Practical Brain Computer Interfacing

A brain-computer interface (BCI) is a communication system that enables users to voluntary send messages or commands without movement. The classical goal of BCI research is to support communication and control for users with impaired communication due to illness or injury. Typical BCI applications are the operation of computer cursors, spelling programs or external devices, such as wheelchairs, robots and neural prostheses. The user sends modulated information to the BCI by engaging in mental tasks that produce distinct brain patterns. The BCI acquires signals from the user's brain and translates them into suitable communication. This dissertation aims to develop faster and more reliable non-invasive BCI communication based on the study of users learning process and their interaction with the BCI transducer. To date, BCI research has focused on the development of advanced pattern recognition and classification algorithms to improve accuracy and reliability of the classified patterns. However, even with optimal detection methods, successful BCI operation depends on the degree to which the users can voluntary modulate their brain signals. Therefore, learning to operate a BCI requires repeated practice with feedback that engages learning mechanisms in the brain. In this work, several aspects including signal processing techniques, feedback methods, experimental and training protocols, demographics, and applications were explored and investigated. Research was focused on two BCI paradigms, steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP) and event-related (de-)synchronization (ERD/ERS). Signal processing algorithms for the detection of both brain patterns were applied and evaluated. A general application interface for BCI feedback tasks was developed to evaluate the practicability, reliability and acceptance of new feedback methods. The role of feedback and training was fully investigated on studies conducted with healthy subjects. The influence of demographics on BCIs was explored in two field studies with a large number of subjects. Results were supported through advanced statistical analysis. Furthermore, the BCI control was evaluated in a spelling application and a service robotic application. This dissertation demonstrates that BCIs can provide effective communication for most subjects. Presented results showed that improvements in the BCI transducer, training protocols, and feedback methods constituted the basis to achieve faster and more reliable BCI communication. Nevertheless, expert assistance is necessary for both initial configuration and daily operation, which reduces the practicability of BCIs for people who really need them

Explainable AI over the Internet of Things (IoT): Overview, State-of-the-Art and Future Directions

Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) is transforming the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by enhancing the trust of end-users in machines. As the number of connected devices keeps on growing, the Internet of Things (IoT) market needs to be trustworthy for the end-users. However, existing literature still lacks a systematic and comprehensive survey work on the use of XAI for IoT. To bridge this lacking, in this paper, we address the XAI frameworks with a focus on their characteristics and support for IoT. We illustrate the widely-used XAI services for IoT applications, such as security enhancement, Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), Industrial IoT (IIoT), and Internet of City Things (IoCT). We also suggest the implementation choice of XAI models over IoT systems in these applications with appropriate examples and summarize the key inferences for future works. Moreover, we present the cutting-edge development in edge XAI structures and the support of sixth-generation (6G) communication services for IoT applications, along with key inferences. In a nutshell, this paper constitutes the first holistic compilation on the development of XAI-based frameworks tailored for the demands of future IoT use cases.Comment: 29 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables. IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society (2022

Mobile Robots

The objective of this book is to cover advances of mobile robotics and related technologies applied for multi robot systems' design and development. Design of control system is a complex issue, requiring the application of information technologies to link the robots into a single network. Human robot interface becomes a demanding task, especially when we try to use sophisticated methods for brain signal processing. Generated electrophysiological signals can be used to command different devices, such as cars, wheelchair or even video games. A number of developments in navigation and path planning, including parallel programming, can be observed. Cooperative path planning, formation control of multi robotic agents, communication and distance measurement between agents are shown. Training of the mobile robot operators is very difficult task also because of several factors related to different task execution. The presented improvement is related to environment model generation based on autonomous mobile robot observations

Medical Robotics

The first generation of surgical robots are already being installed in a number of operating rooms around the world. Robotics is being introduced to medicine because it allows for unprecedented control and precision of surgical instruments in minimally invasive procedures. So far, robots have been used to position an endoscope, perform gallbladder surgery and correct gastroesophogeal reflux and heartburn. The ultimate goal of the robotic surgery field is to design a robot that can be used to perform closed-chest, beating-heart surgery. The use of robotics in surgery will expand over the next decades without any doubt. Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) is a revolutionary approach in surgery. In MIS, the operation is performed with instruments and viewing equipment inserted into the body through small incisions created by the surgeon, in contrast to open surgery with large incisions. This minimizes surgical trauma and damage to healthy tissue, resulting in shorter patient recovery time. The aim of this book is to provide an overview of the state-of-art, to present new ideas, original results and practical experiences in this expanding area. Nevertheless, many chapters in the book concern advanced research on this growing area. The book provides critical analysis of clinical trials, assessment of the benefits and risks of the application of these technologies. This book is certainly a small sample of the research activity on Medical Robotics going on around the globe as you read it, but it surely covers a good deal of what has been done in the field recently, and as such it works as a valuable source for researchers interested in the involved subjects, whether they are currently “medical roboticists” or not

