ON THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACES AND MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS: A SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE

Today, computer algorithms use traditional human-computer interfaces (e.g., keyboard, mouse, gestures, etc.), to interact with and extend human capabilities across all knowledge domains, allowing them to make complex decisions underpinned by massive datasets and machine learning. Machine learning has seen remarkable success in the past decade in obtaining deep insights and recognizing unknown patterns in complex data sets, in part by emulating how the brain performs certain computations. As we increase our understanding of the human brain, brain-computer interfaces can benefit from the power of machine learning, both as an underlying model of how the brain performs computations and as a tool for processing high-dimensional brain recordings. The technology (machine learning) has come full circle and is being applied back to understanding the brain and any electric residues of the brain activity over the scalp (EEG). Similarly, domains such as natural language processing, machine translation, and scene understanding remain beyond the scope of true machine learning algorithms and require human participation to be solved. In this work, we investigate the interplay between brain-computer interfaces and machine learning through the lens of end-user usability. Specifically, we propose the systems and algorithms to enable synergistic and user-friendly integration between computers (machine learning) and the human brain (brain-computer interfaces). In this context, we provide our research contributions in two interrelated aspects by, (i) applying machine learning to solve challenges with EEG-based BCIs, and (ii) enabling human-assisted machine learning with EEG-based human input and implicit feedback.Ph.D

The Machine Learning Algorithm as Creative Musical Tool

Machine learning is the capacity of a computational system to learn structures from datasets in order to make prediction in front of newly seen datasets. Such approach offers a significant advantage in music scenarios in which musicians can teach the system to learn an idiosyncratic style, or can break the rules to explore the system capacity in unexpected ways. In this chapter we draw on music, machine learning, and human-computer interaction to elucidate an understanding of machine learning algorithms as creative tools for music and the sonic arts. We motivate a new understanding of learning algorithms as human-computer interfaces. We show that, like other interfaces, learning algorithms can be characterised by the ways their affordances intersect with goals of human users. We also argue that the nature of interaction between users and algorithms impacts the usability and usefulness of those algorithms in profound ways. This human-centred view of machine learning motivates our concluding discussion of what it means to employ machine learning as a creative tool

A myoelectric digital twin for fast and realistic modelling in deep learning

Muscle electrophysiology has emerged as a powerful tool to drive human machine interfaces, with many new recent applications outside the traditional clinical domains, such as robotics and virtual reality. However, more sophisticated, functional, and robust decoding algorithms are required to meet the fine control requirements of these applications. Deep learning has shown high potential in meeting these demands, but requires a large amount of high-quality annotated data, which is expensive and time-consuming to acquire. Data augmentation using simulations, a strategy applied in other deep learning applications, has never been attempted in electromyography due to the absence of computationally efficient models. We introduce a concept of Myoelectric Digital Twin - highly realistic and fast computational model tailored for the training of deep learning algorithms. It enables simulation of arbitrary large and perfectly annotated datasets of realistic electromyography signals, allowing new approaches to muscular signal decoding, accelerating the development of human-machine interfaces

EEG-based Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs): A Survey of Recent Studies on Signal Sensing Technologies and Computational Intelligence Approaches and Their Applications.

Brain-Computer interfaces (BCIs) enhance the capability of human brain activities to interact with the environment. Recent advancements in technology and machine learning algorithms have increased interest in electroencephalographic (EEG)-based BCI applications. EEG-based intelligent BCI systems can facilitate continuous monitoring of fluctuations in human cognitive states under monotonous tasks, which is both beneficial for people in need of healthcare support and general researchers in different domain areas. In this review, we survey the recent literature on EEG signal sensing technologies and computational intelligence approaches in BCI applications, compensating for the gaps in the systematic summary of the past five years. Specifically, we first review the current status of BCI and signal sensing technologies for collecting reliable EEG signals. Then, we demonstrate state-of-the-art computational intelligence techniques, including fuzzy models and transfer learning in machine learning and deep learning algorithms, to detect, monitor, and maintain human cognitive states and task performance in prevalent applications. Finally, we present a couple of innovative BCI-inspired healthcare applications and discuss future research directions in EEG-based BCI research

Temporal-Difference Learning to Assist Human Decision Making during the Control of an Artificial Limb

In this work we explore the use of reinforcement learning (RL) to help with human decision making, combining state-of-the-art RL algorithms with an application to prosthetics. Managing human-machine interaction is a problem of considerable scope, and the simplification of human-robot interfaces is especially important in the domains of biomedical technology and rehabilitation medicine. For example, amputees who control artificial limbs are often required to quickly switch between a number of control actions or modes of operation in order to operate their devices. We suggest that by learning to anticipate (predict) a user's behaviour, artificial limbs could take on an active role in a human's control decisions so as to reduce the burden on their users. Recently, we showed that RL in the form of general value functions (GVFs) could be used to accurately detect a user's control intent prior to their explicit control choices. In the present work, we explore the use of temporal-difference learning and GVFs to predict when users will switch their control influence between the different motor functions of a robot arm. Experiments were performed using a multi-function robot arm that was controlled by muscle signals from a user's body (similar to conventional artificial limb control). Our approach was able to acquire and maintain forecasts about a user's switching decisions in real time. It also provides an intuitive and reward-free way for users to correct or reinforce the decisions made by the machine learning system. We expect that when a system is certain enough about its predictions, it can begin to take over switching decisions from the user to streamline control and potentially decrease the time and effort needed to complete tasks. This preliminary study therefore suggests a way to naturally integrate human- and machine-based decision making systems.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, This version to appear at The 1st Multidisciplinary Conference on Reinforcement Learning and Decision Making, Princeton, NJ, USA, Oct. 25-27, 201

