@inproceedings {2024, title = {A Human-Robot Mutual Learning System with Affect-Grounded Language Acquisition and Differential Outcomes Training}, booktitle = {Social Robotics. 15th International Conference, ICSR 2023, Proceedings Part II}, volume = {LNAI 14454}, year = {2024}, pages = {108{\textendash}122}, publisher = {Springer}, organization = {Springer}, address = {Doha, Qatar, December 3{\textendash}7, 2023}, isbn = {978-981-99-8717-7}, issn = {0302-9743}, doi = {10.1007/978-981-99-8718-4}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8718-4}, author = {Markelius, A. and Sj{\"o}berg, S. and Lemhaouri, Z. and Cohen, L. and Lowe, R. and Ca{\~n}amero, L.}, editor = {Abdulaziz Al Ali and Nader Meskin and Wanyue Jiang and Shuzhi Sam Ge and John-John Cabibihan and Silvia Rossi and Hongsheng He} } @inproceedings {2021, title = {Towards an Affective Model of Norm Emergence and Adaptation}, booktitle = {TSAR 2021: RO-MAN 2021 Workshop on Robot Behavior Adaptation to Human Social Norms}, year = {2021}, note = {Download (Open Access)}, month = {08/2021}, url = {https://tsar2021.ai.vub.ac.be/uploads/papers/TSAR_2021_paper_10.pdf}, author = {Stavros Anagnou and Lola Ca{\~n}amero} } @inproceedings {3, title = {An Embodied AI Approach to Individual Differences: Supporting Self-Efficacy in Diabetic Children with an Autonomous Robot}, booktitle = {Proc. 7th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR-2015)}, series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science}, year = {2015}, note = {Download (or Download authors{\textquoteright} draft)}, pages = {401{\textendash}410}, publisher = {Springer International Publishing}, organization = {Springer International Publishing}, address = {Paris}, abstract = {In this paper we discuss how a motivationally autonomous robot, designed using the principles of embodied AI, provides a suitable approach to address individual differences of children interacting with a robot, without having to explicitly modify the system. We do this in the context of two pilot studies using Robin, a robot to support self-confidence in diabetic children.}, isbn = {978-3-319-25553-8}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-25554-5_40}, url = {https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007\%2F978-3-319-25554-5_40}, author = {Lewis, Matthew and Oleari, Elettra and Pozzi, Clara and Lola Ca{\~n}amero}, editor = {Tapus, Adriana and Andr{\'e}, Elisabeth and Martin, Jean-Claude and Ferland, Fran{\c c}ois and Ammi, Mehdi} } @inproceedings {2015, title = {Let{\textquoteright}s Be Friends: Perception of a Social Robotic Companion for children with T1DM}, booktitle = {Proc. New Friends 2015}, year = {2015}, note = {Download full proceedings (PDF)}, month = {10/2015}, pages = {32{\textendash}33}, address = {Almere, The Netherlands}, abstract = {We describe the social characteristics of a robot developed to support children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) in the process of education and care. We evaluated the perception of the robot at a summer camp where diabetic children aged 10-14 experienced the robot in group interactions. Children in the intervention condition additionally interacted with it also individually, in one-to-one sessions featuring several game-like activities. These children perceived the robot significantly more as a friend than those in the control group. They also readily engaged with it in dialogues about their habits related to healthy lifestyle as well as personal experiences concerning diabetes. This indicates that the one-on-one interactions added a special quality to the relationship of the children with the robot.}, url = {https://mheerink.home.xs4all.nl/pdf/ProceedingsNF2015-3.pdf}, author = {Kruijff-Korbayov{\'a}, Ivana and Oleari, Elettra and Pozzi, Clara and Sacchitelli, Francesca and Bagherzadhalimi, Anahita and Bellini, Sara and Kiefer, Bernd and Racioppa, Stefania and Coninx, Alexandre and Paul E. Baxter and Bierman, Bert and Henkemans, Olivier Blanson and Mark A. Neerincx and Rosemarijn Looije and Yiannis Demiris and Espinoza, Raquel Ros and Mosconi, Marco and Cosi, Piero and Remi Humbert and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Hichem Sahli and Joachim de Greeff and James Kennedy and Robin Read and Lewis, Matthew and Antoine Hiolle and Giulio Paci and Sommavilla, Giacomo and Tesser, Fabio and Athanasopoulos, Georgios and Patsis, Georgios and Verhelst, Werner and Alberto Sanna and Tony Belpaeme} } @inproceedings {2015, title = {A Reactive Competitive Emotion Selection System}, booktitle = {Proc. 7th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR-2015)}, series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science}, year = {2015}, note = {Download}, pages = {31{\textendash}40}, publisher = {Springer International Publishing}, organization = {Springer International Publishing}, address = {Paris}, abstract = {We present a reactive emotion selection system designed to be used in a robot that needs to respond autonomously to relevant events. A variety of emotion selection models based on "cognitive appraisal" theories exist, but the complexity of the concepts used by most of these models limits their use in robotics. Robots have physical constrains that condition their understanding of the world and limit their capacity to built the complex concepts needed for such models. The system presented in this paper was conceived to respond to "disturbances" detected in the environment through a stream of images, and use this low-level information to update emotion intensities. They are increased when specific patterns, based on Tomkins{\textquoteright} affect theory, are detected or reduced when it is not. This system could also be used as part of (or as first step in the incremental design of) a more cognitively complex emotional system for autonomous robots.