The “BioComputation Robots” explore new medical research into the way blue light can be used to control epileptic absence seizures by resetting genetically modified photosensitive brain cells
Computational neuroscientists study the data about how neurones in the brain fire in order to calculate the optimum moment to apply light and reset the cells. But in Anna Dumitriu and Alex May’s mouse-like robots it’s a manual activity, you have to take care of the robots and watch for signs a ‘seizure’ then shine the light as soon as they collapse to keep them moving
The artwork is made in collaboration with Professor Volker Steuber Associate Dean (Research) in the School of Computer Science at the University of Hertfordshire as well as Head of the Biocomputation Research Group, and Professor Freek Hoebeek at the University Medical Centre in Utrecht and the aim their research is to provide future healthcare treatments for patients with absence seizures and significantly reduce any risk of brain damage.
As part of this series Dumitriu and May are also developing an “Olfactory Robot” which uses an artificial digital ‘nose’ and is inspired by research led by Dr Michael Schmuker, Reader in Data Science at the University of Hertfordshire.
The Olfactory Robot has a sense of smell, something we usually think of as uniquely human. It can track smells it likes and follow them. Perhaps in the future when the boundaries between robots and humans are much less clear we might select perfumes that will appeal to robots rather than humans. When it sniffs the scent from the bottle of specially made ‘robot perfume’ it is attracted to it.
The project is inspired by research at the University of Hertfordshire by Dr Michael Schmuker on the use of artificial intelligence and hardware applications to create artificial robot noses being developed with the EU FET Flagship Human Brain Project. The Olfactory Robot was made in collaboration with Professor Volker Steuber.
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- Intelligent Machinery Exhibition – September 9, 2019This exhibition and events programme critically explores robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and bio-computation through a series of installations and robotic artworks.