Full Semantic Transparency: Overcoming Boundaries of Applications

Complex workflows require intelligent interactions. In this paper we attack the problem of combining user interfaces of specialized applications that support different aspects of objects in scientific/technical workflows with semantic technologies. We analyze the problem in terms of the (new) notion of full semantic transparency, i.e., the property of user interfaces to give full access to an underlying semantic object even beyond application lines. In a multiapplication case full semantic transparency is difficult, but can be achieved by representing the semantic objects in a structured ontology and actively supporting the application-specific framings of an object in a semantic interface manager. We evaluate the proposed framework in a situation where aspects of technical constructions are distributed across a CAD system, a spreadsheet application, and a knowledge base.