Agent-based broadcasting with video indexing

The users are daily invaded by a vast amount of heterogeneous information which requires a system with an open architecture that is capable of organizing it in an adaptive and decentralized manner. This flood of information is being further accelerated by the rapidly upgraded facilities including Internet, cable networks and multi-channel broadcasting and communication service via satellites. So-called agent technology provides an attractive way to meet such a need. We describe a new broadcasting paradigm based on such intelligent agents from the taxonomic and functional points of view, and also the roles of the agents in meditating between the users and broadcasters in which the two parties will be connected with each other more closely than ever before. We also discuss general and peculiar technologies to make the agent-based broadcasting feasible including information representation techniques such as content-based video indexing