Boston, MA, USA; 21 August 2001 -- OASIS, the XML interoperability consortium, today announced its members have formed the OASIS HumanMarkup Technical Committee (TC) to develop and promote a specification for conveying human characteristics through XML. The Human Markup Language (HumanML) will embed contextual human characteristics (cultural, social, kinesic, psychological and intentional features) within information. Applications include artificial intelligence, virtual reality, conflict resolution, psychotherapy, art, workflow, advertising, cultural dialogue, agent systems, diplomacy and business negotiation.

"HumanML offers the potential to reduce misinterpretation and allows people to express themselves more deeply," explained Ranjeeth Kumar Thunga, chair of the OASIS HumanMarkup TC. "Employing the same infrastructure and technology used in business-to-business transactions, HumanML lets us define and elucidate the various subtle, complex human processes involved in communication. Using HumanML, we can substantially reduce interpersonal and intersocietal conflicts associated with the inadequate conveyance of human traits and expression."

Other efforts within the scope of the OASIS HumanMarkup TC will include messaging, style, alternate schemas, constraint mechanisms, object models, and repository systems, which address overall concerns of representing and amalgamating human information within data.

"HumanML is an exciting example of the breadth of technical work being undertaken by OASIS members. Unlike standards bodies that dictate direction through a central authority, OASIS offers an open technical agenda that is set by our members themselves," commented Karl Best, director of technical operations for OASIS. "HumanML extends the use of XML into totally new arenas and offers the potential to affect the way we communicate with one another."

Participation in the OASIS HumanMarkup TC is open to all employees of OASIS member companies and all OASIS individual members. Information on joining OASIS can be found on http://www.oasis-open.org/join. OASIS will host an open mail list, humanmarkup-comment@lists.oasis-open.org, for public comment on HumanML.

About OASIS
OASIS (http://www.oasis-open.org) is the international, not-for-profit consortium that advances electronic business by promoting open, collaborative development of interoperability specifications. With the United Nations, OASIS sponsors ebXML, a global framework for electronic business data exchange. OASIS operates XML.org, the non-commercial portal that delivers information on the use of XML in industry. The XML.org Registry provides an open community clearinghouse for distributing and locating XML application schemas, vocabularies and related documents. OASIS serves as the home for industry groups interested in developing XML specifications. OASIS technical work embraces conformance, security, business transactions, repositories and other interoperability issues.

For more information:
Carol Geyer
Director of Communications
OASIS
carol.geyer@oasis-open.org
+1 978.667.5115 x209