Connectionists: Living Machines 2013: Call for Participation in Conference, Exhibition and Workshops

[Nathan F Lepora]

______________________________________________________________

*Call for Participation in Conference, Exhibition and Workshops*

*Living Machines: The 2nd International Conference
on Biomimetic Robotics and Biohybrid
Systems*<http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2013>
*.*

*A **Convergent Science Network* <http://www.csnetwork.eu/>* Event*

*29th July to 2nd August 2013***

Natural History Museum, London

http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2013

Deadline for early registration, June 16th, 2013

______________________________________________________________

*ABOUT LIVING MACHINES 2013*

The development of future real-world technologies will depend strongly on
our understanding and harnessing of the principles underlying living
systems and the flow of communication signals between living and artificial
systems. The development of either biomimetic or biohybrid systems requires
a deep understanding of the operation of living systems, and the two fields
are united under the theme of *“living machines”*—the idea that we can
construct artefacts, such as robots, that not only mimic life but share the
same fundamental principles; or build technologies that can be combined
with a living body to restore or extend its functional capabilities.

The 2nd International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid systems
comprises a week of events including 2.5 days of single-track oral
presentations with five plenary speakers; an exhibition and poster display
featuring a performance art event with a biomimetic humanoid robot; and
five satellite workshops on themes ranging from artificial “selves” to the
societal impacts of living machines.

*The conference registration site is now open.*  Please register soon to
take advantage of early registration—*deadline June 16th*—and conference
accommodation at Imperial College London from 70 GBP per night.

*Contributions to the exhibition are still being invited* from research
groups and companies involved in the development of biomimetic and
biohybrid systems.  Deadline to complete and return the *short exhibitor
proforma *(http://www.csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2013/exhibition) *is
June 16th*. Space is limited so please apply soon.

There is a prize for the best non-commercial exhibit plus the opportunity
to demonstrate your work in front of the scientific media and
representatives of leading journals and grant funding agencies.

*CONFERENCE PROGRAMME*

The main conference will take the form of a *single-track oral presentation
programme*, 30th July to midday 1st August 2013, that will include *five
plenary lectures* from leading international researchers in biomimetic and
biohybrid systems.  Agreed speakers are:

*Mark Cutkosky* <http://www-cdr.stanford.edu/~cutkosky/>, Stanford
University (Biomimetics and Dextrous Manipulation);
*Terrence Deacon* <http://anthropology.berkeley.edu/users/terrence-w-deacon>,
University of California, Berkeley (Natural and Artificial Selves);
*Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena*<http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/people/f.rodriguez>,
Imperial College London (Biomimetics for medical devices);
*Robert Full*<http://polypedal.berkeley.edu/twiki/bin/view/PolyPEDAL/ProfessorsOffice>,
University of California, Berkeley (Locomotion);
*Andrew Pickering*<http://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/sociology/staff/pickering/>,
University of Exeter (History of living machines).

There will also be 20 regular talk, and a 3 hour poster session (afternoon
of August 1st) featuring approximately 50 posters. Particular themes
include:

*Biomimetic robotics
Biohybrid systems including biological-machine interfaces
Neuromimetic systems
**Soft robot system
**Active sensing in vision and touch
**Social robotics
**Biomimetics of plants*

A list of accepted papers and extended abstracts can be found on the living
machines website.

*WORKSHOPS*

In addition to the main conference there are two further days of workshops,
each with their own full program that can be found on the Living Machines
website.

Monday 29th July

*Self and cognitive systems *(organizers Peter Ford Dominey and Paul
Verschure)

*Learning from the Plant Kingdom to Invent Smart Artificial Solutions
*(organizers
Barbara Mazzolai and Lucia Beccai)

Friday 2nd August

*Neuromorphic models, circuits, and emerging nano-technologies for
real-time neural processing systems *(organizers Giacomo Indiveri and
Themistoklis Prodromakis)

*Emergent social behaviours in bio-hybrid systems *(organizers Jose Halloy,
Thomas Schmickl and Stuart Wilson)

*Societal impacts of Living Machines *(organizers Tony Prescott and Michael
Szollosy)

Attendance at satellite events will attract a small fee intended to cover
the costs of the meeting.  We have reserved meeting rooms at *Imperial
College London* to host the satellites each with capacity for up to 40
people.  Please book early.  Separation registration for satellite events
is possible.

