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  4. Interdisciplinary Centre for the Artificial Mind

The Interdisciplinary Centre for the Artificial Mind (iCAM) is an international Research Centre undertaking innovative research on the mind’s development over a lifespan, in interaction with artificial environments.

iCAM is dedicated to making the following over-arching contributions:

  • to guide new investigation into human-artificial environment interaction,
  • to analyse the development of mind within artificial environments,
  • to provide preventive solutions for human health disorders, and explore treatments of neurological diseases.

Research profile

The key research perspective of the Centre, which makes its contribution to research both innovative and highly significant, is its focus on the whole lifespan in neurocognitive development. Typical and atypical populations of children, adults and elderly are its subjects.

Three research prominences constitute the basic research orientation of the Centre:

  • Firstly, to understand mind functioning in everyday development over an entire lifespan through a strong theoretical background including fundamental research.
  • Secondly, to analyse how neurocognitive development occurs when immersed in virtual/mixed/augmented reality and in interaction with robots.
  • Finally, the third emphasis is on the organisation and/or reorganisation of the mind in the presence of a neurodevelopmental disorder including ASD, prematurity or after a head injury, or a stroke, and through neuroeducation using virtual/mixed/augmented reality and robots.

Achieved projects

  1. Neural network evidence in a motor imaginary task.
  2. Self-motion and Emotion in healthy adults during imagery tasks 

    Research subjects

    The developing mind is in constant interaction with the internal and external world: multimodal representations (e.g. non verbal prosocial development, emotional and cognitive empathy, olfactive and haptic interaction).

    Virtual/augmented reality

    Using Head Mounted Devices (HMDs) participants (children, adults and elderly) are immersed in ecological as well as experimental 3D environments (e.g. spatial navigation, self-motion representation, body consciousness).

    Robots

    Using toy and abstract robots, this will focus on emergent human-robot dyadic and human-human-robot triadic and robot-group interactions. The neurocognitive developmental approach is used to analyse how the mind evolves through robotic physical, emotional and social interactions (e.g. consciousness vs unconsciousness, enrobotment)

    Via robots

    Robots will be construed as "neuronal orthesis”, a tool that may compensate for neurological diseases, including neurodevelopment and neurodegenerative diseases. In particular situations, a robot functions as an environmental mediator, capable of active or reactive neural activity. It thus originates interaction between individuals and their environment (e.g. mobile toy robots, exoskeleton)

    Via VR

    Ecological immersive environments directly and indirectly associated with the degree of neurological diseases are studied (e.g. HMD VIVE or Oculus or HoloLens).

    Our researchers

    Research output

    • 11th International Conference in Cognitive Sciences in Taipei “Inter-individual Differences in Consciousness Development via a Child-Robot Scenario”. Giannopulu, I (2017)
    • Science of Self: Maquarie University-Sydney “Visuo-Vestibular and Cardiovascular Contributions to Vertical Ego-motion Representation”. Giannopulu, I (2017)
    • QBI: Queensland Brain Institute: 10th Australian Workshop on Neuroengineering. Neural connectivity analysis of an EEG data set with a motor imagery task. Mizutani, H., and Giannopulu, I. (2017).
    • IEEEVR 2018 conference in Germany next month in "Body consciousness in Real and Artificial Environments”. http://ieeevr.org/2018/ - Body Consciousness in Natural and Artificial Environments: B.C.N.AE - Call for Papers
    • BFAL 2018 international conference in Montreal, Canada in “Brain Function Assessment in Learning” http://bfal2018.iis-international.org/

    • Giannopulu, I., & Watanabe, T. (2017). Inter-individual Differences in Conscious and Unconscious Processes during Robot-Child Interaction. New Trends in Medical and Service Robots, 147-159.
    • Giannopulu, I. (2017) Visuo-Vestibular and Somesthetic Contributions to Spatial Navigation in Children and Adults, In Mobility of Visually Impaired People. In E Pissaloux and R Velazquez (Eds) 201-233. 

    • Giannopulu, I., Terada, K., and Watanabe, T. (2018). Communication using robots: a Perception-action scenario in moderate ASD. Journal of experimental and theoretical artificial intelligence. Dr Terada and Dr Watanabe are from Gifu and Okayama Universities respectively. 

    • Giannopulu, I. (2018). Neuroscience, Robotics and Virtual reality: internalised vs. Externalised mind/brain. Monograph. Nature Springer