This paper examines alternative applications of case-based reasoning to product selection. It is motivated by shortfalls in e-commerce solutions but addresses wider issues in the selection of case representations and reasoning strategies where solution requirements are negotiable and the number of potential features are large. Two approaches are examined: the micro approach uses the traditional...

In this tutorial paper, we discuss the ITU-T H.263+ (or H.263 Version 2) low-bit-rate video coding standard. We first describe, briefly, the H.263 standard including its optional modes. We then address the 12 new negotiable modes of H.263+. Next, we present experimental results for these modes, based on our public-domain implementation (see our Web site at http://spmg.ece.ubc.ca). Tradeoffs amo...

This paper examines how service providers may resolve the trade-off between their personalization efforts and users’ individual privacy concerns. Finding that neither an optimized one-size-fits-all strategy, nor a market-driven specialization of providers or choices between different usage scenarios can solve the problem, we analyze how negotiation techniques can lead to efficient contracts and...

We evaluate the effectiveness of a tutorial-dialogue based approach to guided exploratory learning involving problem solving goals that are negotiated between tutor and student rather than dictated by the tutor or freely chosen by the student. This approach, referred to as Negotiable Problem Solving Goals (NPSG), is located on a previously untested space on what we call The Exploratory Learning...

We consider a model where a group of manufacturers outsource finishing operations to a single third-party. Depending on the demand for her capacity, the third-party announces daily booking costs that may take on one of two prices regular or peak price. Each manufacturer books chunks of production capacity (called manufacturing windows) so as to optimize his booking and tardiness costs subject t...