Expanding the envelope of the object oriented approach

In this paper we will discuss a new approach to modeling information systems, namely Fuzzy Object and Behavior Modeling (FOBM) technique. FOBM is a fusion of the object-oriented approach with soft computing techniques. It is especially useful for dealing with increased complexity and noisy, incomplete and vague environments and mainly target areas such as 3D animation, robotics and intelligent autonomous agents. FOBM introduces many new concepts and integrates and enhances some existing ones. Concepts highlighted in this paper include message and event broadcasting, weighing and attenuation, continuous messages with emitters and sensors, degrees of membership, presence and relationships, continuously variable objects, and tolerant environments. Some of these concepts are demonstrated using a simple FOBM framework implemented in Squeak.