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ICDL2022 Tutorial Proposal: Rhythm
in Development and Learning – Similarities and Differences Between Humans and
Technology |
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Jim Torresen, Senior member IEEE |
Abstract/Main Concept — Rhythm
is an essential biological mechanism from our very first heartbeats and expands
through motor activity when we learn to crawl and walk. Technology similarly
much depends on synchronous rhythmic operation, whether in a computer or in a robot.
This tutorial will introduce how rhythm is essential both in humans and in technology.
There are similarities as well as differences that we will shed light on. Technology
researchers have potentially not explored all opportunities for how humans apply
and take benefit from rhythm in development and learning which will also be
addressed in the tutorial.
The tutorial will
give the audience insight into the rhythmic phenomena in humans as well as in
technology, with an emphasis on how we take benefit from it as a part of development
and learning. Thus, we think the content of the tutorial can be inspiring and
bring new insight to many of the ICDL attendees. The tutorial will be given at
an introductory level. Thus, there is no specific prerequisite knowledge
required.
The author of the
proposal: Jim Torresen, Department of Informatics and RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time
and Motion, University of Oslo, Norway and potentially one or two additional invited
speakers (will be added to the tutorial web page).
We don´t plan with any paper/poster session since the
format is tutorial.
https://jimtoer.no/tutorials-workshops/ICDL-2022-Tutorial-JimTorresen-web.html
Human life depends on balancing between regular
behaviour and breaking out of too repetitive patterns. We need to sleep, eat
and be physically active at regular intervals. However, people vary in how
structured these activities are performed and how much they vary in regularity.
That is, their point in time during a day and how long they last depend on each
person.
Similarly important, life requires our biological body
to function with our heart and brain as two of the main organs keeping us
going. Oxygen is received through our lungs and supplied to our body. This is
with the help of our blood being driven through our body by the power of
regular heartbeats in our blood supply and return chain of vessels. This is
referred to as pulse and for an adult, the normal range of the heart rate is
between 60 to 100 beats per minute. Similarly, we are able to
think and remember with the help of neurons in our brain, activating each other
as a response to inputs from our senses like eyes and ears. Our brain
represents our central nervous system, where neural oscillations take place.
Rhythms exist in a large span of temporal scales from
ultradian rhythm (less than 24 hours, all from rhythms that occur within
seconds to several hours), circadian rhythm (24 hours) and infradian
rhythms (more than 24 hours, can be as long as months
and years) [1]. They don´t fully operate independently of each other. Entrainment
may happen when there are synchronisation and locking between independently
oscillating systems [2].
The underlying fundamental concept of all these
biological functions is a repetitive mechanism that we call rhythm. In this tutorial,
we will look at how rhythm is an essential part of all biological systems and
their interaction within nature and with technology. Technology would, similarly
to biology, not be able to function very well without the concept of rhythmic
operation – often referred to as synchronous behaviour. Thus, rhythm in
technology is also a topic of the tutorial.
Rhythm in technology impacts technology users in many
ways. We have gradually got more dependent on technology which keeps us updated
with plans for the day and potentially collects information about us like the number
of steps walked in a day. Thus, rhythmic behaviour in technology has in many
ways changed the way we live our lives. Technology is also about generating
motion through robots and haptic interfaces, giving the user physical feedback.
A repetitive pulse–or clock signal–is the backbone of most technology today in
contrast to humans having asynchronous processing in our brains and when
coordinating our body parts. Technology has also changed a lot the way we
communicate. The invention of electricity quickly led to Samuel Morse in 1838
invented the Morse system used to communicate through an electrical
telegraph. This was the start of a technology revolution that has led to
today´s broadband networks through cable and wireless communication.
Robots are equipped with motors rather than muscles,
but their activation takes benefit from having a regular activation
pattern. We are mostly used to robots being applied in manufacturing where they,
to a large extent, can be pre-programmed to their dedicated task. There is
normally no need to change their behaviour unless they are going to change
their assigned task. However, after a first wave of shrinking smartphone
technology getting close to us, we
now see a second wave with robots approaching. These have
to operate in unstructured and dynamic environments and need to be able
to do a large number of different tasks. They need to interact with humans
having different behaviour patterns. Thus, rhythm and synchronisation at
different scales both during training and operation will be important capabilities.
