Work-Groups, Discussion-Groups, Recreational Groups

* We will use these pages to define work-groups, discussion-groups

and recreational groups with corresponding mailing lists.

• Work-groups will focus on hands-on projects during the afternoons, evenings and nights, while discussion-groups are meant as small-group brainstorming sessions on the topics proposed, that can take place in the evenings or after dinner.

• The workgroup mailing lists are handy for organizing meetings, working sessions, discussion sessions, while at the workshop.

To subscribe to an existing workgroup, log-in, and simply click on the relevant Subscribe link.

How to propose workgroups

In order to propose new workgroups and create your own mailing list, log-in and edit this page (the edit button is at the bottom of the page).

Use one of the existing workgroups as a template, add a proper description, and write your name as the workgroup leader.

THE LEADERS MUST ALSO SUBSCRIBE AS MEMBERS! Otherwise the leaders won't be on the mailing list for that group!

Work group / Discussion group Leaders

Work group / Discussion group leaders should coordinate the work group / discussion group activities, define and set the meeting times, update the Workshop Schedule to reflect that, and most importantly, document the workroup activities on the corresponding workgroup web-page. If you're a workgroup/discussiongroup leader and your -group page does not exist yet create it (by simply clicking on the workgroup title) ASAP and describe in more detail the planned workroup activities (e.g. how long it will last, what is expected to happen, what material is required, etc.)

Room reservation sheet

Use this page if you need to reserve the lecture room or the smaller meeting room in the afternoons for your workgroup.

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Work Groups and Discussion Groups

Modeling cerebral cortex development

Members: Adrian Whatley, Ana Rita Ribeiro Gomes, Johannes Bill, Borys Wrobel, Colette Dehay, Dylan Richard Muir, elodie gautier, Tomas Fernandes, Giacomo Indiveri, Andreas Hauri, Hsin Chen, Eric Ryu, Alexander Kazeka, Kevin Brohan, Kiruthika Ramanathan, Marion Betizeau, Mark Longair, Nuno Costa, Bernhard Nessler, Michael Pfeiffer, Alexander Rast, Reza Farsian, Richard Girard, Ryad Benosman, Sabina Pfister, Sergio Davies, Stefan Habenschuss, Tao Zhou

Leader: Sabina Pfister

During cortical development, neural progenitor cells divide either symmetrically or asymmetrically into proliferative and postmitotic neural cells and results in the generation of an highly organized laminar structure. We will analyze how cell migration and proliferation affect the generation of a particular cytoarchitecture based on experimental data collected by Colette Dehay team. We address the task of modeling cell migration and differentiation using computational models (algorithmic rather than mathematical models).

We will start with tutorials on cortical development in both mouse and monkey and an introduction on computational models used in biology. Afterwards we will implement computational models either in Processing, a simplified scripting language to generate, or on Cortex3D, a java based framework developed in our lab to simulate multiple agent systems.

Real-Time Biologically Realistic Neuromorphic Attention - Software

Members: Mikhail Burtsev, Borys Wrobel, Christoph Posch, Daniel Sonnleithner, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Francesco Galluppi, Giacomo Indiveri, Kevin Gurney, Ernst Niebur, Alexander Rast, Rodolphe Héliot, Sergio Davies, Sim Bamford, Sushmita Allam, Thomas Pfeil, Thomas Sharp, Tao Zhou, Zeno Jonke

Leader: Alexander Rast

We will work to create models of selective attention for the SpiNNaker neural network chip. Using biologically-realistic network topologies and connectivity data from neurophysiological studies, we will follow a hierarchical, modular development approach that integrates individual neurons into assemblies, then larger-scale groups, (hopefully) culminating in a simplified cortical model.

This group will focus on the software and modelling issues related to the creation of a working real-world attentional system. No specific hardware experience is required. The group will work closely with the Hardware group to create a full system comprising a visual front-end, the Selective Attention (SAC) chip, and an actuation system, first for object tracking and foveation in the presence of distractors, time permitting for object selection using a robotic arm.

Real-Time Biologically Realistic Neuromorphic Attention - Hardware

Members: Andreas Grübl, Adrian Whatley, bernabe linares-barranco, Christoph Posch, Daniel Sonnleithner, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Francesco Galluppi, Giacomo Indiveri, Jayawan Wijekoon, Kevin Brohan, Rodolphe Héliot, Sergio Davies, Sim Bamford, Sebastian Millner, Teresa Serrano Gotarredona, Tobias Pietzsch, Thomas Sharp, Vasilis Thanasoulis, Viviane Ghaderi, Carlos Zamarreno-Ramos

Leader: Daniel Sonnleithner, Sergio Davies, Daniel B. Fasnacht

rtahw11 will try to combine the iCub sensors (the two DVS in the eyeballs), the GAEP (General Address-Event Processor) in the iCub head, the SAC (selective attention chip) and some SpiNNaker board in order to provide a real-time neuromorphic processing platform.

Our peer-group rtasw11 will meanwhile work out what to actually run on the platform we are trying to put together...

Brian

Members: Adrian Whatley, Jan Antolik, bernabe linares-barranco, Borys Wrobel, Damien Drix, Daniel Sonnleithner, Emre Neftci, Fabio Stefanini, Federico Corradi, Frédéric Broccard, Giacomo Indiveri, Hasler, Hirotsugu Okuno, Eric Ryu, Jonathan Tapson, Antoine Joubert, Alexander Kazeka, Kiruthika Ramanathan, Lorenz Muller, Mark Longair, Mohammad Abdollahi, Mattia Rigotti, Rainer Beutelmann, A. Razvan Gamanut, Reza Farsian, Romain Brette, Ryad Benosman, Sadique Sheik, Yulia Sandamirskaya, Sergio Davies, Shih-Chii Liu, Sim Bamford, Siohoi Ieng, Victor Benichoux, André van Schaik, Xavier Hinaut, Carlos Zamarreno-Ramos

Leader: Romain Brette, Victor Benichoux

We will give a tutorial for Brian, a Python simulator for spiking neural networks, and also demonstrate Brian Hears, the auditory library for Brian.

We also propose to try and hook Brian with various AER chips (bring your own!).

