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Challenge 2 Challenge 2 Call 3Call 3

presentation to NCPspresentation to NCPsBrussels, December 13, 2007Brussels, December 13, 2007

Colette Maloney, PhDColette Maloney, PhDHead of Unit, INFSO E5, Cognitive Systems and RoboticsHead of Unit, INFSO E5, Cognitive Systems and Robotics

European CommissionEuropean Commission

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Challenge 2: Cognitive Systems, Robotics, Challenge 2: Cognitive Systems, Robotics, InteractionInteraction

BackdropBackdrop

the proliferation of sensors in IT applications (robots, computer vision, speech recognition) and their deployment in ‘real-world’ settings;

the consequent requirement that information processing be capable of dealing with uncertainty (in the form of unexpected events, diverse contexts, novel situations, etc) inherent in sensory data;

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Target a (IPs, STREPs)

3 areas: focus on one

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Robots …Robots …

… in real world settings… in real world settings less-constrained environments can be too nuanced, too

complicated and too unpredictable to be summarised within a limited set of specifications

there will inevitably be novel situations and the system will have gaps, conflicts or ambiguities in its own knowledge and capabilities

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robots handling different objects and operating robots handling different objects and operating autonomously or in cooperation with peopleautonomously or in cooperation with people

may call for

manipulation & grasping,

navigation,

locomotion,

obstacle avoidance,

interaction with humans,…

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Monitoring and controlling…Monitoring and controlling…eg using computer visioneg using computer vision

traffic monitoring other applications

intelligent surveillance,

biometric recognition,

exploration,

data-gathering

manufacturing,

robotics,…

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robots or other systems monitoring & controlling robots or other systems monitoring & controlling material or informational processesmaterial or informational processes

May call for:

detection,

recognition,

classification

…. of objects, events or processes,…

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Multimodal Interfaces …Multimodal Interfaces …eg in speech recognition improvements have eg in speech recognition improvements have come from increases in computing powercome from increases in computing power

the majority of mobile phones have voice dialling

software for dictating documents on your PC is available in most computer stores

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems are becoming commonplace for handling telephone enquiries

… technology is fragile in ‘real’ conditions

From Roger K. Moore From Roger K. Moore Spoken Language Processing for Artificial Cognitive Systems, IST 2006

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multimodal interfaces &/or interpersonal multimodal interfaces &/or interpersonal communication systems understanding communication systems understanding

language, gestures, etclanguage, gestures, etc

may call for

a deep understanding of human physical & cognitive capabilities, communication needs & contextual constraints,…

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A new systems engineering paradigm?A new systems engineering paradigm?

as systems get more complex, the growth in utility and productivity is in ever smaller proportion to the growth in compute power afforded by Moore’s Law

cognition: a way of overcoming uncertainty accompanying interaction in a world that is not completely pre-specified

goal: engineering principles for robust, versatile systems

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A key questionA key question

How should systems pertaining to these areas be How should systems pertaining to these areas be designed and builtdesigned and built so that they are more robust, flexible, effective, natural and where necessary or desirable, safer and more autonomous than what is possible today?

but,… how can we specify what it means to be robust, what it means to be robust, flexibleflexible, etc?

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Addressing the key questionAddressing the key question

while providing valid and viable answers to the previous key question, projects can take the approach projects can take the approach of their choiceof their choice, and draw on those scientific and engineering disciplines that are needed to achieve the its goals.

projects are requested to contribute to the development of criteria for benchmarkingcriteria for benchmarking system system propertiesproperties such as robustness, scalability and adaptability, make them public and compare with others

don’t forget the emphasis, in particular in robotics, is on integration of complete systemsintegration of complete systems

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Project outcomeProject outcome

projects are expected to develop know-howdevelop know-how needed to needed to create new productscreate new products and to build systems that are desirable but cannot be built given our current know-cannot be built given our current know-howhow

emphasis is scientific and technological advancescientific and technological advance – not application development;

role of applications is to provide research questionsresearch questions and to demonstrate the impact of conceptual or technical innovation.

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Challenges for researchChallenges for research

a key issue is howhow systems should work – greatly improving robustness etc. requires rethinkingrethinking the way systems are engineered

theoriestheories are needed - systems theories, software architectures, control theories, modelling theories, etc - that will allow us to build these types of systems

engineering progress will depend on advancing advancing scientific understandingscientific understanding of what both natural and natural and artificialartificial systems can and cannot do, and how and why

integration of disciplinesintegration of disciplines: robotics, artificial intelligence, computer vision, natural language, cognitive science, psychology,… mathematics,… philosophy

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Target b (NoEs)

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Network of excellence (NoE)Network of excellence (NoE) - programmes - programmes of joint research & resource sharing which of joint research & resource sharing which

contribute to reinforcing & sustaining scientific contribute to reinforcing & sustaining scientific excellence.excellence.

Robotics: experimentation with industry strength platforms, benchmarking

Cognitive Systems: integration of diverse research area, understanding of requirements for specific applications

Language based communication and interaction: new approaches; understanding of capabilities required of technical systems

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Target c (CSAs)

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Coordination ActionCoordination Action

Increased cooperation and coordination between EU Member States covering domain that contribute to overall goals of Challenge 2.

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Some mythsSome myths

European levelEuropean level – does not mean having a spread of partners from countries all over Europe. It means cross-border collaboration that promises to achieve more than could have been achieved within one single Member State

Industrial participationIndustrial participation - is not a requirement. It is an option

Presence of one or more SMEsSMEs - is not to be taken as a must or as a de facto plus point. SMEs are treated just as any other partner in a consortium in terms of having a necessary competence, a reputation and a clearly defined role

Projects - incl. IPs - need not assemble large numbers of partners. Projects should only include those partners needed to achieve the goals and no more.

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More mythsMore myths

Management by a professional consultancy – is not to be taken for granted. It must offer a proven added-value.

We are not looking for ideas for new applications systems or products. Advances should be related to the engineering goals of Challenge 2 – not to health, security, ambient intelligence,….(those such domains can provide useful demonstration scenarios)

We are not looking for ‘contributions’ to any policy except research policy. And the part of research policy in question is Challenge 2 - not enlargement policy, SME policy, Information Society policy (i2010), other Community policies*….

*often cited wrongly or misunderstood

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Links

More (documents, project descriptions, presentations,…) at

http://www.cognitivesystems.eu

See also

http://www.eucognition.org

http://www.roboticsplatform.com

Contact

Colette.Maloney@ec.europa.eu

Cognitive Systems, Interaction, Robotics: Cognitive Systems, Interaction, Robotics: 2007-082007-08

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