First impressions are important and decided quickly. In just a dozen seconds of interaction, people can decide several things about the person who they are interacting with. PhD student Angelo Cafaro decided to apply this idea to an experiment involving Human–Agents encounters. Borrowing from the field of social psychology, Mr. Cafaro investigated the importance of non-verbal cues in encounters between humans and non-human agents. Smile and eye-contact, two of the variables tested, proved to be just as important in human-agent interactions as in human-human interactions. Continue reading First Impressions in Human-Agents Encounters – Presentation from IIIM’s and CADIA’s Open Day→
Dr. Hannes H. Vilhjálmsson introduced the Ambient Assisted Living project which is aimed at solving some of the challenges presented by the world’s aging population. Dr. Vilhjálmsson envisions a complex system that would allow older populations to remain in their homes and independent for as long as possible. The system would receive streams of information to determine if someone is cooking, resting, or in distress so that it could solve real world problems by responding appropriately. Continue reading Ambient Assisted Living-Presentation from IIIM and CADIA’s Open Day→
Have you ever wondered what would happen if your shadow had a life of its own? Reykjavik University Aperio students Gunnar Steinn Valgardsson and Hrafn Thorri Thórisson introduced the LivingShadows project to discover just that. The LivingShadows program scans a person’s outline and transforms it into an interactive figure. Rather than being a mere projection, it is its own entity. The shadows act independently so that people can interact with their own shadows, and their shadows can interact with other shadows. “Most of the other presentations are scientifically motivated,” explains Dr. Kristinn Thórisson, “but this one plays on the border of technology and art.” Continue reading Video Presentation from IIIM and CADIA’s Open Day-The Day My Shadow Left Me→
On IIIM and CADIA’s open day last spring, Dr. Deon Garrett introduced two projects on Machine Learning. The first, Simultaneous Machine Learning of Many Diverse Tasks, involves creating new techniques for developing and evaluating methods for learning multiple skills through interaction with the real world. A second project revolves around improving the ability of artificial agents to have natural-sounding dialogues with humans by learning through experience. Continue reading Video Presentation from IIIM and CADIA’s Open Day – Dr. Deon Garrett→
Catalyzing innovation and high-technology research in Iceland