Neural circuits for multi-modal competition

Members: Andreas Keller, Jan Antolik, Johannes Bill, Bernhard Vogginger, Borys Wrobel, Christoph Krautz, Daniel Sonnleithner, Dylan Richard Muir, Emre Neftci, Florian Jug, Tomas Fernandes, Giacomo Indiveri, Eric Ryu, Jenia Jitsev, Julia Furche, Alexander Kazeka, Kiruthika Ramanathan, Mark Longair, Mika Laiho, Mohammad Abdollahi, Nuno Costa, Bernhard Nessler, Pierre Enel, A. Razvan Gamanut, Roman Bauer, Ryad Benosman, Sabina Pfister, Yulia Sandamirskaya, Simon Friedmann, Shih-Chii Liu, Stefan Habenschuss, Tobi Delbruck, Thomas Pfeil, Tao Zhou, André van Schaik, Xavier Hinaut

Leader: Dylan Richard Muir

In the visual cortex of higher mammals (such as cats and monkeys), neighbouring neurons share a large number of response properties. For example, neurons in a "column" through cortex share a common orientation preference, and their receptive fields are at least nearby in visual space. When simple stimuli such as oriented gratings are presented, these neurons respond similarly. However, when natural movie or natural scene stimuli are used, the responses of the same neighbouring neurons become highly decorrelated. In this workshop we will discuss how we can design neural circuits, with cortically-reasonable connectivity, that can switch on and off competition by using different stimulus modalities. We will discuss experimental observations of this decorrelation for complex stimuli; propose putative circuits that can accomplish this task, as well as the sorts of neural responses we would expect to record from cortex if these circuits were to exist; and perform simulations of these circuits in either hardware or software.

Event based sensory processing

Members: Andreas Grübl, Angel Jimenez, Adrian Whatley, Andrew Dankers, Aurel A. Lazar, bernabe linares-barranco, Mikhail Burtsev, Charles Clercq, Christoph Krautz, Christoph Posch, Daniel Sonnleithner, Dylan Richard Muir, Emre Neftci, Eric Müller, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Florian Jug, Jan Funke, Gabriele Spina, Hsin Chen, Hirotsugu Okuno, Eric Ryu, Jayawan Wijekoon, Jorg Conradt, Jonathan Tapson, Antoine Joubert, Kaijun Yi, Alexander Kazeka, Leslie Smith, Manuel J. Dominguez Morales, Mark Longair, Mohammad Abdollahi, Bernhard Nessler, Michael Pfeiffer, Rainer Beutelmann, Alexander Rast, Rodolphe Héliot, Ryad Benosman, Sadique Sheik, Yulia Sandamirskaya, Sergio Davies, Simon Friedmann, Shih-Chii Liu, Siohoi Ieng, Sebastian Jeltsch, Stefan Habenschuss, Sushmita Allam, Tobi Delbruck, Thomas Pfeil, Tobias Pietzsch, Tao Zhou, Vasilis Thanasoulis, Victor Benichoux, Viviane Ghaderi, Carlos Zamarreno-Ramos

Leaders: Tobi Delbruck, Shih-Chii Liu, Christoph Posch, Ryad Benosman, Jorg Conradt, Matthew Cook

We are interested in hardware and algorithms that use the notions of spike 'events' in connection with event-based (AER) neuromorphic hardware. We'll build real-time hardware robotic systems and discuss silicon circuits and architectures, along with event-based digital processing algorithms. We'll use the  DVS silicon retina, the ATIS, and the  AER-EAR silicon cochlea in these projects. Sign up for the jAER tutorial if you are a newbie to this approach.

Perception-Cognition-Action Loops in Spike-Based Robotic Systems

Members: Andreas Grübl, Angel Jimenez, Andreas Keller, Jan Antolik, bernabe linares-barranco, Mikhail Burtsev, Borys Wrobel, Charles Clercq, Christoph Krautz, Christoph Posch, Damien Drix, Daniel Sonnleithner, David Lester, Emre Neftci, Florian Jug, Francesco Galluppi, Jan Funke, Giacomo Indiveri, Hasler, Hsin Chen, Hirotsugu Okuno, Eric Ryu, Jayawan Wijekoon, Jorg Conradt, Jenia Jitsev, Jonathan Tapson, Alexander Kazeka, Leslie Smith, Lorenz Muller, Manuel J. Dominguez Morales, Mika Laiho, Bernhard Nessler, Michael Pfeiffer, Pierre Enel, Alexander Rast, Rodolphe Héliot, Ryad Benosman, Sadique Sheik, Yulia Sandamirskaya, Simon Friedmann, Shih-Chii Liu, Sebastian Jeltsch, Sushmita Allam, Tobi Delbruck, Thomas Pfeil, Tobias Pietzsch, serrano, Thomas Sharp, Tao Zhou, André van Schaik, Carlos Zamarreno-Ramos

Leader: Jorg Conradt, Tobi Delbruck, Matthew Cook

This workgroup will discuss possible architectures and algorithms which would allow spike-based sensory signals (e.g., from silicon retinae or cochleae) to be categorized into higher level interpretations (which may be learned/abstracted from prior experiences). These would enable mobile robots to understand and reason about their perceptions and purposefully act in their environment.

Classification using spiking hardware

Members: Angel Jimenez, Andrew Dankers, Bernhard Vogginger, Borys Wrobel, Elisabetta Chicca, Damien Drix, Daniel Sonnleithner, Emre Neftci, Fabio Stefanini, Frédéric Broccard, Jan Funke, Stefano Fusi, Gabriele Spina, Giacomo Indiveri, Hasler, Hirotsugu Okuno, Eric Ryu, Jayawan Wijekoon, Julia Furche, Kaijun Yi, Alexander Kazeka, Kiruthika Ramanathan, Lorenz Muller, Manuel J. Dominguez Morales, Mark Longair, Martin Coath, Mihai A. Petrovici, Mattia Rigotti, Bernhard Nessler, Reza Farsian, Roman Bauer, Sadique Sheik, Yulia Sandamirskaya, Simon Friedmann, Sebastian Jeltsch, Sushmita Allam, Thomas Pfeil, Vasilis Thanasoulis, Viviane Ghaderi, Xavier Hinaut, Zeno Jonke

Leaders: Fabio Stefanini

The goal of this workgroup is to explore the possibilities of neuromorphic hardware with learning capabilities implemented in VLSI to solve traditional classification tasks such as character recognition, speech recognition and so on. The NCS group from the Institute of Neuroinformatics (Zurich) will ship a hardware setup of multi-neuron chips comprising arrays of integrate-and-fire neurons with dynamic synapses and spike-based learning algorithm for synaptic modifications. Participants will use general-purpose software tools we implemented as Python modules for an easy design and realization of experiments of spiking neural-networks using hardware of the NCS group.

