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Call for Participation in Conference, Exhibition and Workshops
Living Machines: The 2nd International Conference
on Biomimetic Robotics and Biohybrid Systems.
A Convergent Science Network Event
29th July to 2nd August 2013
Natural History Museum, London
http://csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2013
Deadline for early registration, June 16th, 2013
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ABOUT LIVING MACHINES 2013
The development of future real-world technologies will depend strongly on our understanding and harnessing of the principles underlying living systems and the flow of communication signals between living and artificial systems. The development of either biomimetic or biohybrid systems requires a deep understanding of the operation of living systems, and the two fields are united under the theme of "living machines"—the idea that we can construct artefacts, such as robots, that not only mimic life but share the same fundamental principles; or build technologies that can be combined with a living body to restore or extend its functional capabilities.
The 2nd International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid systems comprises a week of events including 2.5 days of single-track oral presentations with five plenary speakers; an exhibition and poster display featuring a performance art event with a biomimetic humanoid robot; and five satellite workshops on themes ranging from artificial "selves" to the societal impacts of living machines.
The conference registration site is now open. Please register soon to take advantage of early registration—deadline June 16th—and conference accommodation at Imperial College London from 70 GBP per night.
Contributions to the exhibition are still being invited from research groups and companies involved in the development of biomimetic and biohybrid systems. Deadline to complete and return the short exhibitor proforma (http://www.csnetwork.eu/livingmachines/conf2013/exhibition) is June 16th. Space is limited so please apply soon.
There is a prize for the best non-commercial exhibit plus the opportunity to demonstrate your work in front of the scientific media and representatives of leading journals and grant funding agencies.
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
The main conference will take the form of a single-track oral presentation programme, 30th July to midday 1st August 2013, that will include five plenary lectures from leading international researchers in biomimetic and biohybrid systems. Agreed speakers are:
Mark Cutkosky, Stanford University (Biomimetics and Dextrous Manipulation);
Terrence Deacon, University of California, Berkeley (Natural and Artificial Selves);
Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena, Imperial College London (Biomimetics for medical devices);
Robert Full, University of California, Berkeley (Locomotion);
Andrew Pickering, University of Exeter (History of living machines).
There will also be 20 regular talk, and a 3 hour poster session (afternoon of August 1st) featuring approximately 50 posters. Particular themes include:
Biomimetic robotics
Biohybrid systems including biological-machine interfaces
Neuromimetic systems
Soft robot system
Active sensing in vision and touch
Social robotics
Biomimetics of plants
A list of accepted papers and extended abstracts can be found on the living machines website.
WORKSHOPS
In addition to the main conference there are two further days of workshops, each with their own full program that can be found on the Living Machines website.
Monday 29th July
Self and cognitive systems (organizers Peter Ford Dominey and Paul Verschure)
Learning from the Plant Kingdom to Invent Smart Artificial Solutions (organizers Barbara Mazzolai and Lucia Beccai)
Friday 2nd August
Neuromorphic models, circuits, and emerging nano-technologies for real-time neural processing systems (organizers Giacomo Indiveri and Themistoklis Prodromakis)
Emergent social behaviours in bio-hybrid systems (organizers Jose Halloy, Thomas Schmickl and Stuart Wilson)
Societal impacts of Living Machines (organizers Tony Prescott and Michael Szollosy)
Attendance at satellite events will attract a small fee intended to cover the costs of the meeting. We have reserved meeting rooms at Imperial College London to host the satellites each with capacity for up to 40 people. Please book early. Separation registration for satellite events is possible.
ABOUT THE VENUE
The organisers are delighted to have secured the Flett Theatre at the Natural History Museum in London as the main venue for our conference. The NHM is an international centre for the study of the natural world featuring many important biological collections. The exhibition and poster session on Thursday 1st will be hosted at the nearby Science Museum, and the satellite events at Imperial College London. All three venues are conveniently located within a short walking distance of each other in South Kensington, the Museum district of the UK capital, and close to many of London's tourist sights.
CALL FOR EXHIBITORS AT LIVING MACHINES 2013
The Living Machines 2013 Exhibition is intended to feature working biomimetic or biohybrid systems and biomimetic/biohybrid art. It will take place in the London Science Museum Level 1 Galleries on Thursday 1st August 2013. The exhibition is expected to include intelligent artefacts such as biomimetic robotics; however, we are open to proposals for display of biomimetic or biohybrid systems of any kind.
The exhibition will be in two sessions.
In the afternoon session exhibits will be displayed alongside conference posters. This session will be open to conference delegates and sponsors only.
The evening session will be alongside the LM2013 buffet dinner and reception. This session will be open to invited representatives of the press, VIPs, and conference delegates and members of the public who have registered for the evening event.
For registered conference participants there is no additional charge to participate in the exhibition but you must register your exhibit using the proforma available through the LM2013 web-site. Note that, if you wish to continue to display your exhibit during the evening session, you must also register for the buffet dinner and reception in addition to the main conference which attracts a small charge to cover the cost of food and drink.
We strongly encourage authors of accepted papers and extended abstracts to bring their working biomimetic or biohybrid artefacts to include in the exhibition. A prize will be awarded for the best exhibit.
Deadline for proposed exhibits: 16th June 2013. Please contact the conference organizers about your exhibit.
ACCOMODATION
West London has many excellent hotels that are suitable for conference delegates. We have also organized the provision of reasonably priced accommodation for LM2013 events in the Imperial College Halls of Residence. Please see conference registration pages for further information.
KEY DATES
June 16, 2013 Deadline for early registration.
June 16, 2013 Deadline for proposals for exhibits.
July 29-August 2nd 2013 Conference
SPONSORSHIP
Living Machines 2013 is sponsored by the Convergent Science Network (CSN) for Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems which is an EU FP7 Future Emerging Technologies Co-ordination Activity. CSN also organises two highly successful workshop series: the Barcelona Summer School on Brain, Technology and Cognition and the Capoccaccia Neuromorphic Cognitive Engineering Workshop.
Living Machines 2013 is supported by the IOP Physics Journal Biomimetics & Bio-inspiration, who this year will publish a special issue of articles based on last years' LM2012 best papers. A review of the state of the art in biomimetics, by the conference chairs, and reporting strong recent growth in the field, has just been published in the journal (http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-3182/8/1/013001).
Other organisations wishing to sponsor the conference in any way and gain the corresponding benefits by promoting themselves and their products through conference publications, the conference web-site, and conference publicity are encouraged to contact the conference organisers to discuss the terms of sponsorship and necessary arrangements. We offer a number of attractive and good-value packages to potential sponsors.
We are looking forwards to seeing you in London.
Organising Committee:
Tony Prescott (co-chair)
Paul Verschure (co-chair)
Nathan Lepora (programme chair)
Holger Krapp (workshops & symposia)
Anna Mura (web-site)
Conference Secretariat:
living-machines@sheffield.ac.uk
c/o Gill Ryder,
Sheffield Centre for Robotics
Department of Psychology
University of Sheffield
Western Bank
Sheffield, S10 2TN
United Kingdom
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