Semantic-Aware Apps
From Horizon Project
2009 Short List
[edit] Time-to-Adoption: One year or Less[edit] Time-to-Adoption: Two to Three Years[edit] Time-to-Adoption: Four to Five Years
[edit] Critical Challenges[edit] Key Trends |
The idea behind what people call the semantic web is that although the data is available for searching, its meaning is not: computers are very good at returning keywords, but very bad at understanding the context in which keywords are used. The vision for the semantic web, originally advanced by Tim Berners-Lee, is that eventually it might be able to help people solve very difficult problems by presenting connections between apparently unrelated concepts, individuals, events, or things – connections that it would take many people many years to perceive, but that could become obvious through the kinds of associations made possible by semantic applications.
There are currently two theoretical approaches to developing the semantic web. One, the bottom-up approach, is problematic in that it assumes metadata will be added to each piece of content to include information about its context. The top-down approach appears to have a far greater likelihood of success, as it focuses on developing natural language search capability that can make those same kinds of determinations without any special metadata.
New web applications are allowing meaning to be inferred from content and context. The promise of these semantic-aware applications is to help us see connections that already exist, but that are invisible to current search algorithms because they are embedded in the context of the information on the web.
[edit] Relevance for Teaching, Learning & Creative Expression
- Semantic portals that aggregate information from a variety of sources could facilitate research; see http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/sweo/public/UseCases/FoundationBotin/
- A fully-developed semantic web could return results from a topical search with video, images, text, and other content aggregated and presented in a meaningful way; see http://learninginmaine.blogspot.com/2008/09/web-30-semantic-web-cometh.html
- Other projected educational uses for the semantic web involve personal learning networks and personal learning environments, which are envisioned as more dynamic and contextual than what is available now.
[edit] Examples
- TrueKnowledge is a semantic search engine, still in private beta, that is capable of answering questions as well as linking to web pages that might include the answers: http://trueknowledge.com/
- TripIt is a semantic application that parses travel-related emails sent to it, instantly creating detailed trip itineraries: http://www.tripit.com
- The Cleveland Clinic is using semantic web concepts to search patient data to improve future patient care: http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/sweo/public/UseCases/ClevelandClinic/
[edit] For Further Reading
- An Introduction to the Semantic Web http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGg8A2zfWKg (Manu Sporny, YouTube, December 2007.) This six-minute video explains the idea of the semantic web in simple terms.
- The Semantic Web of Data http://www.uplandproductions.com/s4/films/trm/ts06/index.htm (Upland Productions in collaboration with Technology Review, 2007.) In this video (8:24), Tim Berners-Lee describes his vision for the semantic web.
- Semantic Web: What is the Killer App? http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/semantic_web_what_is_the_killer_app.php (Alex Iskold, ReadWriteWeb, January 2008.) This article examines what is needed for the semantic web to become mainstream: a killer app that attracts and engages.
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