Reservoir computing in neuromorphic VLSI hardware

Members: Andrew Dankers, Aurel A. Lazar, Bernhard Vogginger, Borys Wrobel, Elisabetta Chicca, Emre Neftci, Fabio Stefanini, Francesco Galluppi, Frédéric Broccard, Hsin Chen, Eric Ryu, Antoine Joubert, Alexander Kazeka, Leslie Smith, Mihai A. Petrovici, Mattia Rigotti, Johannes Partzsch, Pierre Enel, Rodolphe Héliot, Sadique Sheik, Simon Friedmann, Sim Bamford, Sebastian Jeltsch, Sushmita Allam, Vasilis Thanasoulis, André van Schaik, Xavier Hinaut, Zeno Jonke

Leaders: Fabio Stefanini, Sadique Sheik

The goal of this workgroup is to implement reservoir computation in hardware. Reservoir models, such as liquid-state machine (LSM), describe the activity of a random connected neural-network under the stimulation of time varying stimuli. By looking at the activity of the network it is possible to infer about the characteristics of the input stimuli. The ease of implementation of LSM make them an interesting tool for time-dependent sensory processing in hardware, even though the lack of a theoretical description of the parameter settings makes their realization a very hard task.

Kinect

Members: Andreas Grübl, bernabe linares-barranco, Davide Migliore, Eero Lehtonen, Emre Neftci, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Francesco Galluppi, Jan Funke, Hasler, Andreas Hauri, Eric Ryu, Jenia Jitsev, Love Cederstroem, Mark Longair, Mika Laiho, Mihai A. Petrovici, Martin Thirkettle, Bernhard Nessler, Michael Pfeiffer, Radoslav Prahov, Reza Farsian, Sabina Pfister, Sadique Sheik, Yulia Sandamirskaya, Shih-Chii Liu, Sebastian Jeltsch, Stefano Toxiri, Tobi Delbruck, Tao Zhou

Leaders: Michael Pfeiffer

Microsoft's Kinect is a new, affordable sensor for measuring depth information. It was originally developed for remote-free interaction with the Xbox game console based on arm- and body gesture recognition. Since the Kinect can be connected to any computer with a USB port, it has not taken long until other, very creative applications of this sensor have been demonstrated. In this workgroup we will show you how to make Kinect running on your PC, and use it for interesting gesture recognition, robotics or sensory fusion projects in combination with neuromorphic sensors. If you have a Kinect at home, bring it (and the USB adapter!) with you.

Thalamo-Cortical models on neuromorphic VLSI

Members: Jan Antolik, Elisabetta Chicca, Damien Drix, Emre Neftci, Eric Ryu, Alexander Kazeka, Leslie Smith, Martin Coath, Nuno Costa, Rainer Beutelmann, Sadique Sheik, Shih-Chii Liu, Thomas Sharp, Vasilis Thanasoulis, André van Schaik

Leaders: Sadique Sheik, Martin Coath, Elisabetta Chicca

The goal of this workgroup is to develop and implement models of primary Thalamo-Cortical auditory network. The goal is to develop a model that can learn 'features' of auditory stimulus being presented and show some selective response to the trained stimuli. The initial work will be based on previous models from Coath and Mill et al. We will try and improve/simplify this model and implement it on neuromorphic chip setups from INI and/or the Felix simulator (any simulator of your choice).

Finite State Machines in VLSI Spiking Neurons

Members: Andrew Dankers, Elisabetta Chicca, Daniel Sonnleithner, Emre Neftci, Giacomo Indiveri, Massimiliano Giulioni, Eric Ryu, Antoine Joubert, Lorenz Muller, Mattia Rigotti, Bernhard Nessler, Rodolphe Héliot, Sadique Sheik, Yulia Sandamirskaya, Simon Friedmann, Ueli Rutishauser, Vasilis Thanasoulis, André van Schaik, Xavier Hinaut, Zeno Jonke

Leader: Emre Neftci

Complex behavior requires the completion of subtasks executed in a sequential order. To support such behavior, a neural system must have the ability to encode and maintain a previously presented cue in a form of short-term memory.

In the field of neuroscience, this ability relies on working memory, whose function is to hold an event in mind in order to perform the next steps of a complex task. To support high-order cognitive tasks, the system must also be able to use the stored information and guide future behavior, in a state-dependent fashion.

Finite State Machines (FSM) are ideal candidates which fulfill the requirements described above. Based on previous theoretical work by our collegues, we devised a method which configures a multi-neuron VLSI system composed of soft Winner-Take-All networks to implement any FSM. In this workgroup, the participants can either implement their desired FSM, or study and extend the underlying network.

Automatized segmentation and single cell identification in immunostained confocal images

Members: elodie gautier, Tomas Fernandes, Jan Funke, Eric Ryu, Kevin Brohan, Marion Betizeau, Mark Longair, Mika Laiho, Nuno Costa, Richard Girard, Sabina Pfister, Tobias Pietzsch, Xavier Hinaut

Leader: Sabina Pfister

A variety of algorithmic approaches and software languages have been used in the past to tackle the imaging segmentation problem. We developed a collection of ImageJ java plugins for the automatic 2D segmentation of cells on tissue slices images, quantification of fluorescent staining and counting of cells. We will work on the code to improve the flexibility of the software. The goal of this project is the release of a stable series of ImageJ plugins under the GNU licence.

Possible tasks could be: introduction to Java programming with ImageJ, extension to a 3D version (image stacks), integrate learning for cell identification. Java coding skills are of advantage!

