Trinity College’s Institute of Neuroscience and School of Psychology hosts the 7th International Multisensory Research Forum
Posted on: 21 June 2006
The 7th International Multisensory Research Forum (IMRF) was hosted by Trinity College’s Institute of Neuroscience and School of Psychology on June 18-21 last.
Research into the multisensory brain is a new science involving the study of the brain through human senses. “Technological advances emanating from such research will help people with strokes who have suffered sensory loss. Similarly, it has the potential of helping people with visual impairment with the aid of sensory substitute devices such as electrical implants placed in the brain,” according to Fiona Newell of the School of Psychology and Chair of the IMRF Conference Committee.
This year’s IMRF conference at Trinity College played a significant role in the dissemination of new scientific findings in this field. It brought together leading scientists from a range of disciplines including neuroscience, engineering, cognitive science, robotics, physics and medical rehabilitation.
Trinity College’s conference hosted top ranking scientists such as Sebastian Thrun of Stanford University, who won the prestigious DARPA Grand Challenge, the most significant world event in robotics. Thrun won $2 million for his robot “Stanley” which traversed 132-miles of desert terrain in less than ten hours. Stanford outlined the software, advanced sensor technology and artificial intelligence used in the robot in his talk. He gave a keynote address on Sunday, June 17 at 11.30 am in the Hamilton Building in Trinity College.
Other world leading scientists included Christian Bűchel of the University Medical Centre, Hamburg, who spoke on “Activity Dependent and Anatomical Connectivity” on Monday, June, 19 and Alex Meredith of the Virginia Commonwealth University, who gave a keynote address, “Where it all Begins: Multisensory Convergence” at 11am, Wed June 21. All events were held in the Hamilton Building, Trinity College.