The Orthogonal Research and Education Lab is on the virtual move! We have been featured at two conferences this week. The first conference is MAIN (Montreal Artificial Intelligence-Neuroscience) conference, a hybrid conference that focused on cutting-edge research in Neuro-AI. Our submission (Developmental Embodied NeuroSimulation) is a group effort and summarizes our work in this area over the past few years. The graphical abstract can be found below.
Graphical Abstract for Developmental Embodied NeuroSimulation.
We also had a presence at Neuromatch 4, with four flash talk presentations on four different topics. Neuromatch 4 was a great time, with two days of keynote talks, short talks, flash talks, and debate panels.
Each flash talk was 7.5 minutes long, which requires an efficiency of words and ideas not typical of a longer format. The first talk is "The Universal Theory of Switching", which focuses on transitory "switching" phenomena. Switching behavior is ubiquitous across biological, physical, and algorithmic systems, and is controlled by sudden, first-order phase transition-like behavior we characterize as zeroth-order cybernetic regulation.
Another talk is on "Allostatic Kinds". Allostatic Kinds are a way to regulate the boundaries of meaning and regulation of internal emotional and conscious states. This talk is presented by Jesse Parent, and features a mix of complex systems regulation, philosophy of mind, and consciousness studies. This talk was in conjunction with CEEALAR (Center for Enabling EA Learning and Research), an academic hostel located in Blackpool, UK.
Daniela Cialfi has built upon the lab's work on Meta-brain Models to develop "Economic Meta-brains", which are bio-economic agents that behave according to the free energy principle. Meta-brains are layered computational models that enable different levels of representation in the same agent. These model layers can be configured in geometrically specific ways, which in turn affects their function. The free energy principle enriches the meta-brains approach by adding a mathematically rigorous energetic component to a meta-brain agent.
Finally, our presentation on "Gibsonian Information" comes with a preprint. Gibsonian Information is the information content of direct perceptual processing (sensu J.J. Gibson). We draw parallels between Shannon and Gibsonian Information, in addition to the role of such information in the dynamic interactions between agents and their environments. See our graphical abstract below, which simplifies the mathematics in the preprint. The talk also features a number of naturalistic settings in which Gibsonian Information can be demonstrated.
Graphical abstract for the Gibsonian Information paper/presentation (direct perception as information content).
