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Joint Media Release
The Hon Tony Abbott
Minister for Health and Ageing |
The Hon Julie Bishop
Minister for Education, Science and Training
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women’s Issues
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$10 million to develop ‘thinking’ robots
24 July 2006
New cross-disciplinary research that brings together neuroscience, artificial intelligence, robotics and computer science will receive $10 million over the next five years under the Australian Government’s Thinking Systems initiative.
The projects, to be funded jointly by the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), were announced today by the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Ms Julie Bishop, and the Minister for Health and Ageing, Mr Tony Abbott.
“This is a very exciting field of research that will lead to the development of a new generation of intelligent machines, robots and information systems, and keep Australia at the forefront of an internationally competitively area of increasing importance,” Minister Bishop said.
Health and Ageing Minister Tony Abbott agreed “the potential applications of the research are wide-ranging and, ultimately, likely to have a positive impact on the health and quality of life of many Australians”.
Three projects have been funded under the initiative at The University of New South Wales, The University of Queensland and the University of Western Sydney. The benefits of the research will include:
- applications for use in treating human disease associated with learning dysfunction
- new kinds of communication between humans and machines
- aids and prostheses for the disabled, the hearing impaired, the elderly, children with learning difficulties and foreign language learning
- new kinds of animation in new media, film and games
- novel prosthetic limb design and rehabilitation strategies for stroke patients
The ARC and NHMRC have each contributed $5 million to the initiative, which addresses the National Research Priority area Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries.
Thinking Systems is funded under the Government’s 10-year $8.3 billion commitment to innovation, Backing Australia’s Ability.
A list of grant recipients and full project descriptions is attached.
Media contacts: Murray Hansen, Ms Bishop’s Office, 0417 886 155
ATTACHMENT: ARC-NHMRC THINKING SYSTEMS RESEARCH PROJECTS
GRANTS AWARDED FUNDING
Title: Optimizing autonomous system control with brain-like hierarchical control systems
Chief Investigator: Dr Michael Breakspear
Administering Organisation: The University of New South Wales
Funding: $3.3 million
Description of project:
Autonomous robotic systems, those requiring minimal ongoing supervision, have enormous commercial, medical and industry potential. A robotic hand, permitting manipulation of material objects is an integral part of robot function. Many aspects of human hand control, such as learning, fine motor control, context-specific adaptation and recovery from system damage would be greatly beneficial to a robotic hand. Likewise, theories of human hand control could be subject to empirical testing by implementing them in a robotic hand. These advances will greatly benefit our understanding of the human brain, with potentially wide-ranging medical benefits such as novel prosthetic limb design and rehabilitation strategies for stroke patients.
Title: From Talking Heads to Thinking Heads: A Research Platform for Human Communication Science
Chief Investigator: Professor Dennis Burnham
Administering Organisation: University of Western Sydney
Funding: $3.4 million
Description of project:
In this project current Talking Head technology will be taken into the realm of a high-fidelity Thinking Head, with implications and applications for basic and applied research. Outcomes will bear on human-machine communication, telecommunications, e-commerce, and mobile phone technology; personalised aids for disabled users, the hearing impaired, the elderly, and children with learning difficulties, foreign language learning; and will facilitate the development of animation in new media, film, and games. In addition to output in scholarly journals, beta-versions of the Head will be made available, and public visibility for the project will be facilitated by the incorporation of high-profile installations and exhibitions.
Title: Thinking Systems: Navigating Through Real and Conceptual Spaces
Chief Investigator: Professor Janet Wiles
Administering Organisation: The University of Queensland
Funding: $3.3 million
Description of project:
The project will provide fundamental insights into physical and conceptual spaces and develop applications in robotics and information systems. The project brings together national and international researchers to study how humans and other animals navigate: how trajectories through space are used to build maps, the neural bases of these mapping processes and how to use maps to achieve goals. The project will develop a new generation of robots that can learn about the physical spaces they work in, and create concept-mapping systems that can map and navigate information spaces. Also, it will provide new insights into the mechanisms regulating human cognition and mental dysfunctions.
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