[Synapse elist] Neosentience / Seaman Introduction

[Bill Seaman]

Dear List,

I am an artist/researcher collaborating with the 
Scientist Otto Rössler and also with Daniel Howe.
I have been at RISD for the past 6 years but I am 
taking up a new position at Duke University in 
the department of Art, Art History and Visual 
Studies.

Neosentience, a potentially new branch of 
scientific inquiry related to artificial 
intelligence, was first
suggested in a paper by Bill Seaman as part of a 
new embodied robotic paradigm, arising out of 
ongoing theoretical research with Otto E. 
Rossler. Rossler, theoretical biologist and 
physicist, and Seaman, artistresearcher, have 
been examining the potential of generating an 
intelligent, embodied, multi-modal sensing, and 
computational robotic system. Although related to 
artificial intelligence the goal of this system 
is the creation of an entity exhibiting a new 
form of sentience. Its unique qualities will be 
discussed. "Sentience" is not yet used in the 
formal languages of either Cognitive Science or 
Artificial Intelligence. Two related approaches 
are: 1) The generation of artificial minds via 
parallel processing, in a robotic system. 2) An 
alternate approach is the generation of an 
Electrochemical Computer as a robotic system. 
Biomemetics, along with state of the art computer 
visualization is employed. The Electrochemical 
paradigm has a complexity that exceeds standard 
computational means. The scientific and the 
poetic elements of the project are motivated by 
human sentience. The sentient entity is initially 
modeled on our functional definition of human 
sentience. The system involves synthetic "drives" 
as a new element. We seek to articulate the 
differences to living brains. This 
transdisciplinary approach necessitates different 
forms of inquiry are informing this project; 
Cognitive Science including psychology, 
education/learning, neuroscience, linguistics, 
philosophy, anthropology, biology and the arts. 
We believe this area of research to be of 
importance.

Neosentience - A New Branch of Scientific and Poetic Inquiry

Central to both the scientific and poetics of 
Neosentience is to try to abstract the salient 
qualities of the
human self that contribute to the arising of 
sentience. What are those qualities and what 
functionalities lead to their arising? A unified 
approach is attempted including body, brain, 
mind, environment, and language. We examine the 
possibility of abstracting the functional 
biological systems at operation in the body that 
enable sentience to arise. We generate this 
biological abstraction by employing a set of 
coupled systems derived primarily through analogy 
to the functionalities of the human counterpart. 
We present an outline of both system classes and 
their operational functionalities. The goal is to 
re-see the body as a functional complex system 
exhibiting sentience. We abstract qualities from 
this bio environment to create the neosentient 
entity. In this light we see the body as a 
machine of the highest-order complexity nested in 
a larger environment.

Although computers and the software/hardware 
paradigm are often compared to the mind/brain, the
systems at operation in the human body are of a 
different order of complexity. The nature of the 
various inter functionalities of biological 
processes, are operational in a very different 
manner to that of the computer. We are interested 
in developing a new computational model that 
seeks to reflect how we function as embodied, 
multifaceted biological systems. This model takes 
into account how we come to know the world 
through the integration of time-based pattern 
flows of multi-modal sense inputs over time. 
While historically studies of the senses have 
been kept separate, we are interested in how the 
senses work together to generate situatedness and 
environmental understanding. Eventually language 
and creative functioning will be enabled.

See additional papers at Billseaman.com

Sincerely,
Bill



---------
Professor Bill Seaman, Ph.D.
Short Bio

Bill Seaman received a PH.D. from the Centre for 
Advanced Inquiry In Interactive Arts, University 
of Wales, 1999. He holds a MSvisS degree from 
MIT, 1985.  His work explores an expanded 
media-oriented poetics through various 
technological means. Seaman's works have been in 
many international  shows where he has been 
awarded  two  prizes from Ars Electronica in 
Interactive Art (1992 &1995, Linz, Austria); 
International Video Art Prize, ZKM, Karlsruhe; 
Bonn Videonale prize; First Prize, Berlin Film / 
Video Festival for Multimedia in 1995; and the 
Awards in the Visual Arts Prize. Seaman was given 
the Leonardo Award for Excellence in 2002. 
Selected exhibitions include 1996, Mediascape 
Guggenheim, NYC - the premiere exhibition of the 
ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany; 1997, Barbican Centre 
(London); 1997, C3 - Center for Culture & 
Communication, Budapest; 1998, Portable Sacred 
Grounds, NTT-ICC Tokyo; 1999, Body Mechanique, 
The Wexner Center, Columbus, Ohio, ; 2004, David 
Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University; 2005, Itau 
Cultural Center  ; 2006, Harris Museum, UK. 
Seaman contributed a video set for SLEEPERS GUTS 
by Ballett Frankfurt. He has collaborated with 
Regina van Berkel on two major 
dance/performance/installations.  He has been 
commissioned on a number of occasions. He is 
currently working on a series of poetic 
installations, scientific research papers and a 
book in collaboration with the scientist Otto 
Rössler. He is also collaborating with 
Artist/Computer Scientist Daniel Howe on a work 
exploring AI and creative writing - the 
Bisociation Engine; and a Recombinant music 
installation with Butch Rovan (Mesh).



-- 
Professor Bill Seaman, Ph.D.
Department  Head and Graduate Program Director
Digital+ Media Department (Graduate Division)
Rhode Island School of Design
Two College St.
Providence, R.I. 02903-4956
401 277 4956
fax 401 277 4966
bseaman at risd.edu

http://billseaman.com
http://digitalmedia.risd.edu
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