Focus | Soft Computing Interfaces Group (SCIG) of the Media Lab at the University of Art and Design Helsinki focuses on nature-inspired adaptive approaches to design of interfaces and interaction concepts. Core perspectives include: | | | Emergence | | | Self-organization | | | Brain-like or mind-like machines | | | Soft ontologies | | | Complex system behavior, nonlinearity, feedback loops | | | SCIG is lead by Mauri Kaipainen . | Mail to | | | Index |
Goals | SCIG intends to: | | | - Improve cognitive ergonomy by applying knowledge about how the mind works, relying on results of cognitive science, psychology and brain research | | | - Understand principles of human communication from systemic, adaptive and emergent perspectives in order to improve human-machine-human communication | | | - Develop tools to describe artefacts on an elementary level, maintaining the original richness of information for the user to interpret | | | - Navigation and knowledge retrieval tools to enable exploratory search of complicated and unclassified information, typically information created by the nature or human activity, such as cultural artefacts or media art | | | - Develop and research algorithmic solutions for anticipatory information technology | | | | Index |
Applications | Applications of soft computing include: | | | -narrative logic engines | | | -cognitively ergonomic interface design for multidimensional data | | | -intelligent filtering | | | -soft ontologies, flexible low level descriptions of complex data | | | -automated public services | | | | Index |
PROJECTS:
CIPHER | Enabling Communities of Interest to Promote Heritage of European Regions (CIPHER) is an online space where people can participate and learn through accessing and contributing to a range of heritage resources around some theme. This is an EU-funded project jointly with the Systems of Representation group. The role of the SCIG in this project is to develop vector-based soft ontologies for cultural heritage information. | | | Partners: | | | -Open University in the United Kingdom | | | -Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland | | | -The Discovery Programme, Ireland | | | -The University of Art and Design Helsinki/UIAH, Finland; Systems of Representation & SCIG | | | -The Czech Technical University in the Czech Republic | | | -RiS GmbH Internet-Lösungen, in Austria. | | | UIAH website | More info | | International CIPHER website | More info | | UIAH responsible person: Lily Diaz, Systems of Representation | More info | | | Index |
INiCS Interactive narratives in cross-media systems | Academy of Finland funded project 2004 - 2007 | | | Researchers: | | | Karri Ahonius | | | Leena Saarinen | | | Rasmus Vuori | | | Project integrated with CRUCIBLE | | | INiCS explores and develops interactive narrative concepts for multiple forms of digital media, including computer games, cinema, internet chatrooms, digital TV and soundscapes. The project proposes particular intelligent interaction concepts to be applied in managing interactive narrative structures across genres of interactive media art, based on experimental dramatic concepts. The Activation-based Recursive Self-Organizing Map algorithm is adopted as a means of representing narrative landscapes and trajectories, and as a technology to serve 1) as a nonlinear scripting concept allowing both conventional a priori authoring as well as dynamic online adaptivity to participantsÕ actions, 2) as a anticipatory control logic that puts the default linear narrative (directorÕs cut) into dialog with participantsÕ interactive choices, 3) maintains a continuous anticipatory drive, and 4) offers a spatial visualization for the basis of cognitively ergonomic interfacing the complex material. | | | The project builds on the theoretical premises of cognitive ecology or dynamism, claiming that the approach is commensurate with the character-driven narrative practice of the improvisation theatre Commedia dellÕArte. This approach allows us to investigate narrative systems that learn to anticipate certain sequences of events cross the narrative space. | | | For the design of interactive characters, the concept offers a rich technical platform to build dialogues on. Speech or actions can be programmed to react in relation to the direction on which the user-participant is moving in the narrative landscape while the narrative possibilities still remain in the control of the system and the author. The HCI domain offers methodology for standard information technology products, but methods for genuinely interactive and in particular anticipatory intelligence still remain to be captured. | | | | Index |
