Contextual modeling and applications

There have been increasingly growing interests in computational modeling of contextual knowledge representation and context-based problem solving. Different approaches have been developed to exploring the concept and computational mechanism of context, including various formal and empirical methods and systems based on different interpretations and applications of the notion. This paper discusses two basic interpretations of context and presents an operational definition of context from a computational perspective. Two paradigms for context-based problem solving are formulated. A goal-directed modeling framework for context-based problem solving is reported. In this framework, a context is defined in terms of an object and its relationships with other objects. Every context is centered at such an object, and cannot exist without it. A problem-solving task (e.g. find an object) with this framework can thus be defined as a process of determining a context or a sequence of contexts in which a solution path (e.g. steps for finding the object) can be decided. A set of operations is specified for context manipulation. Some application examples are described.