wilson@THINK.COM (Stewart Wilson) (07/24/90)
======================================================================= ANNOUNCEMENT Simulation of Adaptive Behavior: From Animals to Animats An International Conference To be held in Paris, September 24-28, 1990 Sponsored by Ecole Normale Superieure US Air Force Office of Scientific Research Electricite de France IBM France Computers, Communications and Visions (C2V) Offilib and a Corporate Donor 1. Conference dates and site The conference will take place Monday through Friday, September 24-28, 1990 at the Ministere de la Recherche et de la Technologie, 1 rue Descartes, Paris, France. 2. Conference Committee Conference chair Dr. Jean-Arcady Meyer Dr. Stewart W. Wilson Ecole Normale Superieure The Rowland Institute for Science France USA Organizing Committee Groupe de BioInformatique Ecole Normale Superieure France Program Committee Lashon Booker, U.S. Naval Research Lab, USA Rodney Brooks, MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab, USA Patrick Colgan, Queen's University at Kingston, Canada Patrick Greussay, Universite Paris VIII, France David McFarland, Oxford Balliol College, UK Luc Steels, VUB AI Lab, Belgium Richard Sutton, GTE Laboratories, USA Frederick Toates, The Open University, UK David Waltz, Thinking Machines Corp. and Brandeis University, USA 3. Official language: English 4. Conference Objective The conference objective is to bring together researchers in ethology, ecology, cybernetics, artificial intelligence, robotics, and related fields so as to further our understanding of the behaviors and underlying mechanisms that allow animals and, potentially, robots to adapt and survive in uncertain environments. Said somewhat differently, the objective is to investigate how the robot can aid in comprehending the animal and, inversely, to seek inspiration from the animal in the construction of autonomous robots. The conference will provide opportunities for dialogue between specialists with different scientific perspectives--ethology and artificial intelligence notably--a dialogue that will be enhanced by the common technical language imposed by simulation models. As the first of its kind in the world, the conference will make it possible to establish not only the state of the art of "adaptive autonomous systems, natural and artificial", but a list of the most promising future research topics. The conference is expected to promote: 1. Identification of the organizational principles, functional laws, and minimal properties that make it possible for a real or artificial system to persist in an uncertain environment. 2. Better understanding of how and under what conditions such systems can themselves discover these principles through conditioning, learning, induction, or processes of self-organization. 3. Specification of the applicability of the theoretical knowledge thus acquired to the building of autonomous robots. 4. Improved theoretical and practical knowledge concerning adaptive systems in general, both natural and artificial. Finally, special emphasis will be given to the following topics, as viewed from the perspective of adaptive behavior: Individual and collective behaviors Autonomous robots Action selection and behavioral Hierarchical and parallel organizations sequences Self organization of behavioral Conditioning, learning and induction modules Neural correlates of behavior Problem solving and planning Perception and motor control Goal directed behavior Motivation and emotion Neural networks and classifier Behavioral ontogeny and evolution systems Cognitive maps and internal Emergent structures and behaviors world models 5. Conference Proceedings The proceedings will be published about two months after the end of the conference by The MIT Press/Bradford Books. 6. Conference Organization Among the papers received by the organizers and reviewed by the Program Committee members, approximately 50 have been accepted for publication in the proceedings. They will be presented as talks or posters. (To receive by e-mail a preliminary program please contact one of the conference chairmen). Since the conference intersects animal and "animat" research, lively interaction can be expected, including controversy. At least one panel discussion will be organized around the theme of what each viewpoint can contribute to the other. Because the conference is emphasizing simulation models, it is anticipated that many participants will have computer programs demonstrating their work. To make such demonstrations possible, the Organizers will provide workstations and video equipment. An evening session during the week will be devoted to demonstrations. Morning and afternoon coffee breaks will be provided. To further promote interaction among a diverse group of participants, the conference will provide lunch each day. 7. Additional Information Additional information can be obtained from the chairmen: Dr. Jean-Arcady Meyer Groupe de Bioinformatique URA686.Ecole Normale Superieure 46 rue d'Ulm 75230 Paris Cedex 05 France e-mail: meyer@frulm63.bitnet meyer@hermes.ens.fr Tel: (1) 43.29.12.25 FAX: (1) 43.29.81.72 Dr. Stewart W. Wilson The Rowland Institute for Science 100 Cambridge Parkway Cambridge, MA 02142 USA e-mail: wilson@think.com Tel: (617) 497-4650 FAX: (617) 497-4627 8. Travel and Lodging Participants will be responsible for their own travel and lodging arrangements. However, you may contact any of three hotel reservations services which have agreed to offer advantageous locations and rates to participants in SAB90. We advise making early reservations and mentioning "SAB90" in your request. These services are: - Hotel Pullman Saint-Jacques(****): rooms at 800-900 FF, fax (33 1 45 88 43 93) - Tradotel(*** and **): rooms at 440-520 FF, fax (33 1 47 27 05 87) - AJF: student rooms at 80-90 FF, fax (33 1 40 27 08 71) 9. Registration fees Attendance at SAB90 will be open to any person paying the registration fee which is set at $ 220 (or 1200 FF) for non-students and $ 110 (or 600 FF) for students. The registration fee covers five lunches, coffee-breaks, and a copy of the Proceedings. ****************************************************************************** *WARNING: The audience size is strictly limited to 150 persons. Registrations* *will be closed beyond this number. * ****************************************************************************** REGISTRATION FORM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Last name: First name: Profession/Title: Organization: Address: State/Zip Code/Country: Telephone: Fax: E-mail: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This form should be sent to: Dr. Jean-Arcady MEYER Groupe de BioInformatique URA686. Ecole Normale Superieure 46 rue d'Ulm 75230 PARIS Cedex 05 FRANCE with a check for the registration fee to the order of: J.A. MEYER 'SAB90' The check can be in US Dollars or French Francs. To receive the student rate, please attach evidence of student status from your University or Scientific Advisor. ==============================================================================