Intelligent technologies for the aging brain: opportunities and challenges

Intelligent computing is rapidly reshaping healthcare. In light of the global burden of population aging and neurological disorders, dementia and elderly care are among the healthcare sectors that are most likely to benefit from this technological revolution. Trends in artificial intelligence, robotics, ubiquitous computing, neurotechnology and other branches of biomedical engineering are progressively enabling novel opportunities for technology-enhanced care. These Intelligent Assistive Technologies (IATs) open the prospects of supporting older adults with neurocognitive disabilities, maintain their independence, reduce the burden on caregivers and delay the need for long-term care (1, 2). While technology develops fast, yet little knowledge is available to patients and health professionals about the current availability, applicability, and capability of existing IATs. This thesis proposes a state-of-the-art analysis of IATs in dementia and elderly care. Our findings indicate that advances in intelligent technology are resulting in a rapidly expanding number and variety of assistive solutions for older adults and people with neurocognitive disabilities. However, our analysis identifies a number of challenges that negatively affect the optimal deployment and uptake of IATs among target users and care institutions. These include design issues, sub-optimal approaches to product development, translational barriers between lab and clinics, lack of adequate validation and implementation, as well as data security and cyber-risk weaknesses. Additionally, in virtue of their technological novelty, intelligent technologies raise a number of Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI). Therefore, a significant portion of this thesis is devoted to providing an early ethical Technology Assessment (eTA) of intelligent technology, hence contributing to preparing the terrain for its safe and ethically responsible adoption. This assessment is primarily focused on intelligent technologies at the human-machine interface, as these applications enable an unprecedented exposure of the intimate dimension of individuals to the digital infosphere. Issues of privacy, integrity, equality, and dual-use were addressed at the level of stakeholder analysis, normative ethics and human-rights law. Finally, this thesis is aimed at providing evidence-based recommendations for guiding participatory and responsible development in intelligent technology, and delineating governance strategies that maximize the clinical benefits of IATs for the aging world, while minimizing unintended risks

JIDOKA. Integration of Human and AI within Industry 4.0 Cyber Physical Manufacturing Systems

This book is about JIDOKA, a Japanese management technique coined by Toyota that consists of imbuing machines with human intelligence. The purpose of this compilation of research articles is to show industrial leaders innovative cases of digitization of value creation processes that have allowed them to improve their performance in a sustainable way. This book shows several applications of JIDOKA in the quest towards an integration of human and AI within Industry 4.0 Cyber Physical Manufacturing Systems. From the use of artificial intelligence to advanced mathematical models or quantum computing, all paths are valid to advance in the process of human–machine integration

The Nexus between Artificial Intelligence and Economics

This book is organized as follows. Section 2 introduces the notion of the Singularity, a stage in development in which technological progress and economic growth increase at a near-infinite rate. Section 3 describes what artificial intelligence is and how it has been applied. Section 4 considers artificial happiness and the likelihood that artificial intelligence might increase human happiness. Section 5 discusses some prominent related concepts and issues. Section 6 describes the use of artificial agents in economic modeling, and section 7 considers some ways in which economic analysis can offer some hints about what the advent of artificial intelligence might bring. Chapter 8 presents some thoughts about the current state of AI and its future prospects.

1st Symposium of Applied Science for Young Researchers: proceedings

SASYR, the rst Symposium of Applied Science for Young Researchers, welcomes works from young researchers (master students) covering any aspect of all the scienti c areas of the three research centres ADiT-lab (IPVC, Instituto Polit ecnico de Viana do Castelo), 2Ai (IPCA, Instituto Polit ecnico do C avado e do Ave) and CeDRI (IPB, Instituto Polit ecnico de Bragan ca). The main objective of SASYR is to provide a friendly and relaxed environment for young researchers to present their work, to discuss recent results and to develop new ideas. In this way, it will provide an opportunity to the ADiT-lab, 2Ai and CeDRI research communities to gather synergies and indicate possible paths for future joint work. We invite you to join SASYR on 7 July and to share your research!info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Actor & Avatar: A Scientific and Artistic Catalog

What kind of relationship do we have with artificial beings (avatars, puppets, robots, etc.)? What does it mean to mirror ourselves in them, to perform them or to play trial identity games with them? Actor & Avatar addresses these questions from artistic and scholarly angles. Contributions on the making of "technical others" and philosophical reflections on artificial alterity are flanked by neuroscientific studies on different ways of perceiving living persons and artificial counterparts. The contributors have achieved a successful artistic-scientific collaboration with extensive visual material

The Paranoiac-Critical Method of Reflectance Transformation Imaging

A performative talk examining Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), an open source computational photographic process that is transforming methodologies in archaeology and heritage conservation for its ability to interactively re-light artefacts within a virtual hemisphere of illumination and extrude a digital topography that is hyper-legible in space-time, from its contemporary application in facial recognition via Bertrand Tavernier's 1980 science fiction film La Mort en Direct and a return of the death mask through digital extrusion, ultimately locating a progenitor of the heightened objectivity promised by RTI paradoxically in Surrealist photography and the fugitive facialities of Salvador Dali's Paranoiac-Critical Method. As emerging imaging technologies such as RTI are seen to open novel ways of extracting latent data from historical artefacts, reassembling objects of study in a new (virtual) light, collateral opportunities provided by these technologies to re-enter archival still and moving image recordings inadvertently recalibrate their spatio-temporal ground and destabilise their indexical reading through an excessive production of new traces and signs. If methodologies can be seen to play a significant role in constructing their objects of study, then emerging computational imaging operations such as RTI have their own subjectivities to disclose: In performing a media archaeology of this digital process, the talk proposes that we not only narrate the subjects of our study but the very tools of investigation themselves