Towards more intelligent and adaptive user interfaces for control center applications

User interfaces are a key factor for the success of any computer application and assume an enormous importance in the case of applications used in critical and emergency conditions, as real time applications in control centers. The introduction of intelligent applications in these centers, makes more obvious the need of better user interfaces, presenting more intelligent and adaptive behaviour. These new generation of user interfaces makes use of full-graphics displays but also of artificial intelligence concepts. Knowledge bases are used in order to provide the user interface with the required knowledge about the computer application and its users. This paper deals with the evolution of the user interface of SPARSE, an expert system for alarm processing and operator assistance in service restoration developed for the Portuguese transmission network. The architecture of this interface is presented and the results obtained are discussed