Many self-organizing or self-adaptive multiagent systems are spatial computers – collections of local computational devices distributed through a physical space, in which:

• the difficulty of moving information between any two devices is strongly dependent on the distance between them, and
• the “functional goals” of the system are generally defined in terms of the system’s spatial structure.

In multiagent systems, spatial relationships (location, region, frontier, neighborhood, obstruction, field, basin, communication, diffusion, propagation) are used to organize the interactions between agents where their location is important for the problem. Systems that can be viewed as spatial computers are abundant, both natural and man-made. For example, in wireless sensor networks and animal or robot swarms, inter-agent communication network topologies are determined by the distance between devices, while the agent collectives as a whole solve spatially-defined problems like “analyze and react to spatial temperature variance” or “surround and destroy an enemy”. In biological embryos, each developing cell’s behavior is controlled only by its local chemical and physical environment, but the eventual structure of the organism is a global property of the cellular arrangement. Moreover, a variety of successful established techniques for self-organization and self-adaptation arise from explicitly spatial metaphors, e.g., self-healing gradients.

On the other hand, not all spatially distributed systems are spatial computers. The Internet and peer-to-peer overlay networks may not in general best be considered as spatial computers, both because their communication graphs have little relation to the Euclidean geometry in which the participating devices are embedded, and because most applications for them are explicitly defined independent of network structure. Spatial computers, in contrast, tend to have more structure, with specific constraints and capabilities that can be used in the design and analysis of algorithms.

The goal of this workshop is to explicitly identify the idea of spatial computing as a theme in multi agent systems and in self-organizing and self-adaptive systems, and further to develop the study of spatial computation as a subject in its own right. We believe that progress towards identifying common principles, techniques, and research directions – and consolidating the substantial progress that is already being made – will benefit all of the fields in which spatial computing takes place. And, as the impact of spatial computing is recognized in many areas, we hope to set up frameworks to ensure portability and cross-fertilization between solutions in the various domains.

Preliminary announcements:

• Jacob Beal, Kyle Usbeck and Brian Krisler. Lightweight Simulation Scripting with Proto
• Jean Bresson. Spatial Structures Programming for Music
• Matt Duckham. Decentralized spatial algorithm design
• Jose-David Fernández, René Doursat and Francisco J. Vico. The Evolution of Controller-Free Molecular Motors from Spatial Constraints
• Steffan Karger, Agostino Di Figlia, Maurice Bos, Andrei Pruteanu and Stefan Dulman. Spatial computing for non-IT specialists
• Luidnel Maignan and Jean-Baptiste Yunès. Recursivity in Field-Based Programming: the Firing Squad Example
• Ulrik Schultz. Towards a Robust Spatial Computing Language for Modular Robots (Position Paper)
• Antoine Spicher, Jean-Louis Giavitto and Olivier Michel. Arbitrary Nesting of Spatial Computations
• Mirko Viroli and Graeme Stevenson. On the Space-time Situation of Pervasive Service Ecosystems

The workshop W21 “Spatial Computing” takes place the Tuesday June 5, 2012. The workshop proceedings will be distributed at the conference on a USB flash drive.

• Attending AAMAS
• Registration
• Accomodation
• AAMAS web site

• Workshop paper submission: March 4, 2012
• Notification of accepted papers: March 27, 2012
• Delivery of camera-ready papers (pre-proceedings): April 16, 2012.

Call for paper (PDF version) Call for paper (text version)

We are soliciting submissions on any aspect of spatial computing. Examples of topics of interest include, but are by no means limited to:

• Languages for programming spatial computers and describing spatial tasks and patterns
• Methods for compiling global programs to local rules that produce the desired global effect
• Relationships between agent interaction and spatial organizations
• Theoretical and practical limitations arising from spatial properties
• Characterization of spatial self-organization phenomena as algorithmic building blocks
• Characterization of error in spatial computers (e.g., error from approximating continuous space with networks of devices)
• Analysis of tradeoffs between system parameters (e.g., communication radius vs. device memory consumption)
• Studies of the relationship between time, propagation of information through the spatial computer, and computational complexity
• Application of spatial computing principles to novel areas, or generalization of area-specific techniques
• Device motion in spatial computing algorithms (e.g. the relationship between robot speed and gradient accuracy in multi-robot swarms)
• Theoretical and empirical analysis of spatial applications

We encourage authors to submit papers in one of two formats: (1) Papers that develop “unifying” principles or techniques in spatial computing – these papers should be suitable in format and quality for a conference track, but avoid incrementalism; (2) Papers that demonstrate how a technique or problem from a specific area of application can usefully be generalized – these papers should be a combination of review paper and position paper, presenting the material from one area in a form comprehensible to researchers of another area, as well as a coherent technical argument generalizing the material to other areas. Although our interests are broad, we discourage authors from submitting reviews of particular application areas unless the paper explicitly connects the material to the larger technical issues of spatial computing.

Papers should be no longer than 6 pages in the standard IEEE two-column format. All manuscripts should be submitted in PDF form through the EasyChair submissions system at https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=scw2012.

Papers will be peer reviewed on the basis of originality, readability, relevance to themes, soundness, and overall quality. Workshop pre-proceedings will be published in a bundle with the main conference proceedings. Post-proceedings publication in a journal is planed.

Questions should be addresses to scw12@spatial-computing.org.

Incomplete list (pending invitations)

• Michel Banatre, IRISA Renne, France
• Jonathan Bachrach, Other Lab & UC Berkeley, USA
• Daniel Coore, University of the West Indies, Jamaica
• David De Roure, Oxford e-Research Centre, University of Oxford, England
• Shlomi Dolev, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
• Rene Doursat, Institut des Systemes Complexes, Paris & University of Malaga, Spain
• Chris Dwyer, Duke University, USA
• Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, University Pierre and Marie Curie, France
• Nazim Fates, INRIA Nancy Grand-Est, France
• Erol Gelenbe, Imperial College, England
• Fred Gruau, LRI, University of Paris South, France
• Guillaume Hutzler, IBISC, University of Evry, France
• Mark Jelasity, University of Szeged, Hungaria
• Luidnel Maignan, INRIA Saclay, France
• Olivier Michel, LACL University of Paris Est, France
• Ulrik Schultz, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
• Christof Teuscher, Portland State University, USA
• Danny Weyns, Linnaeus University, Sweden
• Eiko Yoneki, University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory, England

• Dr. Jacob Beal (BBN Technologies, USA)
• Dr. Stefan Dulman (Delft Univ., the Netherlands)
• Dr. Jean-Louis Giavitto (CNRS - IRCAM - UPMC, France)
• Dr. Antoine Spicher (Univ. Paris Est, France)

This workshop is a continuation of a series of workshops on spatial computing previously colocated with SASO. Previous editions of this workshop may be found at the following urls: SCW 2011, SCW 2010, SCW 2009, SCW 2008.

ACM Transactions on Autonomous and Adaptive Systems (TAAS) Special Issue on Spatial Computing (Volume 6 Issue 2, June 2011) (open post-proceedings SCW 2008 and 2009)

The Computer Journal Special Issue on Spatial Computing (open post-proceedings SCW 2010 and 2011)