}, keywords = {Emotion production, Emotional models, Human Robot Interaction, Social robotics}, isbn = {978-3-319-25553-8}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-25554-5_4}, url = {https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007\%2F978-3-319-25554-5_4}, author = {Angel Fernandez, Julian M. and Bonarini, Andrea and Lola Ca{\~n}amero}, editor = {Tapus, Adriana and Andr{\'e}, Elisabeth and Martin, Jean-Claude and Ferland, Fran{\c c}ois and Ammi, Mehdi} } @inproceedings {2014, title = {Natural Emotion Elicitation for Emotion Modeling in Child-Robot Interactions}, booktitle = {Proc. 4th Workshop on Child Computer Interaction (WOCCI 2014)}, year = {2014}, note = {Download (Open Access)}, pages = {51{\textendash}56}, publisher = {ICSA}, organization = {ICSA}, address = {Singapore}, abstract = {Obtaining spontaneous emotional expressions is the very first and vital step in affective computing studies, for both psychologists and computer scientists. However, it is quite challenging to record them in real life, especially when certain modalities are required (e.g. 3D representation of the body). Traditional elicitation and capturing protocols either introduce the awareness of the recording, which may impair the naturalness of the behaviors, or cause too much information loss. In this paper, we present natural emotion elicitation and recording experiments, which were set in child-robot interaction scenarios. Several state-of-the-art technologies were employed to acquire the multi-modal expressive data that will be further used for emotion modeling and recognition studies. The obtained recordings exhibit the expected emotional expressions.}, url = {https://www.isca-speech.org/archive/wocci_2014/wc14_051.html}, author = {Wang, Weiyi and Athanasopoulos, Georgios and Yilmazyildiz, Selma and Patsis, Georgios and Valentin Enescu and Hichem Sahli and Verhelst, Werner and Antoine Hiolle and Lewis, Matthew and Lola Ca{\~n}amero} } @inproceedings {2013, title = {SimianWorld {\textendash} A Study of Social Organisation Using an Artificial Life Model}, booktitle = {Advances in Artificial Life, ECAL 2013}, year = {2013}, note = {Download (Open Access)}, pages = {633{\textendash}640}, publisher = {MIT Press}, organization = {MIT Press}, address = {Taormina, Italy}, abstract = {In studies of social behaviour it is commonly assumed that individual complexity is the origin of intricate social interactions. In primates for example, social complexity is attributed to their intelligence and it is argued by many that the cognitive capacity of primates are especially manifest in the way they regulate their social relationships. Whereas the complex societies of non-human primates are considered to be as a direct result of their cognitive abilities this assumption is not made about social insects. In the absence of certain cognitive abilities their complex societies and structurally sophisticated nests are thought to arise from self-organisation. Since it is unlikely that cognitive capacities are all-or-nothing, usually integrating a range of mechanisms, it is possible that different species use similar cognitive mechanisms resulting in different behavioural outcomes.}, isbn = {9780262317092}, doi = {10.7551/978-0-262-31709-2-ch090}, url = {https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/978-0-262-31709-2-ch090}, author = {Sue Attwood and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Ren{\'e} te Boekhorst}, editor = {Pietro Li{\`o} and Orazio Miglino and Giuseppe Nicosia and Stefano Nolfi and Mario Pavone} } @article {2012, title = {Multimodal Child-Robot Interaction: Building Social Bonds}, journal = {Journal of Human-Robot Interaction}, volume = {1}, year = {2012}, note = {Download (Open Access)}, pages = {33{\textendash}53}, abstract = {For robots to interact effectively with human users they must be capable of coordinated, timely behavior in response to social context. The Adaptive Strategies for Sustainable Long-Term Social Interaction (ALIZ-E) project focuses on the design of long-term, adaptive social interaction between robots and child users in real-world settings. In this paper, we report on the iterative approach taken to scientific and technical developments toward this goal: advancing individual technical competencies and integrating them to form an autonomous robotic system for evaluation {\textquotedblleft}in the wild.{\textquotedblright} The first evaluation iterations have shown the potential of this methodology in terms of adaptation of the robot to the interactant and the resulting influences on engagement. This sets the foundation for an ongoing research program that seeks to develop technologies for social robot companions.}, doi = {10.5898/JHRI.1.2.Belpaeme}, url = {https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3109688.3109691}, author = {Tony Belpaeme and Paul E. Baxter and Robin Read and Rachel Wood and Cuay{\'a}huitl, Heriberto and Kiefer, Bernd and Racioppa, Stefania and Kruijff-Korbayov{\'a}, Ivana and Athanasopoulos, Georgios and Valentin Enescu and Rosemarijn Looije and Mark A. Neerincx and Yiannis Demiris and Raquel Ros-Espinoza and Aryel Beck and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Lewis, Matthew and Baroni, Ilaria and Nalin, Marco and Cosi, Piero and Giulio Paci and Tesser, Fabio and Sommavilla, Giacomo and Remi Humbert} } @inproceedings {2010, title = {Evolution of Bistable Dynamics in Spiking Neural Controllers for Agents Performing Olfactory Attraction and Aversion}, booktitle = {Proc. 19th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting (CNS*2010)}, volume = {11(Suppl 1)}, year = {2010}, month = {07/2010}, pages = {92}, publisher = {BioMed Central Ltd.}, organization = {BioMed Central Ltd.}, address = {San Antonio, TX}, issn = {1471-2202}, doi = {10.1186/1471-2202-11-S1-P92}, url = {http://bmcneurosci.