A browser for large knowledge bases based on a hybrid distributed/local connectionist architecture

A browser concept based on a connectionist architecture is presented. The concept utilizes both distributed and local representations. A proof-of-concept system is implemented for an integrally developed, Honeywell-proprietary knowledge acquisition tool. In the browser, concepts and relations in a knowledge base are represented using microfeatures. The microfeatures can encode semantic attributes, structural features, contextual information, etc. Desired portions of the knowledge base can then be associatively retrieved based on a structured cue. An ordered list of partial matches is presented to the user for selection. Microfeatures can also be used as bookmarks-they can be placed dynamically at appropriate points in the knowledge base and subsequently used as retrieval cues. The browser concept can be applied wherever there is a need for conveniently inspecting and manipulating structured information