Object-process methodology as a basis for the visual semantic Web

The Visual Semantic Web (VSW) is a new paradigm for enhancing the current Semantic Web technology. VSW is based on Object-Process Methodology (OPM), which enables modeling of systems in a single graphic and textual model. VSW provides for representation of knowledge over the Web in a unified way that caters to human perceptions while also being machine-processable. The advantages of the VSW approach include graphic-text knowledge representation, visual navigability, semantic sentence interpretation, specification of system dynamics, and complexity management. Arguing against the claim that humans and machines need to look at different knowledge representation formats, we present the principles and basics of OPM and RDF. Using a running example, we present VSW as an extension of OPM, where the basic idea is to express knowledge visually and via a subset of natural language, such that the two representations are strictly equivalent. Both the graphics and the text are intuitive, yet formal, so they are not only understandable to humans, but are also amenable to mechanical processing just like XML.