NIPS*97 workshop on Imitation Learning, call for participation

[Stefan Schaal]

Call for participation for NIPS*97 workshop on:


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                             Imitation Learning
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                      http://www.erato.atr.co.jp/nips97

                      NIPS*97 Post-Conference Workshop
    December 5-6, 1997, Beaver Run Resort (970 453-6000) in Breckenridge,
                                  Colorado


Abstract
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Imitation learning is an ability shared by humans and many different species
of animals. In imitation learning, the learner observes a skill being
demonstrated by a teacher, then attempts to imitate that skill, and finally
refines the skill through trial and error learning. The ability of imitation
learning provides the opportunity to profit from knowledge of others and to
acquire new skills much more quickly. Effectively, imitation learning biases
a learning system towards a good solution in order to significantly reduce
the search space during trial by trial learning. The ability of imitation
learning, however, is not trivial. It requires a sophisticated interplay
between perceptual systems that recognize the demonstrated skill, and motor
systems, onto which the recognized skill must be mapped. Differences between
teacher and learner emphasize the need for more abstract representations for
imitation learning. Recent demonstrations of imitation-specific neurons in
primate premotor cortex have even lead to speculations that the development
of imitation skills may have been a key milestone in the evolution of higher
intelligence.

Goal
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The goal of this 1-day workshop is to identify and discuss the complex
information processes of imitation learning in short presentations and panel
discussions. The hope is to outline a strategy of how imitation learning
could be studied systematically by bringing together researchers with a
broad range of expertise. Topics of the workshop include:

 -  how learning methods can profit from (i.e., can be biased by) a
    demonstration of a teacher,
 -  how the recognition process of a demonstration could interact with
    the generative process of motor control (e.g., connecting to ideas of
    reciprocally constrained learning processes, as in Helmholtz machines),
 -  how memory and attentional processes operate during imitation,
 -  segmentation and recognition of the teacher's demonstration,
 -  extracting the intent of a demonstration,
 -  psychophysical experiments on imitation learning,
 -  mapping imitation learning onto the functional structure in
    primate brains,
 -  robot and simulation studies of imitation learning,
 -  representations supporting imitation learning.

Participants
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This workshop will bring together active researchers from neurobiology,
computational neuroscience, behavioral sciences, cognitive science, machine
learning, statistical learning, motor control, control theory, robotics,
human computer interaction, and related fields. A tentative list of speakers
is given below. We are interested in additional contributers. If you would
like to give a presentation in this workshop, please send email to
nips97_imitation at hip.atr.co.jp describing the material you would like to
present.

Tentative Speakers
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Bob Sekuler (Brandeis Univ.), Chris Atkeson (GaTech), Dana Ballard (Univ. of
Rochester), Jean-Jacques Slotine (MIT), Jeff Siskind (NEC), Kenji Doya
(JST), Maja Mataric (USC), Matt Brand (MIT), Mitsuo Kawato (ATR, Japan),
Polly Pook (MIT), Sebastian Thrun (CMU), Stefan Schaal (JST & USC), Trevor
Darell (Interval), Yasuo Kuniyoshi (ETL,Japan), Zoubin Ghahramani (Univ. of
Toronto).

Organizers
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Stefan Schaal (JST & USC), Maja Mataric (USC), Chris Atkeson (GaTech)

Location and More Information
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The most up-to-date information about NIPS*97 can be found on the NIPS*97
Home Page (http://www.cs.cmu.edu/Groups/NIPS/NIPS.html)

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If you have comments or suggestions, send email to
nips97_imitation at hip.atr.co.jp