Knowledge-based temporal interpolation

Abstract

Temporal interpolation is the task of bridging gaps between time-oriented concepts in a context-sensitive manner. It is a subtask important for solving the temporal-abstraction task-abstraction of interval-based, higher-level concepts from time-stamped data. We present a knowledge-based approach to the temporal-interpolation task and discuss in detail the precise knowledge required by that approach, its theoretical foundations, and the implications of the approach. The temporal-interpolation computational mechanism we discuss relies, among other knowledge types, on a temporal-persistence model. The temporal-persistence model employs local temporal-persistence functions that are temporally bidirectional (i.e. extend a belief measure in a predicate both into the future and into the past) and global, maximal-gap temporal-persistence functions that bridge gaps between interval-based predicates. We investigate the quantitative and qualitative properties implied by both types of persistence functions. We have implemented our approach in the RÉSUMÉ program and evaluated it in several different medical and engineering domains. We discuss the implications of our conceptual and computational methodology for acquisition, maintenance, reuse, and sharing of temporal-abstraction knowledge.