NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) for FY 2013 in Japan

Veale Richard E, Fairfax VA

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds Richard Veale of Indiana University to conduct a research project in the Computer and Information Science and Engineering area during the summer of 2013 at the National Institute of Physiological Sciences in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The project title is "How Do Small Eye Movements Help Us See Things?" The host scientists are Dr. Tadashi Isa and Dr. Masatoshi Yoshida. Microsaccades are very small eye movements which take place during periods of gaze fixation. This research investigates the influence of microsaccades on attention via a computational neural model. Specifically, a spiking neural circuit model of the primate visuo-motor circuit is modified to produce microsaccade behavior. The model is implemented in a robotic system to control cameras, whose movement is fit to gaze data from monkeys. To verify that the neural model is accurate, the model is be fit to data from both intact monkeys and also to monkeys with damaged visual cortex. Broader impacts of an EAPSI fellowship include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce. Furthermore, this research broadly informs our understanding of how humans can behave intelligently in the real world by allocating their attention to important aspects of the environment while ignoring irrelevant distractors. This will both directly allow us to better understand and treat humans with visual deficits, while also enabling us to build better autonomous robotic systems by implementing models of the human visual system in robots. Systems with better visual capabilities will enable a plethora of new and exciting technologies which require autonomous activity in busy real-world environments, thus taking robots out of the laboratory and extending the benefits of the robotic revolution to the average citizen.