Learning to recognize visual stimuli with neuromorphic attractor networks

Members: Ana Rita Ribeiro Gomes, Andrew Dankers, Mikhail Burtsev, Charles Clercq, Elisabetta Chicca, Daniel Sonnleithner, Dylan Richard Muir, Emre Neftci, Federico Corradi, Jan Funke, Massimiliano Giulioni, Eric Ryu, Jayawan Wijekoon, Jenia Jitsev, Julia Furche, Alexander Kazeka, Kevin Brohan, Kiruthika Ramanathan, Love Cederstroem, Mihai A. Petrovici, Mattia Rigotti, Johannes Partzsch, Pierre Enel, Simon Friedmann, Sim Bamford, Thomas Pfeil, Tobias Pietzsch, Tao Zhou, Vasilis Thanasoulis, Xavier Hinaut

Leaders: Massimiliano Giulioni, Sim Bamford

In this workgroup we focus on recurrent neural networks with massive feedback, exhibiting attractor behavior. Networks consist of interacting populations of neurons sparsely connected among themselves. We concentrate on collective emerging behaviors at the population level, preferring the mean population firing rate as the informative observable. We will work on a multi-chip setup supporting reconfigurable network of IF neurons with Hebbian bistable plastic synapses. The goal is to interface an attractor network with a silicon retina to learn to recognize visual stimuli in real-time.

Real-Time Biologically Realistic Neuromorphic Attention

Members: Andrew Dankers, bernabe linares-barranco, Mikhail Burtsev, Bernhard Vogginger, Borys Wrobel, Damien Drix, Daniel Sonnleithner, Emre Neftci, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Francesco Galluppi, Giacomo Indiveri, Eric Ryu, Jayawan Wijekoon, Kevin Brohan, Kiruthika Ramanathan, Mihai A. Petrovici, Pierre Enel, Alexander Rast, Sergio Davies, Simon Friedmann, Sebastian Jeltsch, Sebastian Millner, Sushmita Allam, Tao Zhou, Viviane Ghaderi, Carlos Zamarreno-Ramos, Zeno Jonke

This workgroup is superseded by rtasw11 and rtahw11. Please subscribe there...

Real-Time spiking I/O for on-chip neural application

Members: Borys Wrobel, Damien Drix, Daniel Sonnleithner, Emre Neftci, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Francesco Galluppi, Eric Ryu, Jorg Conradt, Manuel J. Dominguez Morales, Marc-Olivier Schwartz, Alexander Rast, Sergio Davies, Sushmita Allam, Viviane Ghaderi

This workgroup is superseded by rtasw11 and rtahw11. Please subscribe there...

Exploring Network Architectures with the FACETS/BrainScaleS Hardware and PyNN

Members: Johannes Bill, Bernhard Vogginger, Borys Wrobel, Emre Neftci, Eric Müller, Florian Jug, Francesco Galluppi, Giacomo Indiveri, Hasler, Hsin Chen, Eric Ryu, Jayawan Wijekoon, Jonathan Tapson, Antoine Joubert, Kaijun Yi, Alexander Kazeka, Love Cederstroem, Marc-Olivier Schwartz, Martin Salinga, Mihai A. Petrovici, Johannes Partzsch, Radoslav Prahov, Ryad Benosman, Simon Friedmann, Shih-Chii Liu, Sim Bamford, Sebastian Jeltsch, Sebastian Millner, Stefan Habenschuss, Thomas Pfeil, Thomas Sharp, Vasilis Thanasoulis, Victor Benichoux, André van Schaik, Xavier Hinaut, Zeno Jonke

Leader: Mihai A. Petrovici

Following up on last year's great collaborative results within our workgroup, we will again offer the FACETS Stage 1 ("Spikey"-Chip) system as a back-end for emulating spiking neural networks. In addition to having multiple chips operating individually, we will also work towards enabling a "Multi-Spikey" setup which will allow an increase in network sizes by about an order of magnitude. We are also going to use the BrainScaleS ESS (Executable System Specification), which is a virtual model of the waferscale hardware, allowing network sizes of up to 200.000 neurons. We will offer tutorials on both systems, as well as on the modeling language PyNN, which allows a seamless integration of both hardware and software simulation (NEST, Neuron, ...) back-ends. A number of network mordels will be provided, along with the associated literature, some of which have already been sucessfully implemented on either hardware back-end (see e.g. last year's workgroup: http://capocaccia.ethz.ch/capo/wiki/2010/facetshw10). This year we will try to use the Multi-Spikey platform and the ESS to implement two new models: a feed-forward factor graph structure (similar to a Kalman filter) based on liquid state machines and a layer 2/3 cortical network model able to perform retinotopic pattern completion. As a third sub-project, we will try to map a stochastic neuron model to the LIF/AdEx models available on the hardware.

Robotic Implementation of Object-Based Visual Attention

Members: Daniel Sonnleithner, Davide Migliore, Eero Lehtonen, Francesco Galluppi, Francesco Rea, Jan Funke, Eric Ryu, Kevin Brohan, Mika Laiho, Tobias Pietzsch, Tao Zhou

Leader: Kevin Brohan

Continuing work from last year, we will bring a camera that is mounted upon a pan-tilt unit. This robotic 'eye' will be used in a visual search task, guided by reinforcement learning. The robot will learn visual features which allow it to distinguish between target and distractor objects. Last year, we succeeded in getting this to work with 7-segment digits, but with offline learning for the visual features.

Possible goals for this year include extending the system such that the robot can learn new features and objects online, exploring object categories and exemplars, developing optimal visual feature detectors for different target/distractor pairs, and exploring saliency groupings across surfaces.

Videos from last year:  http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/postgrad/kevin.brohan/videos.htm

Field-Programmable Mixed-signal Array

Members: Hasler, Eric Ryu, Jayawan Wijekoon, Antoine Joubert, Simon Friedmann, Sim Bamford, Tobi Delbruck, Viviane Ghaderi, André van Schaik, Carlos Zamarreno-Ramos

Leader: Sim Bamford

I propose to set aside a small amount of time for demoing the 'ReNaChip' to whoever's interested. This chip primarily contains a configurable array of "intimately"-mixed-signal components, designed with neuromorphic modelling and neural signal processing in mind. It was designed specifically to replace a cerebellar micro-circuit in a real-time closed-loop in-vivo system for classical conditioning, but it may have more general application. This may also be of interest as a demonstration of a test environment built with object-oriented matlab, and the Opal Kelly XEM3010 integration board.

