A computational medical XR discipline

Computational medical XR (extended reality) brings together life sciences and neuroscience with mathematics, engineering, and computer science. It unifies computational science (scientific computing) with intelligent extended reality and spatial computing for the medical field. It significantly extends previous Clinical XR, by integrating computational methods from neural simulation to computational geometry, computational vision and computer graphics up to theoretical computer science to solve hard problems in medicine and neuroscience: from low-code/no-code authoring medical XR platforms to deep learning systems for diagnostics, therapeutics, rehabilitation and from surgical planning to real-time operative navigation in XR

2003 Report on Indiana University Accomplishments supported by Shared University Research Grants from IBM, Inc.

Indiana University and IBM, Inc. have a very strong history of collaborative research, aided significantly by Shared University Research (SUR) grants from IBM to Indiana University. The purpose of this document is to review progress against recent SUR grants to Indiana University. These grants focus on the joint interests of IBM, Inc. and Indiana University in the areas of deep computing, grid computing, and especially computing for the life sciences. SUR funding and significant funding from other sources, including a $1.8M grant from the NSF and a portion of a$105M grant to Indiana University to create the Indiana Genomics Initiative, have enabled Indiana University to achieve a suite of accomplishments that exceed the ambitious goals set out in these recent SUR grants

Utilizing Deep Neural Networks for Brain–Computer Interface-Based Prosthesis Control

Limb amputations affect a significant portion of the world’s population every year. The necessity for these operations can be associated with related health conditions or a traumatic event. Currently, prosthetic devices intended to alleviate the burden of amputation lack many of the premier features possessed by their biological counterparts. The foremost of these features are agility and tactile function. In an effort to address the former, researchers here investigate the fundamental connection between agile finger movement and brain signaling. In this study each subject was asked to move his or her right index finger in sync with a time-aligned finger movement demonstration while each movement was labeled and the subject’s brain waves were recorded via a single-channel electroencephalograph. This data was subsequently used to train and test a deep neural network in an effort to classify each subject’s intention to rest and intention to extend his or her right index finger. On average, the employed model yielded an accuracy of 63.3%, where the most predictable subject’s movements were classified with an accuracy of 70.5%

Can biological quantum networks solve NP-hard problems?

There is a widespread view that the human brain is so complex that it cannot be efficiently simulated by universal Turing machines. During the last decades the question has therefore been raised whether we need to consider quantum effects to explain the imagined cognitive power of a conscious mind. This paper presents a personal view of several fields of philosophy and computational neurobiology in an attempt to suggest a realistic picture of how the brain might work as a basis for perception, consciousness and cognition. The purpose is to be able to identify and evaluate instances where quantum effects might play a significant role in cognitive processes. Not surprisingly, the conclusion is that quantum-enhanced cognition and intelligence are very unlikely to be found in biological brains. Quantum effects may certainly influence the functionality of various components and signalling pathways at the molecular level in the brain network, like ion ports, synapses, sensors, and enzymes. This might evidently influence the functionality of some nodes and perhaps even the overall intelligence of the brain network, but hardly give it any dramatically enhanced functionality. So, the conclusion is that biological quantum networks can only approximately solve small instances of NP-hard problems. On the other hand, artificial intelligence and machine learning implemented in complex dynamical systems based on genuine quantum networks can certainly be expected to show enhanced performance and quantum advantage compared with classical networks. Nevertheless, even quantum networks can only be expected to efficiently solve NP-hard problems approximately. In the end it is a question of precision - Nature is approximate.Comment: 38 page

Big data analytics:Computational intelligence techniques and application areas

Big Data has significant impact in developing functional smart cities and supporting modern societies. In this paper, we investigate the importance of Big Data in modern life and economy, and discuss challenges arising from Big Data utilization. Different computational intelligence techniques have been considered as tools for Big Data analytics. We also explore the powerful combination of Big Data and Computational Intelligence (CI) and identify a number of areas, where novel applications in real world smart city problems can be developed by utilizing these powerful tools and techniques. We present a case study for intelligent transportation in the context of a smart city, and a novel data modelling methodology based on a biologically inspired universal generative modelling approach called Hierarchical Spatial-Temporal State Machine (HSTSM). We further discuss various implications of policy, protection, valuation and commercialization related to Big Data, its applications and deployment

Transdisciplinarity seen through Information, Communication, Computation, (Inter-)Action and Cognition

Similar to oil that acted as a basic raw material and key driving force of industrial society, information acts as a raw material and principal mover of knowledge society in the knowledge production, propagation and application. New developments in information processing and information communication technologies allow increasingly complex and accurate descriptions, representations and models, which are often multi-parameter, multi-perspective, multi-level and multidimensional. This leads to the necessity of collaborative work between different domains with corresponding specialist competences, sciences and research traditions. We present several major transdisciplinary unification projects for information and knowledge, which proceed on the descriptive, logical and the level of generative mechanisms. Parallel process of boundary crossing and transdisciplinary activity is going on in the applied domains. Technological artifacts are becoming increasingly complex and their design is strongly user-centered, which brings in not only the function and various technological qualities but also other aspects including esthetic, user experience, ethics and sustainability with social and environmental dimensions. When integrating knowledge from a variety of fields, with contributions from different groups of stakeholders, numerous challenges are met in establishing common view and common course of action. In this context, information is our environment, and informational ecology determines both epistemology and spaces for action. We present some insights into the current state of the art of transdisciplinary theory and practice of information studies and informatics. We depict different facets of transdisciplinarity as we see it from our different research fields that include information studies, computability, human-computer interaction, multi-operating-systems environments and philosophy.Comment: Chapter in a forthcoming book: Information Studies and the Quest for Transdisciplinarity - Forthcoming book in World Scientific. Mark Burgin and Wolfgang Hofkirchner, Editor