Grounding Ontologies

• Werner Kuhn Institute for Geoinformatics [email protected]

Sep 18, 2003

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Sep 18, 2003 Semantic Interoperability Research @ MUSIL 2

Vision

Users of geographic information should be able to refer thematic data to semantic reference systems , just as they refer geometric data to spatial reference systems . Software should support the    referencing projections and grounding process to simpler semantic spaces semantic translation among different reference systems.

Sep 18, 2003 Semantic Interoperability Research @ MUSIL 3

Grounding in Image Schemas (1)

 Sensory-motor patterns of cognition (Johnson)   container, surface, path, link, center-periphery, force...

developed through bodily experience enable the perception of meaningful information from the environment (Gärdenfors) Sep 18, 2003 Semantic Interoperability Research @ MUSIL 4

Grounding in Image Schemas (2)

   constituents of complex notions (Langacker) have internal structure influence our reasoning through correlated recurrence  mostly process schemas Sep 18, 2003 Semantic Interoperability Research @ MUSIL 5

Formalization

a simple path schema class Path path object where move :: path -> object -> object a simple surface schema class Surface surface object where putOn :: object -> surface -> surface takeOff :: object -> surface -> surface isOn :: object -> surface -> Bool blended transportation schema class (Path path conveyance, Surface conveyance object) => Conveyance conveyance path object where transport :: path -> conveyance -> object -> object Sep 18, 2003 Semantic Interoperability Research @ MUSIL 6

Main points

1. Spatial reference systems motivate grounding 2. Image schemas provide grounding in our bodies 3. Haskell type classes implement frame semantics 4. Multiple inheritance achieves blending 5. Fully consistent with frame semantics .

7 Sep 18, 2003 Semantic Interoperability Research @ MUSIL

For more information...

 MUSIL web site (Muenster Semantic Interoperability Lab): http://musil.uni-muenster.de

 recent publications (all at MUSIL web site) • Semantic Reference Systems. Guest Editorial,

International Journal of Geographical Information Science

17(5): 405-409.

• Implementing Semantic Reference Systems.

6th AGILE Conference on Geographic Information Science

, April 24-26, 2003

:

63-72.

• Modeling the Semantics of Geographic Categories through Conceptual Integration.

GIScience 2002

. LNCS 2478: 108-118.

Sep 18, 2003 Semantic Interoperability Research @ MUSIL 8