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2202-11-S1-P92}, author = {Oros, Nicolas and Volker Steuber and Davey, Neil and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Roderick G Adams} } @inproceedings {2010, title = {Using the Interaction Rhythm as a Natural Reinforcement Signal for Social Robots: A Matter of Belief}, booktitle = {Proc. International Conference on Social Robotics, ICSR 2010}, series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science}, volume = {6414}, year = {2010}, pages = {81{\textendash}89}, publisher = {Springer}, organization = {Springer}, address = {Singapore}, abstract = {In this paper, we present the results of a pilot study of a human robot interaction experiment where the rhythm of the interaction is used as a reinforcement signal to learn sensorimotor associations. The algorithm uses breaks and variations in the rhythm at which the human is producing actions. The concept is based on the hypothesis that a constant rhythm is an intrinsic property of a positive interaction whereas a break reflects a negative event. Subjects from various backgrounds interacted with a NAO robot where they had to teach the robot to mirror their actions by learning the correct sensorimotor associations. The results show that in order for the rhythm to be a useful reinforcement signal, the subjects have to be convinced that the robot is an agent with which they can act naturally, using their voice and facial expressions as cues to help it understand the correct behaviour to learn. When the subjects do behave naturally, the rhythm and its variations truly reflects how well the interaction is going and helps the robot learn efficiently. These results mean that non-expert users can interact naturally and fruitfully with an autonomous robot if the interaction is believed to be natural, without any technical knowledge of the cognitive capacities of the robot.}, isbn = {978-3-642-17247-2}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-642-17248-9_9}, author = {Antoine Hiolle and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Peirre Andry and Arnaud J Blanchard and Philippe Gaussier}, editor = {Shuzhi Sam Ge and Haizhou Li and John-John Cabibihan and Yeow Kee Tan} } @inproceedings {2009, title = {Evolution of Bilateral Symmetry in Agents Controlled by Spiking Neural Networks}, booktitle = {Proc. 2009 IEEE Symposium on Artificial Life (ALIFE 2009)}, year = {2009}, month = {03/2009}, pages = {116{\textendash}123}, publisher = {IEEE Press}, organization = {IEEE Press}, address = {Nashville, TN}, abstract = {We present in this paper three novel developmental models allowing information to be encoded in space and time, using spiking neurons placed on a 2D substrate. In two of these models, we introduce neural development that can use bilateral symmetry. We show that these models can create neural controllers for agents evolved to perform chemotaxis. Neural bilateral symmetry can be evolved and be beneficial for an agent. This work is the first, as far as we know, to present developmental models where spiking neurons are generated in space and where bilateral symmetry can be evolved and proved to be beneficial in this context.}, isbn = {978-1-4244-2763-5}, issn = {2160-6374}, doi = {10.1109/ALIFE.2009.4937702}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4937702/}, author = {Oros, Nicolas and Volker Steuber and Davey, Neil and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Roderick G Adams} } @inproceedings {2009, title = {The Influence of Social Interaction on the Perception of Emotional Expression: A Case Study with a Robot Head}, booktitle = {Advances in Robotics: Proc. FIRA RoboWorld Congress 2009}, series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science}, volume = {5744}, year = {2009}, month = {08/2009}, pages = {63{\textendash}72}, publisher = {Springer Berlin Heidelberg}, organization = {Springer Berlin Heidelberg}, address = {Incheon, Korea}, abstract = {In this paper we focus primarily on the influence that socio-emotional interaction has on the perception of emotional expression by a robot. We also investigate and discuss the importance of emotion expression in socially interactive situations involving human robot interaction (HRI), and show the importance of utilising emotion expression when dealing with interactive robots, that are to learn and develop in socially situated environments. We discuss early expressional development and the function of emotion in communication in humans and how this can improve HRI communications. Finally we provide experimental results showing how emotion-rich interaction via emotion expression can affect the HRI process by providing additional information.}, isbn = {978-3-642-03983-6}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-642-03983-6_10}, url = {https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007\%2F978-3-642-03983-6_10}, author = {John C Murray and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Kim A. Bard and Ross, Marina Davila and Thorsteinsson, Kate}, editor = {Kim, Jong-Hwan and Ge, Shuzhi Sam and Vadakkepat, Prahlad and Jesse, Norbert and Al Manum, Abdullah and Puthusserypady K, Sadasivan and R{\"u}ckert, Ulrich and Sitte, Joaquin and Witkowski, Ulf and Nakatsu, Ryohei and Braunl, Thomas and Baltes, Jacky and Anderson, John and Wong, Ching-Chang and Verner, Igor and Ahlgren, David} } @inproceedings {2009, title = {The role of lateral inhibition in the sensory processing in a simulated spiking neural controller for a robot}, booktitle = {Proc. 2009 IEEE Symposium on Artificial Life (ALIFE 2009)}, year = {2009}, month = {03/2009}, pages = {179{\textendash}183}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Nashville, TN}, abstract = {Visual adaptation is the process that allows animals to be able to see over a wide range of light levels. This is achieved partially by lateral inhibition in the retina which compensates for low/high light levels. Neural controllers which cause robots to turn away from or towards light tend to work in a limited range of light conditions. In real environments, the light conditions can vary greatly reducing the effectiveness of the robot. Our solution for a simple Braitenberg vehicle is to add a single inhibitory neuron which laterally inhibits the output to the robot motors. This solution has additionally reduced the computational complexity of our simple neuron allowing for a greater number of neurons to be simulated with a fixed set of resources.