Parameter and state estimations of neuron data using variational and stochastic search methods

Members: Aurel A. Lazar, Bernhard Vogginger, Borys Wrobel, Damien Drix, Emre Neftci, Federico Corradi, Hsin Chen, Julia Furche, Nathan Lepora, Ernst Niebur, Reza Farsian, Rodolphe Héliot, Ryad Benosman, Siohoi Ieng, Sushmita Allam, Thomas Pfeil, Xavier Hinaut

Leader: Reza Farsian

The main goal of this workgroup is to estimate parameters and hidden states of a neuron model from experimental data. We will use experimental/synthetic data and try to find the best model that can describe those and based on that estimate the hidden states and parameters of the model. We will look at different methods including variabtional methods through the use of optimization algorithms and Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods. At the end if we can try our luck with the spike time prediction competition.

The Bayesian Retina: How can we process retinal spike-events with a Bayesian filter?

Members: Christoph Krautz, Davide Migliore, Eero Lehtonen, Jan Funke, Jayawan Wijekoon, Jorg Conradt, Jonathan Tapson, Alexander Kazeka, Kevin Brohan, Kiruthika Ramanathan, Lorenz Muller, Nathan Lepora, Bernhard Nessler, Michael Pfeiffer, Alexander Rast, Ryad Benosman, Simon Friedmann, Shih-Chii Liu, Stefan Habenschuss, Thomas Pfeil, Tobias Pietzsch, Tao Zhou, André van Schaik

Leader: Jan Funke

Bayesian filters for temporal inference are quite popular in robotics. Two of the most common implementations - the particle filter and the Kalman filter - are frequently used to estimate the state of a robot and its environment based on sensory input and the performed actions. A variety of sensors has been used in the past to solve these tasks with more recent advances in using a single camera as the only sensor. In this workgroup we want to find out how the silicon retina can be used for the same purpose. We'll start with a toy scenario: Track the position of a metal ball on a tiltable board and use this information to steer the ball through a labyrinth.

Cyber-Optical FPAA Transducer

Members: Christoph Posch, Mika Laiho, Sushmita Allam, Viviane Ghaderi

Leader: Mika Laiho, Christoph Posch, Viviane Ghaderi, Sushmita Allam

In this group the aim is to learn to use the field-programmable analog arrays of Georgia Tech. The name of the project sounds quite fancy but actually describes what are are planning to accomplish quite well. The idea is that we use a digital pulse rate coded signal that represents the average illumination of the ATIS sensor and use the FPAA for processing these signals. The resulting signal in its simplest gives an analog representation of the illumination level. Then we use this signal to drive an LED that acts as an input for the ATIS sensor. So, we are transducing optical energy to an analog signal that is converted to an optical signal. The word cyber, as used in cybernetics, describes a system in a closed signal loop, i.e., the action of the system causes a change in environment (illumination in this case), and this change is fed back to the system. If there is time, we will try to do some more elaborate signal processing with the FPAA's.

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Discussion Groups

WTA competition, computation and cortical circuitry

Members: Andreas Keller, Jan Antolik, Johannes Bill, Mikhail Burtsev, Bernhard Vogginger, Borys Wrobel, Christoph Krautz, Damien Drix, Daniel Sonnleithner, Dylan Richard Muir, Emre Neftci, Florian Jug, Tomas Fernandes, Jan Funke, Giacomo Indiveri, Hasler, Eric Ryu, Jayawan Wijekoon, Jorg Conradt, Jenia Jitsev, Alexander Kazeka, Kiruthika Ramanathan, Mohammad Abdollahi, Nathan Lepora, Nuno Costa, Bernhard Nessler, Michael Pfeiffer, Pierre Enel, Roman Bauer, Ryad Benosman, Sabina Pfister, Yulia Sandamirskaya, Simon Friedmann, Shih-Chii Liu, Sim Bamford, Stefan Habenschuss, Thomas Pfeil, Thomas Rast, Tao Zhou, Ueli Rutishauser, André van Schaik, Xavier Hinaut, Zeno Jonke

Leader: Dylan Richard Muir, Florian Jug, Matthew Cook, Christoph Krautz

We will continue the discussions from previous years, regarding competitive interactions in neural circuits, and how this computational concept relates to the cortex. We would like to hear what you've been thinking about and working on for the last twelve months! We will discuss the cutting-edge work in WTA implementations, applications and analyses. When can competitive interactions exist in cortex? What computational or information-processing behaviours can they implement? What other computational models are realistic for cortex? Please be on your rowdiest behaviour!

Cognition -- How would we know it if we saw it?

Members: Adrian Whatley, Andreas Keller, Mikhail Burtsev, Borys Wrobel, Charles Clercq, Christoph Krautz, Christoph Posch, Daniel Sonnleithner, David Lester, Dylan Richard Muir, Eero Lehtonen, Emre Neftci, Tomas Fernandes, Frédéric Broccard, Jan Funke, Gabriele Spina, Eric Ryu, Jayawan Wijekoon, Jorg Conradt, Jenia Jitsev, Kiruthika Ramanathan, Lorenz Muller, Marion Betizeau, Mark Longair, Mohammad Abdollahi, Mihai A. Petrovici, Nuno Costa, Bernhard Nessler, Pierre Enel, Radoslav Prahov, Alexander Rast, A. Razvan Gamanut, Ana Rita Gomes, Roman Bauer, Ryad Benosman, Sadique Sheik, Yulia Sandamirskaya, Shih-Chii Liu, Sim Bamford, Stefan Habenschuss, Thomas Pfeil, Tobias Pietzsch, Thomas Rast, Tao Zhou, André van Schaik, Zeno Jonke

Leader: Matthew Cook

People are always talking about building cognitive this and that. What can it mean? Different fields have different answers to the question "what is cognition?" Let's see if we can come up with a definition that makes sense in the context of building simple neurally inspired systems (i.e. neuromorphic engineering).

Cognition -- How do we know that we do not know?

