Automated Layout for the Internet
Welcome to the homepage of the DesignComposer. On this Web page we provide a survey the project that is performed by DFKI, and that addresses the automated layout of Web pages.
Electronic media, especially the Internet, enable content providers to communicate in new ways with their customers. For instance, the content of a Web page may be selected on demand to reflect the specific interests of the reader. In that case, the layout of such dynamic Web page has to be created on demand as well. Since this process takes place online, human layout designers cannot be directly involved. Therefore the layout has to be created automatically.
The regular approach to automatically creating Web page layout consists in the application of templates, which are stored in style sheets and are selected depending on the current task. Layout conflicts that may result from a selection of unsuitable templates are little regarded by this straightforward approach.
Another crucial topic in current Web page design is that there is an increasing number of hardware and software that enable access to the Internet. All of them have unique characteristics which should be regarded during the layout creation.
To overcome with these problems, layout designers need tools that enable the anticipation of a Web page's appearance within a given presentation environment. These tools have to enable an automated correction of layout conflicts. And finally, they should enable an automated layout creation that is efficient enough to meet the narrow time constraints of an online scenario.
The DesignComposer addresses all of these issues. We propose an architecture for the automated creation of Web page layout. Based on a separation of knowledge about content and layout, it uses a declarative representation of layout design knowledge and AI-powered processing modules to achieve dynamic, user-adapted presentations.