One human mechanism that is explored in robots is central pattern generators
(CPGs), i.e. neural circuits capable of producing
coordinated patterns of high-dimensional rhythmic output signals while
receiving only simple, low-dimensional, input signals [3].
This tutorial will give insight into how rhythm is an
essential backbone in both humans and technology and how rhythm is similarly diverse
and important in technology interaction with users. There are similarities as
well as differences in how rhythm is a part of biology compared to how it is
applied in technology which will be addressed in the tutorial. The tutorial
will also be illustrated with examples from others and own relevant work.
Name: Jim Torresen
Postal address:
PO Box 1080 Blindern, N-0316 Oslo, Norway
Phone numbers: +4722852454 (office) +4792846669
(mobile)
E-mail address: jimtoer@ifi.uio.no
Jim Torresen is a professor at University of Oslo
where he leads the Robotics and Intelligent Systems research group. He received
his M.Sc. and Dr.ing. (Ph.D) degrees in computer architecture and design
from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Univ. of Trondheim in
1991 and 1996, respectively. He has been employed as a senior hardware designer
at NERA Telecommunications (1996-1998) and at Navia
Aviation (1998-1999). Since 1999, he has been a professor at the Department of
Informatics at the Univ. of Oslo (associate professor 1999-2005). Jim Torresen has been a visiting researcher at Kyoto
University, Japan for one year (1993-1994), four months at Electrotechnical
laboratory (now AIST), Tsukuba, Japan (1997 and 2000)
and a visiting professor at Cornell University, USA for one year (2010-2011).
His research interests at the moment include
artificial intelligence, ethical aspects of AI and robotics, machine learning,
robotics, and applying this to complex real-world applications. Several novel
methods have been proposed. He has published over 250 scientific papers in
international journals, books and conference
proceedings. A large number tutorials and a number of
invited talks have been given at international conferences and research
institutes. He is in the program committee of more than ten different
international conferences, associate editor of three international scientific
journals as well as a regular reviewer of a number of
other international journals. He has also acted as an evaluator for proposals
in EU FP7 and Horizon2020 and is currently project manager/principal
investigator in three externally funded research projects/centres. He is a
member of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences (NTVA)
and the National Committee for Research Ethics in Science and Technology (NENT) where he is a member of a working group on research
ethics for AI. More information and a list of publications can be found here: http://jimtoer.no/
Evidence of teaching experience
Torresen has extensive experience in university course
teaching, see overview in CV here and an overview of past invited talks and tutorials
here.
Evidence of knowledge in the area
See a list of research projects here. Torresen
is a Principal Investigator of the RITMO Centre
of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time
and Motion
Information about previous tutorials delivered by the presenters
See an overview of past invited talks and tutorials here.
Acknowledgment
This
work is partially supported by The Research Council of Norway as a part of the
Collaboration on Intelligent Machines (COINMAC) project, under grant agreement
309869, Vulnerability in the Robot Society (VIROS)
under grant agreement 288285, Predictive and Intuitive Robot Companion (PIRC)
under grant agreement 312333 and through its Centres of Excellence scheme, RITMO with project No. 262762.
References
[1] Haken, H., Koepchen, H.P. (Eds.), 1991. Rhythms in Physiological
Systems: Proceedings of the International Symposium at Schloß
Elmau, Bavaria, October 22–25, 1990, Springer Series
in Synergetics. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-468
76877-4
[2] Ross, Jessica M.,
and Ramesh Balasubramaniam. “Physical and neural
entrainment to rhythm: human sensorimotor coordination across tasks and
effector systems.” Frontiers in human neuroscience vol. 8 576.
1 Aug. 2014, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00576
[3] Auke Jan Ijspeert, Central pattern generators for locomotion control
in animals and robots: A review, Neural Networks, Volume 21, Issue 4, 2008, Pages
642-653, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neunet.2008.03.014.
[4] Laje, R., Agostino,
P.V., Golombek, D.A., 2018. The Times of Our Lives:
Interaction Among Different Biological Periodicities. Frontiers in Integrative
Neuroscience 12, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2018.00010
J. Torresen is with the Department of Informatics and RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Norway; e-mail: jimtoer@ifi.uio.no; phone +4722852454.