TOWARD A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF IDEA PROCESSORS

Idea processors, as a kind of software widely used in the business wor ld, have not received much attention from academia. In this paper we p rovide an overview of the current status of idea processors. We start from the foundations of idea processors, pointing out their roots in b rainstorming techniques. By examining several experimental systems and commercial products, we further discuss how idea processors work, the ir nature, and their typical architecture. We also summarize some rese arch work related to idea processors, as well as relationships between idea processors and studies of computational creativity in artificial intelligence. Other related issues, such as group decision support sy stems and evaluation methods, are also briefly examined. (C) 1998 Else vier Science B.V. All rights reserved.