Welcome to the International Conference of Artificial Neural Networks 2014 in Hamburg! This year, I am glad to host a special session on Human-Machine-Interaction (HMI) made possible by the Körber Stiftung. The interest in HMI applications, specifically in the field of robotics, is increasing due to advanced technologies and demographic reasons. Researchers in this area seek for innovative solutions to facilitate and support communication between humans and machines. In line with this, artificial neural networks as learning systems are a prominent building block for development of natural interfaces and intuitive interaction scenarios.
Therefore, the main aim of this session is to provide a more focused platform for young researchers interested in and working actively on neural networks with HMI applications for discussions on recent research progress and networking for possible future project to push forward the significant, but also exciting area.
Below you can find the program scheduled for Wednesday, 17.09.14, 9.00 am-3.00 pm.
| 9.00-10.00 | Paul Verschure | A Biologically Grounded Architecture for a Social Robot |
| 10.00-11.00 | Jorge Luis Reyes Ortiz et al. |
Human Activity Recognition on Smartphones with Awareness of Basic Activities and Postural Transitions |
| Thomas Guthier et al. |
sNN-LDS: Spatio-temporal Non-negative Sparse Coding for Human Action Recognition | |
| Stefan Heinrich et al. |
Interactive Language Understanding with Multiple Timescale Recurrent Neural Networks | |
| 11.00-11.30 | Coffee Break | Networking and Discussions |
| 11.30-12.30 | Mathis Richter et al. |
A Neural Dynamic Architecture Resolves Phrases about Spatial Relations in Visual Scenes |
| Jinfeng Bai et al. |
Chinese Image Character Recognition Using DNN and Machine Simulated Training Samples | |
| Doreen Jirak | Discussions: Open Problems and Challenges for HMI with Neural Networks | |
| 12.30-14.00 | Lunch Break | Networking and Discussions |
| 14.00-15.00 | Jun Tani | Self-Organization and Compositionality in Cognitive Brains: A Neuro-Robotics Study |
Thanks to the financial support of the Körber Stiftung which especially aims at supporting early-stage researchers, it was possible to invite keynote speakers well known in the field. The special session starts with a keynote talk by Prof. Paul Verschure from the University Pompeu Fabra (UPF) of Barcelona. His research interests range from theory of mind to robotics, thus his talk will give us an interesting insight of recent developments in his interdisciplinary area.
The session then proceeds with selected work of early-stage researchers presenting their research in diverse applications for HMI. Afterwards, I will summarize recent state-of-the-art in HMI in connection with artificial neural networks and invite participants for discussing open problems and computational challenges. Finally, the keynote talk from Prof. Jun Tani from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) on neurobiologically-inspired methods for robots will conclude the HMI special session of the conference.
Hope to see you soon in Hamburg!
Doreen Jirak
