As reported in Cordis, the robot will be designed and built in a new state of the art robotics laboratory at the University of Essex, scheduled for completion in 2004. Meanwhile, a team at the University of Bristol’s psychology department, led by Professor Tom Troscianko, will develop those parts of the robot’s ‘brain’ that deal with vision.
Professor Troscianko is an expert in the neuropsychology of primate vision. Much of what is known about consciousness comes from the study of visual experience and visual imagination, and the team will attempt to make the artificial systems match the systems of humans and apes as closely as possible.
They will then place the robot in complex environments where it must imagine itself trying out various actions before choosing the best one. Powerful computers will analyze and display what is going on in the robot’s brain, and the team will use the data to look for signs of consciousness.
As reported in The Guardian, such signs of consciousness must meet Aleksander’s five axioms of consciousness: Axiom 1: a sense of place
We feel that we are at the centre of an “out there” world, and we have the ability to place ourselves in the world around us; Axiom 2: imagination – We can “see” things that we have experienced in the past, and we can also conjure up things we have never seen. Reading a novel can conjure up mental images of different worlds, for example; Axiom 3: directed attention – Our thoughts are not just passive reflections of what is happening in the world – we are able to focus our attention, and we are conscious only of that to which we attend; Axiom 4: planning – We have the ability to carry out “what if?” exercises. Scenarios of future events and actions can be mapped out in our minds even if we are just sitting still; Axiom 5: decision/emotion – Emotions guide us into recognising what is good for us and what is bad for us, and into acting accordingly.
This effort was one of just 13 selected from a total of 700 applicants for the Adventure Fund. Good luck, guys!