Introduction
Sensorimotor Computation: Bits, Bodies, and Brains is an Exploratory Workshop funded by a grant from the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of British Columbia awarded to Principal Investigator Dinesh K. Pai, Computer Science.
Sensorimotor Computation is a highly interdisciplinary topic that seeks to develop a deep understanding of how the human brain and spinal cord interact with the real world through the senses and muscles, using techniques from many fields ranging from neurobiology to computer science. It provides a unique window into the workings of the human brain, because it connects empirical observations of biological systems — from psychophysical studies to single neuron electrophysiology — to the functional constraints on any system that successfully interacts with the physical world. This connection to insights from robotics, computer science, and engineering could lead to a deeper understanding of biological systems.
The workshop examined three specific sensorimotor subsystems: 1. Eye movements, 2. Dexterity, and 3. Balance. Each was examined from biological and computational perspectives, focusing on two themes: Modeling and Learning.