}, isbn = {978-1-4244-2763-5}, issn = {2160-6374}, doi = {10.1109/ALIFE.2009.4937710}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4937710/}, author = {David Bowes and Roderick G Adams and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Volker Steuber and Davey, Neil} } @inproceedings {2009, title = {Should I worry about my stressed pregnant robot?}, booktitle = {Proc. 9th International Conference on Epigenetic Robotics: Modeling Cognitive Development in Robotic Systems (EpiRob 2009)}, series = {Lund University Cognitive Studies}, volume = {146}, year = {2009}, month = {11/2009}, pages = {203{\textendash}204}, publisher = {Lund University}, organization = {Lund University}, address = {Venice, Italy}, isbn = {978-91-977-380-7-1}, issn = {1101-8453}, url = {http://www.lucs.lu.se/LUCS/146/epirob09.pdf}, author = {David Bowes and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Roderick G Adams and Volker Steuber and Davey, Neil}, editor = {Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Pierre-Yves Oudeyer and Christian Balkenius} } @inproceedings {2008, title = {Adaptive Olfactory Encoding in Agents Controlled by Spiking Neural Networks}, booktitle = {From Animals to Animats 10: Proc. 10th International Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior (SAB 2008)}, series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS)}, volume = { 5040}, year = {2008}, month = {07/2008}, pages = {148{\textendash}158}, publisher = {Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg}, organization = {Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg}, address = {Osaka, Japan}, abstract = {We created a neural architecture that can use two different types of information encoding strategies depending on the environment. The goal of this research was to create a simulated agent that could react to two different overlapping chemicals having varying concentrations. The neural network controls the agent by encoding its sensory information as temporal coincidences in a low concentration environment, and as firing rates at high concentration. With such an architecture, we could study synchronization of firing in a simple manner and see its effect on the agent{\textquoteright}s behaviour.}, isbn = {978-3-540-69134-1}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-540-69134-1_15}, url = {http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-540-69134-1_15}, author = {Oros, Nicolas and Volker Steuber and Davey, Neil and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Roderick G Adams}, editor = {Asada, Minoru and Hallam, John C T and Jean-Arcady Meyer and Tani, Jun} } @inbook {2008, title = {Animating Affective Robots for Social Interaction}, booktitle = {Animating Expressive Characters for Social Interaction}, series = {Advances in Consciousness Research}, number = {74}, year = {2008}, pages = {103{\textendash}121}, publisher = {John Benjamins Publishing Co.}, organization = {John Benjamins Publishing Co.}, isbn = {978-90-272-5210-4}, doi = {10.1075/aicr.74.10can}, author = {Lola Ca{\~n}amero}, editor = {Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Aylett, Ruth} } @book {2008, title = {Animating Expressive Characters for Social Interaction}, series = {Advances in Consciousness Research}, number = {74}, year = {2008}, publisher = {John Benjamins Publishing Co.}, organization = {John Benjamins Publishing Co.}, isbn = {9789027289834}, doi = {10.1075/aicr.74}, editor = {Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Aylett, Ruth} } @inproceedings {2008, title = {Optimal Noise in Spiking Neural Networks for the Detection of Chemicals by Simulated Agents}, booktitle = {Artificial Life XI: Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems}, year = {2008}, month = {08/2008}, pages = {443{\textendash}449}, publisher = {MIT Press}, organization = {MIT Press}, address = {Winchester, UK}, abstract = {We created a spiking neural controller for an agent that could use two different types of information encoding strategies depending on the level of chemical concentration present in the environment. The first goal of this research was to create a simulated agent that could react and stay within a region where there were two different overlapping chemicals having uniform concentrations. The agent was controlled by a spiking neural network that encoded sensory information using temporal coincidence of incoming spikes when the level of chemical concentration was low, and as firing rates at high level of concentration. With this architecture, we could study synchronization of firing in a simple manner and see its effect on the agent{\textquoteright}s behaviour. The next experiment we did was to use a more realistic model by having an environment composed of concentration gradients and by adding input current noise to all neurons. We used a realistic model of diffusive noise and showed that it could improve the agent{\textquoteright}s behaviour if used within a certain range. Therefore, an agent with neuronal noise was better able to stay within the chemical concentration than an agent without.}, isbn = {978-0-262-75017-2}, url = {https://mitpress-request.