Imitation Learning Applied to Embodied Conversational Agents

International audienceEmbodied Conversational Agents (ECAs) are emerging as a key component to allow human interact with machines. Applications are numerous and ECAs can reduce the aversion to interact with a machine by providing user-friendly interfaces. Yet, ECAs are still unable to produce social signals appropriately during their interaction with humans, which tends to make the interaction less instinctive. Especially, very little attention has been paid to the use of laughter in human-avatar interactions despite the crucial role played by laughter in human-human interaction. In this paper, methods for predicting when and how to laugh during an interaction for an ECA are proposed. Different Imitation Learning (also known as Apprenticeship Learning) algorithms are used in this purpose and a regularized classification algorithm is shown to produce good behavior on real data

Interactive Visual Text Analytics

Human-in-the-Loop machine learning leverages both human and machine intelligence to build a smarter model. Even with the advances in machine learning techniques, results generated by automated models can be of poor quality or do not always match users' judgment or context. To this end, keeping human in the loop via right interfaces to steer the underlying model can be highly beneficial. Prior research in machine learning and visual analytics has focused on either improving model performances or developing interactive interfaces without carefully considering the other side. In this dissertation, we design and develop interactive systems that tightly integrate algorithms, visualizations, and user interactions, focusing on improving interactivity, scalability, and interpretability of the underlying models. Specifically, we present three visual analytics systems to explore and interact with large-scale text data. First, we present interactive hierarchical topic modeling for multi-scale analysis of large-scale documents. Second, we introduce interactive search space reduction to discover relevant subset of documents with high recall for focused analyses. Lastly, we propose interactive exploration and debiasing of word embeddings.Ph.D

Integrating rich user feedback into intelligent user interfaces

The potential for machine learning systems to improve via a mutually beneficial exchange of information with users has yet to be explored in much detail. Previously, we found that users were willing to provide a generous amount of rich feedback to machine learning systems, and that the types of some of this rich feedback seem promising for assimilation by machine learning algorithms. Following up on those findings, we ran an experiment to assess the viability of incorporating real-time keyword-based feedback in initial training phases when data is limited. We found that rich feedback improved accuracy but an initial unstable period often caused large fluctuations in classifier behavior. Participants were able to give feedback by relying heavily on system communication in order to respond to changes. The results show that in order to benefit from the user's knowledge, machine learning systems must be able to absorb keyword-based rich feedback in a graceful manner and provide clear explanations of their predictions.Keywords: Human information processing, User Interfaces: theory and methods, User feedback, Machine learning, User/Machine Systems, Information interfaces and presentation, Human factor

Reinforcement Learning for Machine Translation: from Simulations to Real-World Applications

If a machine translation is wrong, how we can tell the underlying model to fix it? Answering this question requires (1) a machine learning algorithm to define update rules, (2) an interface for feedback to be submitted, and (3) expertise on the side of the human who gives the feedback. This thesis investigates solutions for machine learning updates, the suitability of feedback interfaces, and the dependency on reliability and expertise for different types of feedback. We start with an interactive online learning scenario where a machine translation (MT) system receives bandit feedback (i.e. only once per source) instead of references for learning. Policy gradient algorithms for statistical and neural MT are developed to learn from absolute and pairwise judgments. Our experiments on domain adaptation with simulated online feedback show that the models can largely improve under weak feedback, with variance reduction techniques being very effective. In production environments offline learning is often preferred over online learning. We evaluate algorithms for counterfactual learning from human feedback in a study on eBay product title translations. Feedback is either collected via explicit star ratings from users, or implicitly from the user interaction with cross-lingual product search. Leveraging implicit feedback turns out to be more successful due to lower levels of noise. We compare the reliability and learnability of absolute Likert-scale ratings with pairwise preferences in a smaller user study, and find that absolute ratings are overall more effective for improvements in down-stream tasks. Furthermore, we discover that error markings provide a cheap and practical alternative to error corrections. In a generalized interactive learning framework we propose a self-regulation approach, where the learner, guided by a regulator module, decides which type of feedback to choose for each input. The regulator is reinforced to find a good trade-off between supervision effect and cost. In our experiments, it discovers strategies that are more efficient than active learning and standard fully supervised learning

Gaze trajectory prediction in the context of social robotics

Social robotics is an emerging field of robotics that focuses on the interactions between robots and humans. It has attracted much interest due to concerns about an aging society and the need for assistive environments. Within this context, this paper focuses on gaze control and eye tracking as a means for robot control. It aims to improve the usability of human–machine interfaces based on gaze control by developing advanced algorithms for predicting the trajectory of the human gaze. The paper proposes two approaches to gaze-trajectory prediction: probabilistic and symbolic. Both approaches use machine learning. The probabilistic method mixes two state models representing gaze locations and directions. The symbolic method treats the gaze-trajectory prediction problem similar to how word-prediction problems are handled in web browsers. Comparative experiments prove the feasibility of both approaches and show that the probabilistic approach achieves better prediction results