Evolutionary and adaptive systems

One hundred and fifty years on from Darwin, evolution remains the single most powerful insight into natural schemata. It explains how ecological and environmental balance and biodiversity are the consequence of fundamental physical laws. It also explains how systems respond when interventions cause departures from stable states. In engineering, we find evolutionary principles exhibited by any adaptive or control system equipped with a feedback path and a reference state. The evolutionary metaphor is a compelling one for engineering design. Contexts include audition and speech/signal recognition systems, new designs for microphones, audio scene synthesis for the gaming industry, hearing aid design, music technology, and the enhanced and/or virtual human agenda, which are all of growing importance within Ireland’s innovation economy.