*ABOUT THE VENUE*

The organisers are delighted to have secured the Flett Theatre at the*
**Natural
History Museum* <http://www.nhm.ac.uk/>* *in London as the main venue for
our conference.  The NHM is an international centre for the study of the
natural world featuring many important biological collections. The
exhibition and poster session on Thursday 1st will be hosted at the
nearby *Science
Museum* <http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/>, and the satellite events
at *Imperial
College London* <http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/>.  All three venues are
conveniently located within a short walking distance of each other in South
Kensington, the Museum district of the UK capital, and close to many of
London’s tourist sights.

*CALL FOR EXHIBITORS AT LIVING MACHINES 2013*

The Living Machines 2013 Exhibition is intended to feature working
biomimetic or biohybrid systems and biomimetic/biohybrid art.  It will take
place in the London Science Museum Level 1 Galleries on Thursday 1st August
2013. The exhibition is expected to include intelligent artefacts such as
biomimetic robotics; however, we are open to proposals for display of
biomimetic or biohybrid systems of any kind.

The exhibition will be in two sessions.

In the afternoon session exhibits will be displayed alongside conference
posters. This session will be open to conference delegates and sponsors
only.

The evening session will be alongside the LM2013 buffet dinner and
reception. This session will be open to invited representatives of the
press, VIPs, and conference delegates and members of the public who have
registered for the evening event.

For registered conference participants there is no additional charge to
participate in the exhibition but you must register your exhibit using the
proforma available through the LM2013 web-site. Note that, if you wish to
continue to display your exhibit during the evening session, you must also
register for the buffet dinner and reception in addition to the main
conference which attracts a small charge to cover the cost of food and
drink.

We strongly encourage authors of accepted papers and extended abstracts to
bring their working biomimetic or biohybrid artefacts to include in the
exhibition. A prize will be awarded for the best exhibit.

Deadline for proposed exhibits: 16th June 2013. Please contact the
conference organizers about your exhibit.

*ACCOMODATION*

West London has many excellent hotels that are suitable for conference
delegates. We have also organized the provision of reasonably priced
accommodation for LM2013 events in the Imperial College Halls of
Residence.  Please see conference registration pages for further
information.

*KEY DATES*

*June 16, 2013 Deadline for early registration.*

*June 16, 2013 Deadline for proposals for exhibits.*

*July 29-August 2nd 2013 Conference*

*SPONSORSHIP*

Living Machines 2013 is sponsored by the *Convergent Science Network (CSN)
for Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems* <http://www.csnetwork.eu/> which is
an EU FP7 Future Emerging Technologies Co-ordination Activity. CSN also
organises two highly successful workshop series: the *Barcelona Summer
School on Brain, Technology and Cognition* <http://bcbt.upf.edu/> and
the *Capoccaccia
Neuromorphic Cognitive Engineering
Workshop*<http://capocaccia.ethz.ch/capo/wiki/2013>
.

Living Machines 2013 is supported by the IOP Physics Journal *Biomimetics &
Bio-inspiration* <http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-3190/>, who this year will
publish a special issue of articles based on last years’ LM2012 best
papers.  A *review of the state of the
art*<http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-3190/8/1/013001> in
biomimetics, by the conference chairs, and reporting strong recent growth
in the field, has just been published in the journal (
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-3182/8/1/013001).

Other organisations wishing to sponsor the conference in any way and gain
the corresponding benefits by promoting themselves and their products
through conference publications, the conference web-site, and conference
publicity are encouraged to contact the conference organisers to discuss
the terms of sponsorship and necessary arrangements. We offer a number of
attractive and good-value packages to potential sponsors.

We are looking forwards to seeing you in London.

*Organising Committee:*

Tony Prescott (co-chair)

Paul Verschure (co-chair)

Nathan Lepora (programme chair)

Holger Krapp (workshops & symposia)

Anna Mura (web-site)

*Conference Secretariat:*

living-machines at sheffield.ac.uk

c/o Gill Ryder,

Sheffield Centre for Robotics

Department of Psychology

University of Sheffield

Western Bank

Sheffield, S10 2TN

United Kingdom
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