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/alife/0262287196chap58.pdf}, author = {Oros, Nicolas and Volker Steuber and Davey, Neil and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Roderick G Adams}, editor = {Seth Bullock and Jason Noble and Richard A. Watson and Mark A Bedau} } @inproceedings {2008, title = {Optimal Receptor Response Functions for the Detection of Pheromones by Agents Driven by Spiking Neural Networks}, booktitle = {Proc. 9th European Meeting on Cybernetics and Systems Research, Vol. II}, year = {2008}, month = {03/2008}, pages = {427{\textendash}432}, publisher = {Austrian Society for Cybernetic Studies}, organization = {Austrian Society for Cybernetic Studies}, address = {Vienna, Austria}, abstract = {The goal of the work presented here is to find a model of a spiking sensory neuron that could cope with small variations in the concentration of simulated chemicals and also the whole range of concentrations. By using a biologically plausible sigmoid function in our model to map chemical concentration to current, we could produce agents able to detect the whole range of concentration of chemicals (pheromones) present in the environment as well as small variations of them. The sensory neurons used in our model are able to encode the stimulus intensity into appropriate firing rates.}, isbn = {978-3-85206-175-7}, url = {http://www.cogsci.uci.edu/~noros/mypapers/OROS_2008_EMCSR.pdf}, author = {Oros, Nicolas and Volker Steuber and Davey, Neil and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Roderick G Adams}, editor = {Trappl, R} } @inproceedings {2008, title = {Receptor Response and Soma Leakiness in a Simulated Spiking Neural Controller for a Robot}, booktitle = {Proc. 4th International Workshop on Artificial Neural Networks and Intelligent Information Processing (ANNIIP 2008)}, year = {2008}, month = {05/2008}, pages = {100{\textendash}106}, publisher = {INSTICC (Inst. Syst. Technologies Information Control and Communication)}, organization = {INSTICC (Inst. Syst. Technologies Information Control and Communication)}, address = {Funchal, Madeira, Portugal}, abstract = {This paper investigates different models of leakiness for the soma of a simulated spiking neural controller for a robot exhibiting negative photo-taxis. It also investigates two models of receptor response to stimulus levels. The results show that exponential decay of ions across the soma and of a receptor response function where intensity is proportional to intensity is the best combination for dark seeking behaviour.}, isbn = {978-989-8111-33-3}, url = {https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/handle/2299/6832}, author = {David Bowes and Roderick G Adams and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Volker Steuber and Davey, Neil}, editor = {Madani, K} } @inproceedings {2007, title = {Biasing Neural Networks Towards Exploration or Exploitation Using Neuromodulation}, booktitle = {Proc. 17th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks (ICANN 2007), Part II}, series = {LNCS}, volume = {4669}, year = {2007}, month = {09/2007}, pages = {889{\textendash}898}, publisher = {Springer Berlin Heidelberg}, organization = {Springer Berlin Heidelberg}, address = {Porto, Portugal}, abstract = {Taking neuromodulation as a mechanism underlying emotions, this paper investigates how such a mechanism can bias an artificial neural network towards exploration of new courses of action, as seems to be the case in positive emotions, or exploitation of known possibilities, as in negative emotions such as predatory fear. We use neural networks of spiking leaky integrate-and-fire neurons acting as minimal disturbance systems, and test them with continuous actions. The networks have to balance the activations of all their output neurons concurrently. We have found that having the middle layer modulate the output layer helps balance the activations of the output neurons. A second discovery is that when the network is modulated in this way, it performs better at tasks requiring the exploitation of actions that are found to be rewarding. This is complementary to previous findings where having the input layer modulate the middle layer biases the network towards exploration of alternative actions. We conclude that a network can be biased towards either exploration of exploitation depending on which layers are being modulated.}, isbn = {978-3-540-74695-9}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-540-74695-9_91}, url = {https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-540-74695-9_91}, author = {Parussel, Karla and Lola Ca{\~n}amero}, editor = {de S{\'a}, Joaquim Marques and Alexandre, Lu{\'\i}s A. and Duch, W{\l}odzis{\l}aw and Mandic, Danilo} } @inproceedings {2007, title = {A Bottom-Up Investigation of Emotional Modulation in Competitive Scenarios}, booktitle = {Proc. Second International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction (ACII 2007)}, series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science}, volume = {4738}, year = {2007}, month = {09/2007}, pages = {398{\textendash}409}, publisher = {Springer Berlin Heidelberg}, organization = {Springer Berlin Heidelberg}, address = {Lisbon, Portugal}, abstract = {In this paper, we take an incremental, bottom-up approach to investigate plausible mechanisms underlying emotional modulation of behavior selection and their adaptive value in autonomous robots. We focus in particular on achieving adaptive behavior selection in competitive robotic scenarios through modulation of perception, drawing on the notion of biological hormones. We discuss results from testing our architectures in two different competitive robotic scenarios.