1. F ROM I MPRINTING TO A DAPTATION : B UILDING A H ISTORY OF A FFECTIVE I NTERACTION Written by Arnaud J. Blanchard & Lola Canamero Presented by James Bowden

2. D ID YOU KNOW... Ducklings think the first thing they see is their mother This is what is meant by ‘Imprinting’

3. I MPRINTING The phenomenon where animals form special attachments to objects which they are exposed to in early life Allows animals to identify a ‘care giver’. Not limited to birds

4. C ONSIDERATIONS FOR AN I MPRINTING M ODEL Imprinting may not happen immediately after birth What if animal is blind at birth? What if there is no ‘mother’ to imprint? What processes are involved? Attractiveness Familiar vs Novel

5. T HE P ERCEPTION -A CTION M ODEL At all times there is a current perception and a goal perception Actions taken are a side effect of wanting to achieve the goal perception At the start, the goal perception and current perception should be same This demonstrates Imprinting

6. What if the is no care giver to imprint? How can imprinting occur after ‘hatching’? T HE P ERCEPTION -A CTION M ODEL Time (x) Learning rate (y)

7. E XPERIMENT 1 Koala Robot All inputs provided by infrared sensors Has 3 actions Approaching: Attempts to reach the goal perception Following: Attempts to stay near the goal perception Avoids: Where a nearby presence has made the goal perception another location Expressed by accelerating and reversing

8. R ESULTS Goal NearGoal Far Velocity Proximity (higher = closer) Speed of response Solid = Current Perception Dashed = Goal Perception

9. Top graphs Goal perception stabilises over time even though the ‘imprinting stimulus’ moves at different distances in each experiment Bottom graphs Changes match attempts to converge ideal/cureent goals on the top graphs This demonstrates an initial imprinting process R ESULTS

10. A DAPTION So far the only adaptation over time is the decreasing learning rate This prevents everything that has been learned at one point being replaced in the future It is also important to consider how relevant a stimulus is

11. A SSESSING R ELEVANCE In this paper, a stimulus’ relevance is decided by the level of comfort it provides For this experiment comfort is given by stimulating the robots left sensor Learning rate still decreases over time but attachments are formed faster when comfort is high

12. M ULTIPLE G OAL P ERCEPTIONS The robot was also required to interact with a stimulus while judging comfort levels This would allow it to judge the comfort level of a stimulus Different comfort to stimulus levels created the need for temporary goal perceptions, given certain circumstances Known as Desired Perceptions

13. I MPLEMENTING A DAPTION (C OMFORT ) Learning rate still tends to 0 but now it is modulated by 3 different levels of comfort This poses the danger of an environment becoming too hostile for the robot to learn at all Solved by modulating the learing rate by variation, rather than a fixed value

14. Desired perceptions are evaluated by storing recent comfort levels and seeking out previous states of ‘happiness’ when an environment suddenly becomes hostile. The new goal perception therefore becomes a combination of desired perceptions I MPLEMENTING A DAPTION (D ESIRES )

15. E XPERIMENT 2 Point in time = a (i.e. 0) The robot is alone at initialisation Comfort: static Reaction: none

16. E XPERIMENT 2 Point in time = b The robot is approached by a human Comfort: decreases Reaction: Avoids (i.e. Reverses away)

17. E XPERIMENT 2 Point in time = c The robot is comforted by the human Comfort: increases Reaction: Robot no longer reverses

18. E XPERIMENT 2 Point in time = d The human stops comforting the robot Comfort: decreases Reaction: Robot ‘explores’ to find a previous state in which it was happier (goal perception)

19. R ESULTS The robot has become less apprehensive of unknown objects as it’s previous experience has taught it that they provide comfort.

20. M Y CONCLUSIONS OF THIS PAPER Some interesting concepts of adaption but few specifics Specific models/implementation are incredibly simplified Lacks different comfort sources E.g. Food, warmth, Overall the epigenetic model exists but lacks detail in implementation