Members: Andreas Keller, Mikhail Burtsev, Borys Wrobel, Dylan Richard Muir, Emre Neftci, Jan Funke, Giacomo Indiveri, Eric Ryu, Hynek Hermansky, Jayawan Wijekoon, Jorg Conradt, Jenia Jitsev, Kevin Brohan, Kiruthika Ramanathan, Mohammad Abdollahi, Mihai A. Petrovici, Bernhard Nessler, Michael Pfeiffer, Radoslav Prahov, A. Razvan Gamanut, Reza Farsian, Ana Rita Gomes, Roman Bauer, Sadique Sheik, Simon Friedmann, Shih-Chii Liu, Sim Bamford, Sebastian Jeltsch, Tobias Pietzsch, Tao Zhou, Vasilis Thanasoulis, Xavier Hinaut

Leader: Hynek Hermansky

People (and it turns out that likely also some animals) often know when they do not know (and some people even sometimes act accordingly :-)). Machines are notoriously bad in that. We will discuss what is known about this meta-cognitive function in biology, why it would be good for machines to emulate this ability, and how it can be efficiently implemented in machine designs.

Self-organisation

Members: Adrian Whatley, Jan Antolik, Mikhail Burtsev, Bernhard Vogginger, Borys Wrobel, Colette Dehay, Damien Drix, Dylan Richard Muir, Eero Lehtonen, elodie gautier, Tomas Fernandes, Frédéric Broccard, Andreas Hauri, Hsin Chen, Jorg Conradt, Kevin Brohan, Kiruthika Ramanathan, Lorenz Muller, Marion Betizeau, Mihai A. Petrovici, Michael Pfeiffer, Pierre Enel, A. Razvan Gamanut, Reza Farsian, Ana Rita Gomes, Roman Bauer, Sabina Pfister, Simon Friedmann, Sim Bamford, Xavier Hinaut, Zeno Jonke

Leader: Andreas Hauri

Self-Organsiation is a crucial part in biology and other systems. How do cells do that? What can we learn from that? How can we exploit that for future technologies? How to create a formal language that allows us to reason about it?

Software infrastructure for Neuromorphic chips and AER devices

Members: Andreas Grübl, Adrian Whatley, Andrew Dankers, Bernhard Vogginger, Borys Wrobel, Christoph Posch, Daniel Sonnleithner, David Lester, Emre Neftci, Eric Müller, Fabio Stefanini, Giacomo Indiveri, Hasler, Eric Ryu, Kiruthika Ramanathan, Marc-Olivier Schwartz, Mihai A. Petrovici, Alexander Rast, Rodolphe Héliot, Sadique Sheik, Simon Friedmann, Shih-Chii Liu, Sim Bamford, Sebastian Jeltsch, Thomas Sharp, Vasilis Thanasoulis, Victor Benichoux

Leader: Sadique Sheik, Fabio Stefanini, Tobi Delbruck

Most of us use multineuron chips and sensors in our research, and to do so develop custom software according to our requirements. As things stand now, every lab develops its own software infrastructure. A lot of effort goes into developing the AER interfacing software, spike management and setting biases and displaying data. With the growing number of labs and groups working on these devices, there is tremendous duplication of effort apart from the diverse software packages developed.

We propose to gather, present and critically discuss software that already exists. We further propose the possibility of standardizing the software modules in use and move towards a unified open-source software. The motivation behind this effort is to provide easy accessibility to neuromorphic hardware, prevent duplication and benefit from the community of a larger base of developers and, most importantly, users.

We highy encourage developers as well as non-developers to participate.

Memristive Synapses

Members: Andreas Grübl, Aurel A. Lazar, bernabe linares-barranco, Charles Clercq, Christoph Posch, Eero Lehtonen, Giacomo Indiveri, Hasler, Eric Ryu, Jayawan Wijekoon, Jonathan Tapson, Kaijun Yi, Alexander Kazeka, Love Cederstroem, Marc-Olivier Schwartz, Martin Salinga, Mika Laiho, Radoslav Prahov, Robert Nawrocki, Yulia Sandamirskaya, Simon Friedmann, Shih-Chii Liu, Sim Bamford, Sebastian Millner, Tobi Delbruck, serrano, Vasilis Thanasoulis, André van Schaik

Leader: Robert Nawrocki

Memristor, short for memory resistor, is a new electrical element that exhibits behavior similar biological synapses. The group activities will include discussions on the operation of the device, its similarity to biological synapses as well as the similarities and differences between inorganic and organic memristors (organic bistable devices).

Crowd-sourcing neuronal reconstruction

Members: Borys Wrobel, Federico Corradi, Eric Ryu, Mark Longair, Nuno Costa, Rodolphe Héliot, Sim Bamford

Leader: Mark Longair

We have been working on a web-based interface to allow collaborative annotation of neurons from EM images, based on [CATMAID  http://fly.mpi-cbg.de/~saalfeld/catmaid/]. While automated approaches are promising, this is currently the quickest route to speed up our reconstruction of neural circuits. One of the next steps for this project is to expand it to allow anyone to use the annotation system, with user reputation reputation management and tools for aggregating and reviewing the results from these untrusted annotators. Please come along if you'd like to try out the system as it stands, if you're interested in turning this kind of annotation into an addictive game, or just have ideas for how to scale up this process of parallel manual annotation.

Attention: Models for Biology and Technology

Members: Mikhail Burtsev, Daniel Sonnleithner, Giacomo Indiveri, Kevin Gurney, Kevin Brohan, Ernst Niebur, Alexander Rast, Zeno Jonke

Leader: Ernst Niebur, Kevin Gurney, Alexander Rast

Attention is a critical part of generating context-relevant response to stimuli. However, how it is achieved, either in neurobiology or neuromorphic technology, is still a subject both of considerable research and debate. In this group we hope to examine the models for both. This could be a good introduction for those still unfamiliar with basic concepts of attention, and equally a forum for the exchange of ideas at the forefront of the field on the nature and sources of attention. Just, however, as there is a need to understand how attention works in the brain, there is a need to understand how we can practicably develop working attention systems for chips and systems. The solutions to both are likely to involve multi-modal, multi-module approaches. All models, however conjectural, considered here!