}, isbn = {978-3-540-74888-5}, issn = {0302-9743}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-540-74889-2_35}, author = {Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Avila-Garc{\'\i}a, Orlando}, editor = {Ana C R Paiva and Rui Prada and Rosalind W Picard} } @inproceedings {2005, title = {Hormonal Modulation of Perception in Motivation-Based Action Selection Architectures}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the Symposium on Agents that Want and Like: Motivational and Emotional Roots of Cognition and Action (SSAISB{\textquoteright}05)}, year = {2005}, pages = {9{\textendash}16}, publisher = {AISB}, organization = {AISB}, address = {University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK}, abstract = {The animat approach to artificial intelligence proposes biologically-inspired control mechanisms for autonomous robots. One of the related subproblems is action selection or what to do next . Many action selection architectures have been proposed. Motivation-based architectures implement a combination between internal and external stimuli to choose the appropriate behavior. Recent studies have pointed out that a second order mechanism to control motivation-based architectures would improve--dramatically their performance. Drawing on the notion of biological hormones we have modeled two of the functionalities ascribed to them in order to improve the adaptivity of motivation-based architectures. We have tested our hormone-like mechanisms in dynamic and unpredictable robotic scenarios. We analyze the results in terms of interesting behavioral phenomena that emerge from the interaction of these artificial hormones with the rest of architectural elements.}, isbn = {1-902956-41-7}, url = {https://www.aisb.org.uk/publications/proceedings/aisb2005/2_Agents_Final.pdf}, author = {Avila-Garc{\'\i}a, Orlando and Lola Ca{\~n}amero}, editor = {Lola Ca{\~n}amero} } @article {2004, title = {Intelligenza artificiale in medicina: progetto di una piattaforma mobile inserita in un ambiente intelligente per l{\textquoteright}assistenza ai disabili e agli anziani}, journal = {Recenti Progressi in Medicina}, volume = {95}, year = {2004}, pages = {190{\textendash}195}, publisher = {Pensiero scientifico}, abstract = {Viene presentato un progetto basato sull{\textquoteright}integrazione di nuove tecnologie e di Intelligenza artificiale per sviluppare uno strumento {\textendash} e-tool {\textendash} indirizzato alle persone disabili ed agli anziani. Una piattaforma mobile inserita all{\textquoteright}interno di ambienti intelligenti (strutture di assistenza o abitazioni), controllata e gestita attraverso un{\textquoteright}architettura multilivello, viene proposta come supporto sia per i pazienti che per i caregiver al fine di aumentare l{\textquoteright}autonomia nella vita quotidiana. A project based on the integration of new technologies and artificial intelligence to develop a device {\textendash} e-tool {\textendash} for disabled patients and elderly people is presented. A mobile platform in intelligent environments (skilled-care facilities and home-care), controlled and managed by a multi-level architecture, is proposed to support patients and caregivers to increase self-dependency in activities of daily living.}, issn = {0034-1193}, doi = {10.1701/39.314}, author = {Cort{\'e}s, Ulises and Annicchiarico, Roberta and Campana, Fabio and V{\'a}zquez-Salceda, Javier and Urdiales, Cristina and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Maite L{\'o}pez and Miquel S{\`a}nchez-Marr{\`e} and Di Vincenzo, Sarah and Carlo Caltagirone} } @inproceedings {2004, title = {Using Hormonal Feedback to Modulate Action Selection in a Competitive Scenario}, booktitle = {From Animals to Animats 8: Proc. 8th Intl. Conf. on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior (SAB{\textquoteright}04)}, year = {2004}, pages = {243{\textendash}252}, publisher = {MIT Press}, organization = {MIT Press}, address = {Los Angeles, USA}, abstract = {In this paper we investigate the use of hormonal feedback as a mechanism to modulate a "motivation-based," homeostatic action selection mechanism (ASM) in a robot. We have framed our study in the context of a dynamic, multirobot, competitive "two-resource" action selection problem. The introduction of competitors has important consequences for action selection. We first show how the interaction between robots introduces new forms of environmental complexity that affect their viability. Secondly, we propose a "hormone-like" mechanism that, modulating the input of the ASM, tackles these new sources of complexity.}, isbn = {9780262693417}, doi = {10.7551/mitpress/3122.003.0031}, url = {https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Orlando_Avila-Garcia/publication/228958663_Using_Hormonal_Feedback_to_Modulate_Action_Selection_in_a_Competitive_Scenario/links/0deec533c8411ebe0c000000.pdf}, author = {Avila-Garc{\'\i}a, Orlando and Lola Ca{\~n}amero}, editor = {Stefan Schaal and Auke Jan Ijspeert and Aude Billard and Sethu Vijayakumar and John Hallam and Jean-Arcady Meyer} } @inproceedings {2003, title = {Analyzing the Performance of "Winner-Take-All" and "Voting-Based" Action Selection Policies within the Two-Resource Problem}, booktitle = {Advances in Artificial Life: 7th European Conference, ECAL 2003}, series = {Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence}, volume = {2801}, year = {2003}, note = {Download}, month = {09/2003}, pages = {733{\textendash}742}, publisher = {Springer}, organization = {Springer}, address = {Dortmund, Germany}, abstract = {The problem of action selection for an autonomous creature implies resolving conflicts between competing behavioral alternatives. These conflicts can be resolved either via competition, following a {\textquotedblleft}winner-take-all{\textquotedblright} approach, or via cooperation in a {\textquotedblleft}voting-based{\textquotedblright} approach. In this paper we present two robotic architectures implementing these approaches, and report on experiments we have performed to compare their underlying optimization policies. We have framed this study within the context of the {\textquotedblleft}two-resource problem,{\textquotedblright} as it provides a widely used standard that favors systematic experimentation, analysis, and comparison of results.