An Argumentation-based Perspective over the Social IoT

The crucial role played by social interactions between smart objects in the Internet of Things is being rapidly recognized by initiatives such as the Social Internet of Things (SIoT). In this work, we build upon the recently introduced framework of Speaking Objects – “things” interacting through argumentation – to show how different forms of human dialogue naturally fit cooperation and coordination requirements of the SIoT. There in fact, speaking objects exchange arguments in order to seek for information, negotiate over an issue, persuade others, deliberate actions, and so on, namely, striving to reach consensus about the state of affairs and their (shared) goals. Thus, we illustrate how argumentation naturally enables such a form of conversational coordination through practical examples.