledge Reconstruction” ?

Create New Knowledge

Obtain Knowledge Utilize Knowledge

• Knowledge should be not only obtained, but

created and utilized dynamically.

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 To Utilize Knowledge

• It is necessary to know “a context where knowledge

is produced” [Fischer, 2001]
• That is why planners cannot utilize statistical data
as knowledge.

à We are going to provide

“knowledge with its real context”.
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 Experiments

• World PC Expo 2001 (19-22 Sep. ’01)

– FUJI Xerox
– Canon
– Toshiba
• Tokyo Motor Show 2001 (26 Oct. – 7 Nov. ’01)
– SUBARU
(both in Makuhari Messe, Japan)

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 Methodology

• Planners’ Intention:
à “What and how did you implement to express
event concepts?”
• Visitors’ Impression:
– Let subjects browse in a booth / booths with a
recording device
– Interview with “Retrospective Report Method”
à “What did you look at?” “What did you think
about it?” “Then how did you behave?”
2003/4/16 KES2002 à Compare them 9
 A Recording Unit and Protocol Data

DV Camera

developed (?) at AI Lab, RCAST

time Percieved Object Thought Action

17.45 Explanation of the booth → I don't care what it is
18.16 I'm filling in a questionnaire if I can get something
→ Fill the questionnaire
19.38 I finished writing → Stand up
19.50 I'm going to look at the explained commodity → Move to an exhibision corner
20.30 I want to ask how much it is → Look at a staff

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 An Example of Obtained Knowledge

• At Motor Show: Interaction with the other visitors

– “A companion took a picture with a family. Both of
the companion and the child smiled. My (= the
subject's) children also like cars. They would be
delighted if I took them here. That is a good idea.”

à This knowledge caused a new strategy

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 A New Strategy was Produced

• A planner hit upon a new strategy:

– “By inviting customers’ families, the other
visitors can feel in the way mentioned.
Moreover, the invited family will also feel
better because they feel “they are invited as
special guests” and this family can enjoy
being a customer of the company, which will
be great benefit to the company, too.”

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An Good Example of Knowledge Reconstruction

• Following pieces of knowledge are not anything new,

but their combination results in a new strategy.
– There are interactions among visitors.
– People will be glad if they are invited as “special guests”.
– If visitors like the company, it is benefit for the company.
– And so on

à To utilize “knowledge”, it should be accompanied

with “contexts where knowledge was produced” which
normal statistical data lack.
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 Knowledge Reconstruction System

• To discover knowledge from a large amount of data

• To construct a case base with obtained knowledge for
future utilization
• To let planners understand the knowledge for creating
new knowledge
• To explain in a persuasive way to promote clients’
understanding

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 System

• ChronoSpace
– A tool for browsing a visitor’s protocol in a microscopic
way
• ContextMap
– A tool for browsing event objects with “interesting
phenomena” in a macroscopic way

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 System Image
ChronoSpace: A visitor’s flow in an event ContextMap: All focused data are arranged

Search Protocol Data

Concept car

(An instance from

the other event) Rally car stage

Protocol Main stage

at a selected Companion
point

A point where verbal report was produced

Successful instance
Locations of objects are calculated along with their similarity
Unsuccessful instance in terms of their effect on the visitors’ mental impressions

Instances the planner focused on

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 Future Work

• Interaction Design for real workflow

• Construction of system prototype
• Trial use and observation of planner’s usage
• Refine the system

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 acknowledgement

we really appreciate for kind help of:

… ms. hiroko Shoji and mr. hirohito shibata

… members of our laboratory
… Dentsu Inc.
… and all of the people who gave us supports

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