Softbots (software robots): are intelligent agents that use software tools and services on a person's behalf...

Tool use is one of the hallmarks of intelligence. In many cases, softbots rely on the same tools and utilities available to human computer users --- tools for sending mail, printing files, and so on...

Softbots allow a person to communicate what they want accomplished and then dynamically determine how and where to satisfy the persons request. Softbots developed at the University of Washington interact with a wide range of software tools and services through the World Wide Web...

Many of the softbots described below were retired from University of Washington service in 2000. Please visit the retirement pages for MetaCrawler/HuskySearch/Grouper and Ahoy for additional information and resources.

MetaCrawler

The MetaCrawler Softbot is a fielded Web service that enables you to search multiple Web Indices in parallel, and provides sophisticated pruning options. To use MetaCrawler click on the icon above. MetaCrawler operated at the UW from 1995 - 1997 and was licensed to Go2Net, now InfoSpace, in 1997. To find out more about MetaCrawler continue on to MetaCrawler Information.

The Ahoy Softbot was a White Page service for the Web that located an individual's home pages with high accuracy. Ahoy! The Homepage Finder was retired from service in 2000 and the code is not available. To find out more about Ahoy! continue on to Ahoy! Information.

calls Ahoy! ``the most reliable single tool for tracking down home pages...''

The Automated Travel Assistant Softbot was a fielded Web service that enabled you to find the optimal flight to suit your travel needs.

Internet Softbot

The Internet Softbot Research Prototype was an assistant for Internet access that helped first-time computer users find their way around the Internet. The Internet Softbot allowed you to state what you wanted accomplished and then went on to find answers using a wide range of resources available on the Internet and the Web. To find out more about the Internet Softbot continue on to Internet Softbot Information.

The Internet Softbot was one of the 5 finalists in the 1995 Discover Awards for Technological Innovation in Computer Software.

Occam

The Occam Research Prototype was an information gathering engine for the Internet. Occam used a heuristic (problem solving) planner that enabled you to locate information from database queries. Occam was designed to be small, efficient and distributed, so that it could eventually reside on the Web as a java application or a desktop client. To find out more about Occam continue on to Occam Information.

Internet Learning Agent

The Internet Learning Agent Research Prototype was an information resource locator that enabled you keep up with the growing number and variety of information resources available on the Internet. The Internet Learning Agent formed models of information resources by interacting with them.

Shopbot

The Shopbot Research Prototype was retired in 1998. It was a WWW shopping agent that enabled you you to shop for computer software or CD's by manufacturer or title and artist queries. This technology was adapted in private industry and contributed to the development of an even better shopping agent at www.jango.excite.com.

[FLIPPER]

The Flipper Softbot was retired in late 1997. Flipper was a prototype Oceanographic Collection Softbot whose task was to find and retrieve oceanographic data from the Internet.

The prototype implemented several key automation capabilities to access known Internet sites. It included an application program interface that used the CGI (common gateway interface) to allow our agent to directly access the information behind HTML pages that are normally only accessible to a person. It queried the databases automatically and in parallel (for speed), sorted the query responses by a rudimentary data quality measure, and retrieved the data to the agent. Although not very intelligent, this Oceanographic Collection Agent prototype was still able to shift several significant information management burdens away from the human.

People | Projects | Publications | Courses | Homepage