TERAIS at the MATFYZ CONNECTIONS Conference
On November 13th, our TERAIS team participated in the inaugural MATFYZ Connections conference at the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics, and Informatics at Comenius University in Bratislava. This exciting annual event aims to bring together researchers from diverse fields such as mathematics, physics, and informatics in order to share their findings, inspire one another, and spark new collaborations.
A key highlight of the conference was a poster session that provided researchers with an opportunity to showcase their projects. Among the standout presentations was the TERAIS team (Daniela Olejárová, Nina Zmajkovič Kučeráková, Martin Homola, Viktor Kocur), who showcased how our project elevates DAI UKBA into an established workplace of international academic excellence. Highlighting the project’s four key pillars and joint research efforts, specifically the collaboration focusing on cognitive robotics and artificial neural networks, aiming to advance trustworthy and human-friendly robotics.
The team’s poster session drew considerable interest, sparking lively discussions among attendees about the project’s potential to redefine DAI UKBA as well as building long-term international research partnership through joint research among the three international partners, IIT, UHAM & UKBA.
Another standout moment from the conference was the plenary lecture by Igor Farkaš, who captivated the audience with his talk titled “The Dark Side of Modern AI: adversarial vulnerability of trained neural networks”. The lecture delved into the paradoxical nature of artificial intelligence, highlighting the fundamental problems in modern AI, demonstrating great achievement in specific tasks that come hand in hand with big questions and practical consequences. His insights sparked thought-provoking conversations, leaving the audience to ponder the ethical and technical challenges faced by the modern AI.
Adding to the event’s collaborative spirit, the conference welcomed two researchers from the UHAM, Josua Spisak and Connor Gäde. Joshua Spisak’s presentation, “Diffusing in Someone Else’s Shoes: Robotic Perspective-Taking with Diffusion,” explored innovative approaches to robotic perspective-taking, while Connor Gäde introduced “ELMiRA: Embodying Language Models in Robot Action,” showcasing advancements in language models. Their participation was part of a staff exchange between the University of Hamburg and Comenius University in Bratislava, highlighting the collaborative spirit of the TERAIS project and MATFYZ Connections conference.
Additionally, Miroslav Cibuľa presented his research paper titled “Learning Low-Level Causal Relations using a Simulated Robotic Arm”, done in collaboration with UHAM, focusing on implementation of the capacity to predict the effect of actions as causal chains via the so-called forward and inverse models. This ability is crucial in the design of intelligent robotic systems such as our NICO robot. Miroslav was awarded the prestigious ENNS Student Award for emerging student talents, being the youngest of the prize winners.
To sum up, the first-ever MATFYZ Connections conference successfully fulfilled its mission to create a space for collaboration, inspiration, and knowledge-sharing. From thought-provoking lectures and dynamic poster sessions to international participation, the event showcased the strength and potential of interdisciplinary research. As the conference wrapped up, it left behind a sense of accomplishment and anticipation for future editions, promising to continue as a platform in sharing the research and driving scientific discovery.
