The ShanghAI lectures have brought us a treasure trove of guest lectures by experts in robotics. You can find the whole series from 2012 here. Now, we’re bringing you the guest lectures you haven’t yet seen from previous years, starting with the first lectures from 2009 and releasing a new guest lecture every Thursday until all the series are complete. Enjoy!

Guest talk in the ShanghAI Lectures, 2009-10-22

In my talk I will demonstrate why virtual reality (VR) is interesting for neuroscientists or cognitive neuroscientists. A major question in cognitive neuroscience is whether VR environments cause the same experience as real environments. If this is the case the brain states evoked by VR and real environments should be the same. In our experiments we have used several virtual scenarios to examine the influence of VR environments on brain activation and subjective experience. First, we have used virtual roller coaster experiments as stimuli in the context of fMRI experiments. These experiments have shown that typical brain areas are involved in processing this kind of VR scenario. Most interesting was the fact that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is strongly involved in controlling the subjective presence experience. While this area is involved in controlling the presence experience in adults it is not involved in kids. In kids, however, we uncovered stronger brain activations in emotional brain areas. Obviously kid cannot control their emotional reactions via the DLPFC as adults. This might have consequences how kids behave in VR environments. In a further set of experiments we are interested to learn how humans react in response to virtual persons (avatars) or how they interact with avatars suffering from pain (virtual experiment). Altogether these experiments demonstrate that human brain reacts to VR stimuli mostly similar as to real stimuli.

The ShanghAI Lectures are a videoconference-based lecture series on Embodied Intelligence run by Rolf Pfeifer and organized by me and partners around the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHzb446u_00

Lutz Jäncke is professor for Neuropsychology at the University Zurich since 2002. His main research interests are focussed around the question how the human brain is shaped by experience. To understand the effects of leaning and experience on the human brain he uses modern brain imaging techniques like fMRI and EEG. However, he is also strongly grounded in cognitive psychology. One of his specialties is to use professional musicians as model for neuroplasticity. He has also a special interest in virtual reality because he is interested whether VR environments stimulate the same experiences in our brain as real environments. In addition, he is also interested to explore the possibilities of VR for neurological and neuropsychological rehabilitation.

“The Dmitry Avatar-A head represents the most expressive facial robot in history and far exceeds the life-like characteristics of previous robot portraits of humans in both technology and artistry,” stated David Hanson. “The Dmitry Avatar-A head can establish eye contact, recognize faces, and carries out natural spoken conversation.

“Facial expressions were created with 36 degrees of freedom (servomotors) with high-resolution sensors in the eyes. The Dmitry Avatar-A head also benefits from a new hyper-expressive formulation of Hanson’s proprietary nanotech material called “Frubber,” a spongy, structured elastic polymer that expertly mimics the movement of real human musculature and skin, as well as new mechanisms for improved facial expressions,” explained Hanson.

In addition to the press releases, an in-depth NY Times article by David Segal described how it was being built, showed pictures of the work in progress, told what it was to do, and the personality and language characteristics that it was to incorporate.

Well it didn’t happen. None of it.

Rumor had it that Hanson was running late. His day 1 speaking spot was moved to day 2. But as day 2 progressed Hanson still hadn’t arrived. GF2045 staff stretched the various talks and roundtables. At 5:30 of day 2, in a flurry of rushing people, Hanson and his wife and child arrived and were immediately whisked away to a stage anteroom with not a single comment to the waiting press and camera crews (and not an android head in sight; not even big unmarked boxes). At 6 pm Dmitry Itskov had a choice: extend the conference to add Hanson and his AI partner Ben Goertzel, or give his summary and farewell remarks with perhaps a comment or two about why the new android didn’t appear. He chose to ignore the situation and ended the conference with his summary statement.

Those of us who came to see the new Hanson head, Goertzel’s AI, and Itskov gestures, went away disappointed.

In an official statement released by the the 2045 press crew, Dmitry said:

“We so appreciate the patience and support of everyone waiting for what we thought might be a concluding crescendo to the congress. But just like many other technological advances, failure is sometimes a part of the road to success. While we had hoped to see the android head in full working order weeks ago, there were delays and it arrived in a much too premature condition to show to the public. We hope that we can show you something very soon.”

I asked David Hanson what had happened and he replied by email:

I’m sorry! I worked hard to finish the robot in time, but it proved impossible.  Actually my team and I worked all night Friday and Saturday, arriving in NYC on Sunday afternoon. Because the robot wasn’t finished to his satisfaction, Dmitry canceled our talk and chose not to show the robot. I understand his decision and regret the inconveniences to you and everyone who came to see me and Ben. My robots are complex works of art, and this is the most complex and ambitious one I’ve made yet. I know there are risks and uncertainties that come along with making such robots; however, it’s heartbreaking to me to miss this deadline, and I am sorry.

Hopefully Hanson will get the new avatar to work to Dmitry’s satisfaction and Dmitry will show it to the public soon. I can’t wait!

By the way, the GF2045 conference was really interesting and worthwhile. I’ll have another posting on that shortly.

[Photo credits: Brandon Thibodeaux for The New York Times]