Sensory Substitution and Augmentation Conference
Tuesday 26 – Thursday 28 March 2013
Venue: The British Academy,
10-11 Carlton House Terrace,
London SW1Y 5AH (Map)
Tuesday 26 March 2013, 9am – 5.30pm
Wednesday 27 March 2013, 9.30am – 5.30pm
Thursday 28 March 2013, 9.30am – 1.00pm
In addition: special demonstration of sensory substitution and augmentation devices on Thursday 28 March 2013, 4.30pm - 7.30pm.
Since 1968 scientists have been creating sensory substitution and augmentation devices. With these devices they try to replace or enhance one sense by using another sense. For example, in tactile–vision, stimulation of the skin driven by input to a camera is used to replace the ordinary sense of vision that uses our eyes. The feelSpace belt aims to give people a magnetic sense of direction using vibrotactile stimulation driven by a digital compass. This conference will bring together people developing these technologies, the psychologists studying the minds and behaviour of subjects who use the devices, and the neuroscientists and philosophers interested in the nature of perceptual experience and sensory interaction. We will explore the nature, limits and possibilities of these technologies, how they can be used to help those with sensory impairments, and what they can tell us about perception and perceptual experience in general. Further details of the academic themes of the conference are here.
Programme
(Recordings with slides shows of all the talks are available, together with a video of the demo event, on YouTube. Links to specific times are below. All the content is also available on iTunes. Thanks to Gerard Malcolm, Digital Media Officer, Communications Office, University of Glasgow and Umut Baysan, former PhD student in Philosophy, for their work to make this possible.)
| 26 th March | Multimedia Recordings of the events | |
| 9.00 – 9.30 | Registration | |
| 9.30 – 11.00 | Fiona Macpherson (Philosophy, University of Glasgow) “Introduction to the Issues" |
Audio and slide show |
| 11.00 – 11.30 | Coffee | |
| 11.30 – 1.00 | Laurent Renier (Experimental Psychology, Catholic University of Louvain) “Sensory Substitution Devices: Seeing with Sound, Hearing with Touch” Commentator: Barry Smith (Philosophy, Institute of Philosophy, University of London) |
Audio and slide show |
| 1.00 - 2.00 | Sandwich lunch @ the BA | |
| 2.00 – 3.30 | Peter Konig (Neurobiology, Osnabruck University) “Properties and Mechanisms of Sensory Augmentation” Commentator: Jon Bird (HCI, University College London) |
Audio and slide show |
| 3.30 – 4.00 | Coffee | |
| 4.00 – 5.30 | Jonathan Cohen (Philosophy, University of California at San Diego) "On Some Limitations of Sensory Substitution" Commentator: Charles Spence (Psychology, University of Oxford) |
Audio and slide show |
Dinner - at Mint Leaf Restaurant and Bar, Suffolk Place, Haymarket, London SW1Y 4HX (Map) |
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| 27th March | ||
| 9.30 – 11.00 | Malika Auvray (Experimental Psychology, CNRS, Paris) and Ophelia Deroy (Philosophy, University of London) “Audio-Visual Substitution“ Commentator: Jennifer Corns (Philosophy, University of Glasgow) |
Audio and slide show |
| 11.00 – 11.30 | Coffee | |
| 11.30 – 1.00 | Maurice Ptito (Neuroscience, University of Montreal) “There is More to Vision than Meets the Eye: The Tongue as Tactile Gateway to the Occipital Cortex” Commentator: J. Kevin O'Regan (Psychology, CNRS, Paris) |
Audio and slide show |
| 1.00 – 2.00 | Sandwich lunch @ the BA | |
| 2.00 – 3.30 | Jerome Dokic (Philosophy, Institute Jean Nicod, Paris) "The role of noetic feelings in sensory substitution" Commentator: David Bain (Philosophy, University of Glasgow) |
Audio and slide show |
| 3.30 – 4.00 | Coffee | |
| 4.00 – 5.30 |
Amir Amedi (Medical Neurobiology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) |
Audio and slide show |
| Dinner - at Avenue, 7-9 St James's Street London SW1A 1EE (Map) | ||
| 28th March | ||
| 9.30 – 11.00 | Michael J Proulx (Experimental Psychology, University of Bath) “The Processing of What, Where, and How: Insights From Spatial Navigation Via Sensory Substitution” (co-authors, David Brown and Achille Pasqualotto, Queen Mary University of London) Commentator: Robert Briscoe (Philosophy, Ohio University) |
Audio and slide show |
| 11.00 – 11.30 | Coffee | |
| 11.30 – 1.00 | Round table discussion led by Mohan Matthen (Philosophy, University of Toronto), with Fiona Macpherson, Barry Smith, Amir Amedi, and Charles Spence. |
Audio |
| 1.00 – 2.00 | Sandwich lunch @ the BA | |
| 2.00 – 4.30 | Setting up of demos – free time for those not involved | |
| 4.30 – 7.30 |
Demonstrations of sensory substitution and augmentation devices: Amir Amedi (Medical Neurobiology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) Jon Bird (HCI, University College London) Giles Hamilton Fletcher (Psychology, University of Sussex) Maria Karam (TAD Inc.) Peter Konig (Neurobiology, Osnabruck University) Michael J Proulx (Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol) Maurice Ptito (Neuroscience, University of Montreal) and Ron Kupers (Copenhagen) Laurent Renier (Experimental Psychology, Catholic University of Louvain) |
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| 7.30 | Wine reception and fork buffet @ the BA | |
Registration
Conference fee (standard rate): £54.00 (includes lunches each day of the conference and fork buffet on Thursday 28 March 2013).
Conference fee (discounted rate): £27.00 (without lunches and fork buffet on Thursday 28 March 2013).
Conference dinners are planned at a local restaurant on the evenings of Tuesday 26 March and Wednesday 27 March 2013. Please e-mail events@britac.ac.uk if you would like your name to be added to the group booking. There will be an additional charge (to be determined) for this.
Demonstration event: free.
Registration is essential for both the conference and the demonstration event.
Funding and Organisation
The conference is organised by Professor Fiona Macpherson under the auspices of the Centre for the Study of Perceptual Experience at the University of Glasgow and the Network for Sensory Research.
The conference is funded by the British Academy, the SSHRC grant awarded to the Network for Sensory Research at the University of Toronto, and the Chancellor’s Fund of the University of Glasgow.