Program_old | RoboTac

Program

October 23, 2023

Vincent Hayward

09:10-09:35 (20 min + 5 min Q/A)

Title: The physical basis of haptic perception

Abstract: In this discussion I propose the idea that the sense of touch, supported by the somatosensory system, has developed to take advantage of the ambient physics. While this is certainly not an original idea, it has proven to be rich in surprises and practical consequences which will be discussed by examples.

Opening 09:00-09:10

Etienne Burdet

Mohsen Kaboli

Henrik Jörntell

09:35-10:00 (20 min + 5 min Q/A)

Title: The Neural Basis of Haptic Perception.

Abstract: Here I will discuss recent developments in the view of haptics information and information processing in the nervous system. A central tenet is that haptics is a highly dynamical process, that engages large parts of the skin and consequently a large numbers of sensors, but this not well represented in the neuroscience literature. A consequence is that also large parts of the nervous system becomes engaged in haptics processing, which is also what we have found in a recent series of experiments. The implications of these changing views for the design of artificially intelligent systems, or robots, which rely on haptics to ‘understand’, are also discussed.