Projects in preparation | Interactive cross-media TVprogram concepts with soft computing-based visualization and interface functions | | | Organization memory | | | | Index |
Past projects
Publications | Aviles Collao, Jazmin; Diaz-Kommonen, L.; Kaipainen, M.; Pietarila, J. (2003). Soft Ontologies and Similarity Cluster Tools to facilitate Exploration and Discovery of Cultural Heritage Resources. Paper in DEXA 2003. September 1.-5.2003, Prague Czech Republic. | More info | | Aviles, J.; Diaz-Kommonen, L.; Kaipainen, M.; Pietarila, J. (2003). Soft Ontologies and Similarity Cluster Tools to facilitate Exploration and Discovery of Cultural Heritage Resources . Proceedings DEXA «03. | | | Diaz, L.; Kaipainen, M. (2001). Designing vector-based ontologies: Can technology empower open interpretation of ancient artifacts?. Proc. CIRCUS 2001. New Synergies in Digital Creativity Conference for Content Integrated Research in Creative User Systems. Glasgow Sept 20-22 2001. | | | Diaz-Kommonen, L.; Kaipainen, M. (2002). Designing vector-based ontologies: Can technology empower open interpretation of culture heritage objects?. DEXA 2002, Aix-en-Provence, France, Sept. 2002. | | | Hynna, K.; Kaipainen, M. (2003). Activation-Based Recursive Self-Organizing Maps. A General Formulation and Empirical Results. Neural Processing Letters (submitted). | | | Jokinen, K.; Kerminen, A.; Kaipainen, M.; Jauhiainen, T.; Wilcock, G.; Turunen, M.; Hakulinen, J.; Kuusisto, J.; Lagus, K. (2002). Adaptive Dialogue Systems - Interaction with Interact. Proc. SIGDial '02 . | | | K. Jokinen, T. Hurtig, K. Hynnä, M. Kaipainen, A. Kerminen, Self-Organizing Dialogue Management. Proceedings The Second Workshop on Language Processing and Neural Networks NLPNN 2001, 2001. | | | Kaipainen, M.; Ilmonen, T. (2002). Period Detection and Representation by Recurrent Oscillatory Self-Organizing Map. Neurocomputing (in press). | | | Kaipainen, M.; Jokinen, K.; Koskenniemi, T.; Kerminen, A.; Kanto, K. (2001). Clustering dialogue knowledge with self-organizing maps . Proceedings of NoDaLiDa '01, 13th Nordic Conference on Computational Linguistics, May 21-22, 2000, Uppsala, Sweden. | | | Kaipainen, M.; Koskenniemi, T.; Kerminen, A.; Raike, A.; Ellonen, A. (2001). Presenting data as similarity clusters instead of lists. Data from local politics as an example. -Stephanidis, C. (2001). Universal Access in HCI: Towards an Information Society for All, Mahwah, NJ, London: Lawrence Erlbaum. | | | Kerminen, A.; Raike, A.; Kaipainen, M. (2000). Self-organizing map browser for database retrieval, Consiglio Nazionale delle Riserche, Istituto di Ricerca sulle Onde Elettromagnetiche. Proceedings of 6th ERCIM Workshop, User Interfaces for All. Convitto della Calza, Florence, Italy, Oct 25-26 2000. | | | M. Kaipainen, P. Karhu, Bringing Knowing-When and Knowing-What Together. Periodically Tuned Categorization and Category-Based Timing Modeled with the Recurrent Oscillatory Self-Organizing Map (ROSOM). Minds and Machines 10: 203-229, 2000, 2000. | | | M. Kaipainen, T. Ilmonen, Period Detection and Representation by Recurrent Oscillatory Self-Organizing Map. Neurocomputing (In press), 2003. | | | Tikka, P.; Kaipainen, M. (2003). Manuscapes as Media Ecologies. Media Ecology Association Fourth Annual Convention, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, June 5Ð8, 2003 . | | | | Index |
Software | SOMVizard Interface and visualization code | More info | | ARSOM Activation based Recursive Self-Organizing Map code | Mail to | | | Index |
Collaborate | Research institutes and industrial partners are welcome to collaborate. MA and doctoral students can work with us in e.g. final projects. Contact Mauri Kaipainen. | Mail to | | | Index |
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