This article describes a method for building a cognitive map of a virtual urban environment. Our routines enable virtual humans to map their environment using a realistic model of perception. We based our implementation on a computational framework proposed by Yeap and Jefferies (1999) for representing a local environment as a structure called an absolute space representation (ASR). Their algorithms compute and update ASRs from a 2-1/2-dimensional (2-1/2D) sketch of the local environment and then connect the ASRs together to form a raw cognitive map. Our work extends the framework developed by Yeap and Jefferies in three important ways.

American Airlines (Fort Worth, Tex.) has utilized speech-recognition technology to enhance its automated flight information system, AI Magazine Volume 20 Number 1 (1999) ( AAAI) consortium representing 60 percent of all newspapers circulated in the United Kingdom, has developed an intelligent agent-based classified advertising web site. The ADHunter system collects and indexes as many as 1 million automobile, help wanted, and property classified ads. Heritage Mutual Insurance (Sheboygan, Wis.) is using intelligent software to improve its underwriting process. The company's rule-based paperless personal lines processing application automates the procedure for evaluating and issuing a variety of insurance products. David Blanchard is the editor of Intelligent Systems Report (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; www.isreport.com),

Expert system software will be a key element of an operator advisory system, a production forecasting system, and a capacity allocation system. Bell Helicopter Textron (Fort Worth, Tex.), a manufacturer of helicopters, has implemented an intelligent system to automate the procurement process. With the new system, the time required for a buyer to purchase a part has been reduced from 1 hour to approximately 10 minutes, increasing productivity by 83 percent. The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's Technical Library at the Phillips site on Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, is using advanced pattern-recognition technology to design its virtual library information system. Knowledge-retrieval techniques will be utilized by researchers to access a myriad of information that resides in repositories throughout the state and government.

Shell U.K. Exploration and Production (Aberdeen, U.K.) has implemented an advanced forecasting system for predicting oil field production. The expert system helped Shell achieve over $1.6 million in cost savings for its Brent Field site within 2 months of implementation. The National Research Council has awarded Nestor (Providence, R.I.) a grant to develop a neural network-based video sensor system, crossingguard Arvin Industries (Columbus, Ind.) is working with the U.S. Air Force to develop a neural network system that can determine the quality of noise in such vehicles as automobiles and aircraft. The neural network will help determine what exactly an annoying sound is and how it can be fixed. Using virtual reality hardware and software, Parke-Davis (Morris Plains, N.J.) has been able to improve the molecular modeling research techniques it uses to develop new pharmaceutical products.

Kaire International (Longmont, Colo.), a multilevel marketer of skintravel without having to speak with a reservation agent. Busey Bank (Champaign, Ill.) is using intelligent-agent technology to launch its David Blanchard is the editor of Intelligent Systems Report, Intelligent Manufacturing, and Electronic Commerce Update. Online versions of these publications are available on the World Wide Web at www.lionhrtpub.com. This network security application will be used to improve efforts to detect and eliminate international toll fraud. United Airlines (Chicago, Ill.) has deployed an employee reservation system based on speech-recognition technology.

Bell & Howell Mail-Processing Systems (Skokie, Ill.), a manufacturer of mail sorting, folding, and inserting equipment, has implemented an expert system solution at the core of its integrated service information technologies ( The goal is to facilitate the design of exhaust mufflers of inlet manifolds in hours instead of days. Aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, Md.) and the U.S. Air Force Manufacturing Technology Directorate (MANTECH) (Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio) are working together on a virtual manufacturing project to apply modeling and simulation technology during the design process to prove out and select optimal new concepts. David Blanchard is the editor of Intelligent Systems Report, Intelligent Manufacturing, and the new Electronic Commerce Update.

Net-ID (San Francisco, Calif.) has been awarded a $500,000 grant by the National Institutes of Health to develop software for the rapid analysis and classification of the large number of DNA and protein sequences produced by the Human Genome Project and other sequencing projects. The AIbased software will be used to mine public and private data bases of genetic information. Aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space (Sunnyvale, Calif.) has been named project leader of the next-generation Simulation-Based Design Project by the Advanced Research Projects Agency Tactical Technology Office. The goal of the project is to create virtual prototypes of complex ships and military systems in a real-time, interactive environment. Physical Optics (Torrance, Calif.) has developed ssmart, a hybrid neural network program that is being used to detect and identify tuberculosis and other mycobacterial infections.

Eastman Kodak (Rochester, N.Y.), a manufacturer of imaging-related products, has developed an online neural network-based machine vision system for surface mount solder paste inspection. Caere (Los Gatos, Calif.), a provider of neural network-based optical character recognition (OCR) technology, has signed an agreement to supply IBM Ireland with OCR Readers for AN POST, Ireland's national postal service. Using a handheld wand, postal employees will be able to scan text and read bar codes from anywhere on a document. BrainTech (Scottsdale, Ariz.), a developer of neural network and fuzzy logic-based pattern recognition technologies, has signed a development agreement with Raven (Alexandria, Va.), a developer of acoustic systems for the U.S. Navy. BrainTech will integrate its pattern-matching recognition engine into Raven's new medical diagnostic systems.

BNR Europe (Harlow, England), the R&D subsidiary of telecommunications equipment supplier Northern Telecom, is using virtual reality technology for equipment installation planning. The VR system allows BNR's engineers to visualize complex installations and how they will work, greatly saving time and effort compared to the traditional CAD system. Continental Bank (Chicago, Ill.) has developed a client/server-based intelligent application to improve the quality of its customer service. Thanks to an expert system, the bank's service management staff has immediate access to customers' cash management account information online. Anderson Memorial Hospital (Anderson, S.C.) had implemented a neural network-based hospital information and patient prediction system which has improved the quality of care, reduced the death rate and saved the facility millions of dollars in resources.

The system will help eliminate avoidable pollution and save pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturers millions of dollars. The Batch Design Kit will be commercially available in the summer of 1995. Photosound (Saffron-Walden, England) is using virtual reality to simulate and visualize the effects of different pharmaceutical drugs on the human body. The results are being used as the focal point of exhibition stands designed by Photosound for such pharmaceutical firms as Smith-Kline Beecham. Westinghouse Electric (Pittsburgh, Penn.) and Carnegie Group (Pittsburgh, Penn.) are working with the Pittsburgh Cancer Institute on a knowledge-based intelligent system for the management of national clinical trials.