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Recreational Groups

Wine Tasting Group

Members: Adrian Whatley, Andreas Keller, Claudio Luck, Christoph Posch, Damien Drix, David Lester, Eero Lehtonen, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Tomas Fernandes, Francesco Galluppi, Frédéric Broccard, Jan Funke, Gabriele Spina, Andreas Hauri, Hirotsugu Okuno, Jonathan Tapson, Kaijun Yi, Kevin Brohan, Love Cederstroem, Marc-Olivier Schwartz, Marion Betizeau, Mark Longair, Michael Hofstätter, Mattia Rigotti, Radoslav Prahov, Rainer Beutelmann, Reza Farsian, Richard Girard, Ryad Benosman, Sabina Pfister, Yulia Sandamirskaya, Sergio Davies, Sim Bamford, Tobi Delbruck, Thomas Rast, Viviane Ghaderi, Xavier Hinaut, Zeno Jonke

Leaders: Daniel B. Fasnacht, David Lester

We plan to taste some wine in the evenings, discuss about its taste, the universe and everything...

Discover SCUBA Diving Group

Members: Angel Jimenez, Andrew Dankers, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Hsin Chen, james law, Kevin Brohan, Manuel J. Dominguez Morales, Mohammad Abdollahi, Mihai A. Petrovici, Nathan Lepora, Ernst Niebur, Robert Nawrocki, Yulia Sandamirskaya, Siohoi Ieng, Vasilis Thanasoulis, Xavier Hinaut

Leader: Daniel B. Fasnacht

We plan to do some "Discover SCUBA Diving" events for people who have never been diving. Even though the Mediterranean Sea is not especially warm in spring, Capo Caccia is definitely an extremely good diving site.

To give you a first taste of how it is to breath under water, you'll have the opportunity to do a simple dive in the hotel pool, accompanied by a SCUBA instructor.

SCUBA Diving Group

Members: Borys Wrobel, Christoph Posch, Daniel B. Fasnacht, Jonathan Tapson, Mihai A. Petrovici, Sabina Pfister, Sergio Davies, Stefano Toxiri, André van Schaik

Leader: Daniel B. Fasnacht

As already mentioned above, Capo Caccia a great dive site! It has some of the coolest caves you can find in the Mediterranean Sea, and due to the area being a natural reserve, also quite nice underwater flora and fauna. The fascinating caves in the cliff lines across the bay are also suitable for people with no cave-diving experience, as they are shallow and very close to surface, with almost no possibility to loose orientation.

If you are a licensed diver and interested in getting further information about diving at our workshop site, sign up to this group!

For further information about the dive site and even cave-maps, check out:  http://karibu.it/eng/capocaccia/

Boars Photo Hunting Contest

Members: Jan Antolik, Emre Neftci, Fabio Stefanini, Florian Jug, Giacomo Indiveri, Jonathan Tapson, Julia Furche, Kiruthika Ramanathan, Lorenz Muller, Marc-Olivier Schwartz, Pierre Enel, Rainer Beutelmann, Ryad Benosman, Simon Friedmann, Siohoi Ieng, Tobi Delbruck, Thomas Rast

Leaders: Fabio Stefanini

BPH Contest just started. What is it about? All around the hotel there are many wild boars living their wild life peacefully. They come close by the hotel very often and many people had already Experiences of the Third Kind. If you see them take a picture. At the end of the Workshop a committee will judge the best boars picture. Any camera is valid (yes, DVS included); fake boars are not allowed; dead boars are not allowed. Look inside the wikipage for proposed techniques! If instead you don't have any idea of how to take pictures with your camera, this group can easily serve as Basics of traditional photography course (no DVS in this case). I would be happy to give tutorials on that and yes, you can bring your own boar to serve as a model -- alive is better.

Movies Nights

Members: Angel Jimenez, Andreas Keller, Johannes Bill, Borys Wrobel, Daniel Sonnleithner, Davide Migliore, Emre Neftci, Fabio Stefanini, Tomas Fernandes, Jan Funke, Andreas Hauri, Eric Ryu, Jorg Conradt, Julia Furche, Kevin Brohan, Lorenz Muller, Manuel J. Dominguez Morales, Marc-Olivier Schwartz, Marion Betizeau, Mark Longair, Mihai A. Petrovici, Bernhard Nessler, Michael Pfeiffer, Rainer Beutelmann, Roman Bauer, Ryad Benosman, Sadique Sheik, Yulia Sandamirskaya, Simon Friedmann, Siohoi Ieng, Sebastian Jeltsch, Stefan Habenschuss, Sushmita Allam, Tobi Delbruck, Thomas Pfeil, Thomas Sharp

Leader: Andreas Hauri

We would like to organise one to several movie nights, we will bring along a few movies where the participants of the Movie night can decide what they would like to watch. Feel free to anounce movies you would like to be be shown there or bring your own movies along (English prefered).

Chocolate Tasting Group

Members: Angel Jimenez, Adrian Whatley, Mikhail Burtsev, Damien Drix, Eero Lehtonen, elodie gautier, Francesco Galluppi, Giacomo Indiveri, Hasler, Hirotsugu Okuno, Jayawan Wijekoon, Julia Furche, Kaijun Yi, Kevin Brohan, Kiruthika Ramanathan, Love Cederstroem, Manuel J. Dominguez Morales, Marc-Olivier Schwartz, Marion Betizeau, Mika Laiho, Mattia Rigotti, Nathan Lepora, Nuno Costa, Michael Pfeiffer, Pierre Enel, Radoslav Prahov, Alexander Rast, Sabina Pfister, Yulia Sandamirskaya, Sergio Davies, Simon Friedmann, Siohoi Ieng, Sushmita Allam, Thomas Pfeil, Thomas Sharp, Tao Zhou, Xavier Hinaut, Zeno Jonke

Leader: Alexander Rast

We'll expand upon last year's successful tasting by broadening the field to all of Italy, where there are some VERY interesting choices indeed. Availability permitting, we'll compare not only brands but different cocoa origins. Several sessions are possible. We will hold a "competition" to establish "best chocolate in Italy".