}, isbn = {978-3-540-20057-4}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-540-39432-7_79}, url = {https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007\%2F978-3-540-39432-7_79}, author = {Avila-Garc{\'\i}a, Orlando and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Ren{\'e} te Boekhorst}, editor = {Banzhaf, Wolfgang and Christaller, Thomas and Dittrich, Peter and Kim, Jan T and Ziegler, Jens} } @article {2003, title = {Assistive technologies for the disabled and for the new generation of senior citizens: The e-Tools architecture}, journal = {AI Communications}, volume = {16}, year = {2003}, pages = {193{\textendash}207}, publisher = {IOS Press}, address = {Amsterdam, The Netherlands}, abstract = {In this paper we present our exploratory ideas about the integration of agent technology with other technologies to build specific e-tools for the disabled and for the new generation of senior citizens. "e-Tools" stands for Embedded Tools, as we aim to embed intelligent assistive devices in homes and other facilities, creating ambient intelligence environments to give support to patients and caregivers. In particular, we aim to explore the benefits of the concept of situated intelligence to build artefacts that will enhance the autonomy of the target user group in their daily life.}, issn = {0921-7126}, url = {http://content.iospress.com/articles/ai-communications/aic288}, author = {Cort{\'e}s, Ulises and Annicchiarico, Roberta and V{\'a}zquez-Salceda, Javier and Urdiales, Cristina and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Maite L{\'o}pez and Miquel S{\`a}nchez-Marr{\`e} and Carlo Caltagirone} } @inbook {2003, title = {e-Tools: The use of Assistive Technologies to enhance disabled and senior citizens{\textquoteright} autonomy}, booktitle = {e-Health: Application of Computing Science in Medicine and Health Care}, year = {2003}, pages = {119{\textendash}132}, publisher = {Instituto Polit{\'e}cnico National Press}, organization = {Instituto Polit{\'e}cnico National Press}, abstract = {In this paper we present our preliminary ideas about the integration of several technologies to build specific e-tools for the disabled and for the new generation of senior citizens. {\textquoteleft}e-Tools{\textquoteright} stands for Embedded Tools, as we aim to embed intelligent assistive devices in homes and other facilities, creating ambient intelligence environments to give support to patients and caregivers. In particular, we aim to explore the benefits of the concept of situated intelligence to build intelligent artefacts that will enhance the autonomy of the target group during their daily life. We present here a multi-level architecture and our preliminary research on navigation schemes for a robotic wheelchair.}, author = {Cort{\'e}s, Ulises and Annicchiarico, Roberta and V{\'a}zquez-Salceda, Javier and Urdiales, Cristina and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Maite L{\'o}pez and Miquel S{\`a}nchez-Marr{\`e} and Carlo Caltagirone}, editor = {I Rudom{\'\i}n and J V{\'a}zquez-Salceda and J L D{\'\i}az de Le{\'o}n Santiago} } @inproceedings {2003, title = {Optimization Criteria Underlying "Winner-Take-All" and "Voting-Based" Action Selection Policies}, booktitle = {Towards Intelligent Mobile Robots, TIMR{\textquoteright}03: 4th British Conference on Mobile Robotics}, year = {2003}, address = {University of the West of England, Bristol}, author = {Avila-Garc{\'\i}a, Orlando and Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Ren{\'e} te Boekhorst and Davey, Neil}, editor = {U Nehmzow and C Melhuish} } @inproceedings {2002, title = {Comparing a Voting-Based Policy with Winner-Takes-All to Perform Action Selection in Motivational Agents}, booktitle = {Advances in Artificial Intelligence {\textendash} IBERAMIA 2002; Proc. 8th Ibero-American Conference on AI}, series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science}, volume = {2527}, year = {2002}, pages = {855{\textendash}864}, publisher = {Springer}, organization = {Springer}, address = {Seville, Spain}, abstract = {Embodied autonomous agents are systems that inhabit dynamic, unpredictable environments in which they try to satisfy a set of time-dependent goals or motivations in order to survive. One of the problems that this implies is action selection, the task of resolving conflicts between competing behavioral alternatives. We present an experimental comparison of two action selection mechanisms (ASM), implementing "winner-takes-all" (WTA) and "voting-based" (VB) policies respectively, modeled using a motivational behavior-based approach. This research shows the adequacy of these two ASM with respect to different sources of environmental complexity and the tendency of each of them to show different behavioral phenomena.}, isbn = {978-3-540-00131-7}, doi = {10.1007/3-540-36131-6_87}, author = {Avila-Garc{\'\i}a, Orlando and Lola Ca{\~n}amero}, editor = {Garijo, Francisco J and Riquelme, Jos{\'e} C and Toro, Miguel} } @inproceedings {2002, title = {A Comparison of Behavior Selection Architectures Using Viability Indicators}, booktitle = {Proc. EPSRC/BBSRC International Workshop Biologically-Inspired Robotics: The Legacy of W. Grey Walter}, year = {2002}, pages = {86{\textendash}93}, address = {HP Labs Bristol, UK}, author = {Avila-Garc{\'\i}a, Orlando and Lola Ca{\~n}amero} } @inproceedings {2002, title = {First Experiments Relating Behavior Selection Architectures to Environmental Complexity}, booktitle = {Proc. 2002 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2002)}, year = {2002}, pages = {3024{\textendash}3029}, publisher = {IEEE Press}, organization = {IEEE Press}, address = {Lausanne, Switzerland}, abstract = {Assessing the performance of behavior selection architectures for autonomous robots is a complex task that depends on many factors. This paper reports a study comparing four motivated behavior-based architectures in different worlds with varying degrees and types of complexity, and analyzes performance results (in terms of viability, life span, and global life quality) relating architectural features to environmental complexity.