Object-Field by Watanabe & Nishio

This is a very interesting article (The object-field model for managing a group activity) by Watanabe and Nishio.
Abstract
The object-oriented model is very applicable to represent various phenomena in the real world from an entity-interaction point of view. The successful modeling methods have been developed on many current topics. However, it is not sufficient to model a group of interrelated objects and dynamic actions of individual objects effectively under this paradigm. We introduce the concept of field in addition to the notion of object with respect to constructing the cooperative environment for objects, and then discuss our modeling method based on the object and field. Our modeling method is successful to construct a group of objects through the field, and to organize a hierarchical structure among objects by looking upon the field as an abstract object conceptually. Also, we explain a property adaptation mechanism of objects in fields with respect to the group activity of objects. (Access the article )