Climbing

Members: Jan Antolik, Borys Wrobel, Christoph Krautz, Christoph Posch, Damien Drix, Emre Neftci, Tomas Fernandes, Jan Funke, Andreas Hauri, Antoine Joubert, Kiruthika Ramanathan, Mihai A. Petrovici, Alexander Rast, A. Razvan Gamanut, Reza Farsian, Sabina Pfister, Sergio Davies, Siohoi Ieng, Sebastian Jeltsch, Stefan Habenschuss, Thomas Pfeil, Tobias Pietzsch, Viviane Ghaderi, Xavier Hinaut

Leader: Alexander Rast

We'll hope to build upon last year's start, with some new routes, and possibly an "advanced" group as well as a "beginner" group. Hopefully the weather will cooperate a little more! We plan on being opportunistic: in other words, if the weather is sunny in the afternoon, we'll gather those available to have a go! Thus there will almost certainly be more than one session, and it may not necessarily be (only) the free Sunday.

Poker

Members: Andreas Keller, Jan Antolik, Christoph Krautz, Dylan Richard Muir, Eero Lehtonen, Emre Neftci, Florian Jug, Jayawan Wijekoon, Jonathan Tapson, Antoine Joubert, Julia Furche, Love Cederstroem, Marc-Olivier Schwartz, Mark Longair, Nuno Costa, Bernhard Nessler, Michael Pfeiffer, Radoslav Prahov, Richard Girard, Roman Bauer, Shih-Chii Liu, Sim Bamford, Tobi Delbruck, Thomas Pfeil, Thomas Sharp, Tao Zhou, André van Schaik, Xavier Hinaut

Leader: Tobi Delbruck

Sign up for poker playing action.

Workshop Babysitting Service

Members: Chiara Bartolozzi, Elisabetta Chicca, Stefano Fusi, Nathan Lepora, serrano

Leader: Cristina Chicca

We are proud to announce that also this year, in an effort to encourage mothers (and fathers and families) that are pursuing an academic career to participate, the workshop will offer a "Workshop Babysitting Service" to all registered participants.

Even though the weather should be nice and there is plenty of space outdoors, we are reserving one extra room to use as common indoor space for children. We will remove some of the standard furniture, and make it suitable for babies and children (e.g. with carpets on the floor, toys, etc.).

In addition, one of the workshop staff (a mother of 3 children, and primary school teacher) will take care of toddlers and small children, during the morning lecture times of the first week (May 2 - May 7, 9:00-12:00).

In order to better prepare for this and take into account your needs, please provide your data in this workgroup page. Please sign up to this workgroup to receive info and updates about the Babysitting Service.

Board Games

Members: Adrian Whatley, Johannes Bill, Christoph Krautz, Daniel Sonnleithner, Dylan Richard Muir, Emre Neftci, Jan Funke, Julia Furche, Lorenz Muller, Mark Longair, Martin Salinga, Mihai A. Petrovici, Bernhard Nessler, Michael Pfeiffer, A. Razvan Gamanut, Reza Farsian, Robert Mill, Sim Bamford, Sebastian Jeltsch, Stefan Habenschuss, Tobi Delbruck, Thomas Pfeil, Xavier Hinaut, Zeno Jonke

Leader: Mark Longair

I'm planning to bring along a few interesting board games to Capo Caccia, namely "Pandemic", "Power Grid" and "Agricola", luggage space permitting. These are all elegant and interesting games, and pretty easy to learn - it would be great to have a go at any of these if other people are interested.

Basketball

Members: Fabio Stefanini, Hasler, Michael Hofstätter, Mihai A. Petrovici, Michael Pfeiffer, Pierre Enel, Rainer Beutelmann, Alexander Rast, Simon Friedmann, Sim Bamford, Stefano Toxiri, Tobi Delbruck, Thomas Sharp, Tao Zhou, Vasilis Thanasoulis, Victor Benichoux, Carlos Zamarreno-Ramos

Leader: Mihai A. Petrovici

Self-explanatory. I've brought a basketball along and as you may know there is a basketball court near the pool. It would be great if we could gather enough people for a 5 vs. 5, but streetball would also be cool.

Chess

Members: Bernhard Nessler, Robert Mill, Rodolphe Héliot, Roman Bauer

Leader: Robert Mill

Even more self-explanatory. I brought a decent board with me this year. I am only here for the first week, but if I get enough feedback early on, I might be able to organise a mini-tournament, or if not, we can just have a few casual games in the bar.

Hacky sack

Members: Christoph Krautz, Rainer Beutelmann

Leader: Florian Jug

What can be more relaxing after one day of hacking in "the disco"? Hackysacking!!! Freestyle or even some variant of "Footbag net". I would like to gather some people that like to hack...

Kung Fu

Members: Andreas Keller, Johannes Bill, Borys Wrobel, Charles Clercq, Emre Neftci, Fabio Stefanini, Giacomo Indiveri, Jayawan Wijekoon, Lorenz Muller, Marion Betizeau, Mark Longair, Mihai A. Petrovici, Bernhard Nessler, Reza Farsian, Roman Bauer, Sabina Pfister, Sadique Sheik, Yulia Sandamirskaya, Simon Friedmann, Stefan Habenschuss, Sushmita Allam, Tobias Pietzsch

Leader: Roman Bauer

In this recreation group, we will look at a few very fundamental self-defense techniques of Wing Chun Kung Fu. Even if the opponent is physically stronger and younger, one can efficiently use the opponent's force against himself or herself.. If you are interested in Martial Arts, or want to do something healthy, or fear a scientific enemy: Subscribe here!

Soccer

Members: Johannes Bill, Bernhard Vogginger, Christoph Posch, Daniel Sonnleithner, David Lester, Emre Neftci, Fabio Stefanini, Francesco Galluppi, Frédéric Broccard, Hasler, Andreas Hauri, Antoine Joubert, Marion Betizeau, Mark Longair, Martin Salinga, Mika Laiho, Mohammad Abdollahi, Johannes Partzsch, Michael Pfeiffer, Radoslav Prahov, Stefan Habenschuss, Stefano Toxiri, Victor Benichoux, Zeno Jonke

Leader: Fabio Stefanini

There is a nice 5-on-5, clay court outside the hotel we can use for our favorite sport: acting fouls. In some countries this is known as soccer or football but that is how I know it from my origin country. If you want to know more about acting techniques, find yourself at the Reception of the Hotel at 5pm with you sport suite and soccer enabled shoes.