Collaboratory for Adaptive Sensory Technologies

The Collaboratory for Adaptive Sensory Technologies at the Salk Institute is dedicated to basic and translational studies of sensory systems. The sensory abilities of biological organisms are greatly exceeding the abilities of most sophisticated artificial sensory systems. The remarkable facility of biological sensing arises from neuronal plasticity: the capacity of biological neural networks to change and repair themselves. Understanding the principles of neuronal plasticity is one of the outstanding challenges of modern neuroscience. Progress on this front will allow us to build artificial systems capable of carrying out such complex sensory tasks as automatic flight control and navigation, and to develop adaptable sensory prosthetics that could be used to compensate the loss of neural function caused by disease, trauma, or cerebrovascular accident. The scientists and technologists affiliated with the Collaboratory combine approaches from biology and psychology to physics, mathematics and computer science with the goal to advance our understanding of the flexibility of biological sensory systems and translate results of basic research to a wide range of applications: from immersive visual technologies and adaptive sighting devices to architecture, urban design and forensic science. Sergei Gepshtein, PhD Director Collaboratory for Adaptive Sensory Technologies (858) 453-4100 x1014 sergei@salk.edu

Projects

• Perceptual scaling for eyewitness identification
• Neural mechanisms of adaptation in visual systems
• Object recognition in natural dynamic environments
• Distributed information processing in sensory systems
• Vision science for dynamic architecture
• Adaptive perception of motion in natural environments
• Towards optimal sensory ecology of built environment
• Optimal decision making in dynamic environments
• Automated individual displays for persons with dementia
• A lightweight platform for visual psychophysics