Thank you for posting the following announcement on the list:
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The Center for Neural Engineering University of Southern Califor-
nia announces a Workshop on
Neural Architectures and Distributed AI:
From Schema Assemblages to Neural Networks
October 19-20, 1993
[This Workshop was previously scheduled for April 1993]
Program Committee: Michael Arbib (Organizer), George Bekey, Dami-
an Lyons, Paul Rosenbloom, and Ron Sun
To design complex technological systems, we need a multilevel
methodology which combines a coarse- grain analysis of coopera-
tive or distributed computation (we shall refer to the computing
agents at this level as "schemas") with a fine-grain model of
flexible, adaptive computation (for which neural networks provide
a powerful general paradigm). Schemas provide a language for dis-
tributed artificial intelligence and perceptual robotics which is
"in the style of the brain", but at a relatively high level of
abstraction relative to neural networks. We seek (both at the
level of schema asemblages, and in terms of "modular" neural net-
works) a distributed model of computation, supporting many con-
current activities for recognition of objects, and the planning
and control of different activities. The use, representation,
and recall of knowledge is mediated through the activity of a
network of interacting computing agents which between them pro-
vide processes for going from a particular situation and a par-
ticular structure of goals and tasks to a suitable course of ac-
tion. This action may involve passing of messages, changes of
state, instantiation to add new schema instances to the network,
deinstantiation to remove instances, and may involve self-
modification and self- organization. Schemas provide a form of
knowledge representation which differs from frames and scripts by
being of a finer granularity. Schema theory is generative: sche-
mas may well be linked to others to provide yet more comprehen-
sive schemas, whereas frames tend to "build in" from the overall
framework. The analysis of interacting computing agents (the
schema instances) is intermediate between the overall specifica-
tion of some behavior and the neural networks that subserve it.
The Workshop will focus on different facets of this multi-level
methodology. While the emphasis will be on technological sys-
tems, papers will also be accepted on biological and cognitive
systems.
Submission of Papers
A list of sample topics for contributions is as follows, where a
hybrid approach means one in which the abstract schema level is
integrated with neural or other lower level models:
- Schema Theory as a description language for neural
networks
- Modular neural networks
- Alternative paradigms for modeling symbolic and
subsymbolic knowledge
- Hierarchical and distributed representations: adaptation
and coding
- Linking DAI to Neural Networks to Hybrid Architecture
- Formal Theories of Schemas
- Hybrid approaches to integrating planning & reaction
- Hybrid approaches to learning
- Hybrid approaches to commonsense reasoning by integrating
neural networks and rule-based reasoning (using
schemas for the integration)
- Programming Languages for Schemas and Neural Networks
- Schema Theory Applied in Cognitive Psychology, Linguistics,
and Neuroscience
Prospective contributors should send a five-page extended
abstract, including figures with informative captions and full
references - a hard copy, either by regular mail or fax - by Au-
gust 30, 1993 to:
Michael Arbib,
Center for Neural Engineering,
University of Southern California,
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2520,
USA
Tel: (213) 740-9220,
Fax: (213) 746-2863,
email: arbib at pollux.usc.edu
Please include your full address, including fax and email,
on the paper.
In accepting papers submitted in response to this Call for Pa-
pers, preference will be given to papers which present practical
examples of, theory of, and/or methodology for the design and
analysis of complex systems in which the overall specification or
analysis is conducted in terms of a network of interacting sche-
mas, and where some but not necessarily all of the schemas are
implemented in neural networks. Papers which present a single
neural network for pattern recognition ("perceptual schema") or
pattern generation ("motor schema") will not be accepted. It is
the development of a methodology to analyze the interaction of
multiple functional units that constitutes the distinctive thrust
of this Workshop.
Notification of acceptance or rejection will be sent by email no
later than September 1, 1993. There are currently no plans to is-
sue a formal proceedings of full papers, but (revised versions)
of accepted abstracts received prior to October 1, 1993 will be
collected with the full text of the Tutorial in a CNE Technical
Report which will be made available to registrants at the start
of the meeting.
A number of papers have already been accepted for the Workshop.
These include the following:
Arbib: Schemas and Neural Networks: A Tutorial Introduction to
Integrating Symbolic and Subsymbolic Approaches to Cooperative
Computation
Arkin: Reactive Schema-based Robotic Systems: Principles and
Practice
Heenskerk and Keijzer: A Real-time Neural Implementation of a
Schema Driven Toy-Car
Leow and Miikkulainen, Representing and Learning Visual Schemas
in Neural Networks for Scene Analysis
Lyons & Hendriks: Describing and analysing robot behavior with
schema theory
Murphy, Lyons & Hendriks: Visually Guided Multi- Fingered Robot
Hand Grasping as Defined by Schemas and a Reactive System
Sun: Neural Schemas and Connectionist Logic: A Synthesis of the
Symbolic and the Subsymbolic
Weitzenfeld: Hierarchy, Composition, Heterogeneity, and Multi-
granularity in Concurrent Object-Oriented Programming for Schemas
and Neural Networks
Wilson & Hendler: Neural Network Software Modules
Bonus Event: The CNE Research Review: Monday, October 18, 1993
The CNE Review will present a day-long sampling of CNE research,
with talks by faculty, and students, as well as demos of hardware
and software. Special attention will be paid to talks on, and
demos in, our new Autonomous Robotics Lab and Neuro-Optical Com-
puting Lab. Fully paid registrants of the Workshop are entitled
to attend the CNE Review at no extra charge.
Registration The registration fee of $150 ($40 for qualified stu-
dents who include a "certificate of student status" from their
advisor) includes a copy of the abstracts, coffee breaks, and a
dinner to be held on the evening of October 18th.
Those wishing to register should send a check payable to "Center
for Neural Engineering, USC" for $150 ($40 for students and CNE
members) together with the following information to Marrietta
Pobst, Center for Neural Engineering, University of Southern Cal-
ifornia, University Park, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2520, USA.
SCHEMAS AND NEURAL NETWORKS
Center for Neural Engineering, USC October 19-20,1993
NAME: ______________________________________________
ADDRESS:_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
PHONE NO.: _______________ FAX:___________________
EMAIL:_______________________________________________
I intend to submit a paper: YES [ ] NO [ ]
I wish to be registered for the CNE Research Review:
YES [ ] NO [ ]
Accommodation Attendees may register at the hotel of their
choice, but the closest hotel to USC is the University Hilton:
3540 South Figueroa Street,
Los Angeles, CA 90007,
Phone: (213) 748-4141,
Reservation: (800) 872-1104,
Fax: (213) 7480043.
A single room costs $70/night while a double room costs $75/night.
Workshop participants must specify that they are "Schemas and
Neural Networks Workshop" attendees to avail of the above rates.
Information on student accommodation may be obtained from the
Student Chair, Jean-Marc Fellous, jfellous at pollux.usc.edu.