GETTING ACROSS THE BORDER BETWEEN THE NATURAL AND THE ARTIFICIAL WORLDS

摘要

This special issue comprises twelve papers that are extended versions of the best presentations at the 1st International Symposium on Brain, Vision and Artificial Intelligence (BV&AI), held in Naples, Italy, on 19-21 October 2005. These papers were submitted shortly after BV&AI and have been subjected to a careful peer-reviewing process. BV&AI was organized by a team of researchers of the Institute of Cybernetics "E.Caianiello" of the Italian National Research Council with the aim of gathering scientists involved in the study of Brain, Vision and Intelligence, from both the natural and the artificial points of view. The underlying idea was that, to advance in each of the above research topics, integration with and attention to the others are necessary. The overall rationale of BV&AI was based on a multidisciplinary approach of biophysics and neurobiology, visual and cognitive sciences and cybernetics, dealing with the interactions of natural and artificial systems. The symposium received a surprisingly large number of contributions to be the first ambitious attempt to stimulate researchers active in different disciplines to sit down together and exchange their opinions.