}, doi = {10.1109/IRDS.2002.1041732}, author = {Lola Ca{\~n}amero and Avila-Garc{\'\i}a, Orlando and Hafner, Elena} } @inproceedings {2002, title = {Meaningful Information, Sensor Evolution, and the Temporal Horizon of Embodied Organisms}, booktitle = {Artificial Life VIII: Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Artificial Life}, year = {2002}, pages = {345{\textendash}349}, publisher = {MIT Press}, organization = {MIT Press}, address = {Sydney, Australia}, abstract = {We survey and outline how an agent-centered, information-theoretic approach to meaningful information extending classical Shannon information theory by means of utility measures relevant for the goals of particular agents can be applied to sensor evolution for real and constructed organisms. Furthermore, we discuss the relationship of this approach to the programme of freeing artificial life and robotic systems from reactivity, by describing useful types of information with broader temporal horizon, for signaling, communication, affective grounding, two-process learning, individual learning, imitation and social learning, and episodic experiential information (memories, narrative, and culturally transmitted information).}, isbn = {9780262692816}, author = {Nehaniv, Chrystopher L and Daniel Polani and Kerstin Dautenhahn and Ren{\'e} te Boekhorst and Lola Ca{\~n}amero}, editor = {Russell Standish and Mark A Bedau and Hussein A Abbass} } @proceedings {2002, title = {Proceedings of the AISB{\textquoteright}02 Symposium Animating Expressive Characters for Social Interactions}, year = {2002}, publisher = {AISB}, address = {Imperial College, London, UK}, url = {https://www.aisb.org.uk/publications/proceedings/aisb2002/AISB02_ExpressiveCharacters.pdf}, editor = {Aylett, Ruth and Lola Ca{\~n}amero} } @inproceedings {2002, title = {Relating Behavior Selection Architectures to Environmental Complexity}, booktitle = {From Animals to Animats: Proc. 7th International Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior}, year = {2002}, pages = {127{\textendash}128}, publisher = {MIT Press}, organization = {MIT Press}, address = {Edinburgh, Scotland}, isbn = {9780-262-58217-9}, author = {Avila-Garc{\'\i}a, Orlando and Hafner, Elena and Lola Ca{\~n}amero}, editor = {Bridget Hallam and Dario Floreano and John Hallam and Gillian M Hayes and Jean-Arcady Meyer} } @inproceedings {1999, title = {Affect-Driven CBR to Generate Expressive Music}, booktitle = {Case-Based Reasoning Research and Development. Third International Conference on Case-Based Reasoning, ICCBR{\textquoteright}99}, series = {Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence}, volume = {1650}, year = {1999}, pages = {1{\textendash}13}, publisher = {Springer Berlin Heidelberg}, organization = {Springer Berlin Heidelberg}, abstract = {We present an extension of an existing system, called SaxEx, capable of generating expressive musical performances based on Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) techniques. The previous version of SaxEx did not take into account the possibility of using affective labels to guide the CBR task. This paper discusses the introduction of such affective knowledge to improve the retrieval capabilities of the system. Three affective dimensions are considered{\textemdash}tender-aggressive, sad-joyful, and calm-restless that allow the user to declaratively instruct the system to perform according to any combination of five qualitative values along these three dimensions.}, isbn = {978-3-540-66237-2}, doi = {10.1007/3-540-48508-2_1}, author = {Josep Llu{\'\i}s Arcos and D Ca{\~n}amero and Ramon L{\'o}pez de M{\'a}ntaras}, editor = {Althoff, Klaus-Dieter and Bergmann, Ralph and L Karl Branting} } @inproceedings {1999, title = {Imitating Human Performances to Automatically Generate Expressive Jazz Ballads}, booktitle = {Proc. AISB{\textquoteright}99 Symposium on Imitation in Animals and Artifacts}, year = {1999}, pages = {115{\textendash}20}, publisher = {AISB}, organization = {AISB}, address = {Edinburgh, Scotland}, abstract = {One of the main problems with the automatic generation of expressive musical performances is to grasp the way in which human performers use musical knowledge that is not explicitly noted in musical scores. Moreover, this knowledge is tacit, difficult to verbalize, and therefore it must be acquired through a process of observation, imitation, and experimentation. For this reason, AI approaches based on declarative knowledge representations have serious limitations. An alternative approach is that of directly using the implicit knowledge that is in examples from recordings of human performances. In this paper, we describe a case-based reasoning system that generates expressive musical performances imitating examples of expressive human performances.}, author = {D Ca{\~n}amero and Josep Llu{\'\i}s Arcos and Ramon L{\'o}pez de M{\'a}ntaras} } @inproceedings {1998, title = {Affect-Driven Generation of Expressive Musical Performances}, booktitle = {Emotional and Intelligent: The Tangled Knot of Cognition. Papers from the 1998 AAAI Fall Symposium}, year = {1998}, pages = {1{\textendash}6}, publisher = {AAAI Press}, organization = {AAAI Press}, author = {Josep Llu{\'\i}s Arcos and D Ca{\~n}amero and Ramon L{\'o}pez de M{\'a}ntaras} }