Mathematical Model Shows How Brains Make Complex Decisions

Getting to the bottom of understanding how our brains work is a fascinating challenge for scientists, and new research promises to shed more light on the inner workings of our minds - through a complex mathematics model. Scientists in the UK say they've constructed ‘the first biologically realistic mathematical model’ that matches the way the brain makes complex decisions. Not only can this model predict behaviour, it's also capable of predicting actual neural activity too. It simulates the way the human mind goes through the decision-making process, as well as the ways in which we learn from our mistakes and adapt for the future. The team's findings could eventually help us in better understanding a multitude of conditions, from obsessive compulsive disorder to Parkinson's disease.

The intricate mathematical algorithm written by the researchers was compared to experimental data and accurately captured behavioural choice probabilities as well as predicting choice reversal. The model shows how a network of neurons, when connected in a certain way, identifies the best decision in any given situation, as well as the future cumulative reward. Significantly, the model also demonstrates how synapses can adapt and reshape themselves depending on what has or hasn't worked in the past - this is the same behaviour we see in humans and animals every day. The researchers found that in goal-based decision-making, synapses connecting the neurons together 'embed' the knowledge of how situations follow on from one another, depending on the actions chosen and the immediate rewards.

More information:

http://www.sciencealert.com/new-mathematical-model-sheds-light-on-how-our-brains-make-complex-decisions

Editing Memories

Are there any memories you'd like to permanently remove from your head? Or what if you could alter unpleasant memories so they're no longer upsetting? Or create entirely new memories of events that never occurred? It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but according to a documentary scientists have discovered how to do just that - and more.

 

For much of human history, memory has been seen as a tape recorder that faithfully registers information and replays it intact. But now, researchers are discovering that memory is far more malleable, always being written and rewritten, not just by us but by others. They are discovering the precise mechanisms that can explain and even control our memories.

More information:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/12152337/Scientists-have-discovered-how-to-delete-unwanted-memories.html?sf20740008=1

AR/VR - The Future of Perception

At the moment, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality primarily are taught in association with game development. And while both help bring interactive games vividly to life, neither is strictly (or solely) a game development technology. However, both AR and VR have numerous applications across many fields and industries, including education and healthcare. It won’t be long before schools offer degrees in Augmented and Virtual Reality for many related and newly created careers: Haptic (touch) and scent development and design, gestural linguistics, hardware and software engineering, VR/AR therapies, Architecture and the Arts.

It is expected that AR/VR will change the way we think and feel. Experiences will be rendered and interacting with us in holographic form in our living rooms, as we will in theirs. Reality is defined as the state or quality of having existence or substance. Going forward, our individual and collective imagination will co-exist with us in real time. Not only will augmentation change what we see and hear, we’ll be able to augment what we touch, feel, even smell. The new definition of reality will be an integration of what we currently perceive as ‘reality’ with anything and everything we can imagine becoming real.

More information:

https://infinityleap.com/breaking-reality/

HiVisComp 2016 Talk

Yesterday, 3^rd February 2016, I gave a talk entitled ‘Brain Computer Interfaces for Virtual and Augmented Reality Environments’ at the High Visual Computing 2016. The meeting took place at the Bohemian Forest (aka Šumava), Czech Republic and attracted a number of recognized researchers and academics from the field of computer graphics and computer vision.

My presentation explored the use of BCIs used both as passive (EEG) and active (bio-feedback) devices for virtual and augmented reality environments. For each category, different case studies were illustrated indicating the necessity of BCIs in the greater area of virtual and augmented reality environments.

More information:

http://hiviscomp.cz/

VR in Education is Next Big Thing

Virtual reality ramifications in the educational sector are a reason for all the attention it’s receiving. In addition to online learning, students will be transported to another programmed world through the use of feedback headsets, tactile gloves and motion sensors. It will become a supplement to traditional methods. Virtual reality in education promises to deliver the best aspects of both real classrooms and online platforms. It sounds all correct, but we have evidences that past innovations, although really amazing, failed to substantially change education: cinema, computers, tablets and apps, online and distance learning. A movie is able to immerse the audience in another world, but our schools mainly use movies when it comes to teach a foreign language. Ironically a language is mainly about ‘listening’, a movie is about ‘watching’. Yes, but computers, labs and interactive whiteboards changed dramatically the scenario. And now that tablets and apps kicked in, the revolution is completed. Unfortunately, this is false. In 2015, OECD examined the impact of school technology on international test results, in 70 countries, and made two “incredible” discoveries: (a) the world is still unplugged and (b) students who use computers very frequently at school get worse results.

So, why virtual reality is enough to learn better? The first comment is really about learning through experience. The pedagogies of constructivism and game-based learning show that children learn best by doing or by being. Using state of the art graphics, which are comparable to video games, virtual reality can educate as well as entertain students through uniquely realistic recreation of a time period that no longer exists or locations that are difficult to reach. Game based education is another relevant topic. It’s more fun and engaging. Bringing a video game-like experience to students and presenting material in a more engaging way, will help get a new generation of students get excited about topics they think are boring. Virtual reality headsets already allow students to move planets, see around stars and track the progress of a comet. This also enables them to see how abstract concepts work in a three dimensional environment which makes them easier to understand and retain. 3D interaction with objects can help students to understand difficult theoretical concepts through applications that would visually represent those topics. Since VR is a computer simulation of a natural environment, interaction with a 3D model is more natural than browsing through 2D webpages looking for information. Also, the fact virtual reality in education is interactive brings with it collaboration. The collaborative aspect of learning is crucial. In fact, immersion, imagination and interaction, are the three fundamental features of virtual reality.

More information:

http://www.31december2099.com/2016/01/24/why-virtual-reality-in-education-is-the-next-big-thing/