Prof. Kamitani Presents at the Third Workshop for the 2019 Kyoto Kokoro Initiative

The third Kyoto Kokoro Initiative Workshop was held at the Inamori Center on May 14th, 2019. The theme for this year’s Kyoto Kokoro Initiative, which will take place on the 14th of October, is “Kokoro and the Artificial Mind” (tentative title). Prof. Yukiyasu Kamitani from Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Informatics presented a paper entitled, “Generating Images from a Brain”.

Prof. Kamitani first described the newest technology which, by analysing fMRI images, predicts what appears visually in subjects’ brains, such as the pictures they see, images they imagine, and also their dreams. He then explained how the technology reconstructs deep images that appear in brain activities by converting the brain images into neural network signals and simulating the cognitive processes on a computer. Prof. Kamitani presented some of works created by renowned contemporary artists using the technologies that he and his team developed. He concluded by suggesting that in the future, art and communication may no longer require environmental or physical interventions.

During the discussion that followed, the participants engaged in an extensive discussion regarding the varying characteristics of brain activity, including that of artists, children, and the patients with mental illnesses.

2019/07/11