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ICREA-CCCB Debates

Perception and reality: understanding virtual worlds

Lecture by Mel Slater and Mavi Sánchez-Vives

Debate

Free

«Machines That Think: Opportunities and Dilemmas of Artificial Intelligence» is the sixth of the ICREA-CCCB Debates, a stable working relationship aimed at informing the wider public about the advances being made in high-level research in Catalonia and the challenges it faces.

To what extent does the reality we perceive come from outside us and how much is recreated by our brains? Does my physical appearance determine my behaviour? Virtual reality enables us to experience alternative realities, not only of our surroundings but also of ourselves. From the scientific standpoint, this technology is a valuable tool for studying the process of perception in the brain, and also our emotional and cognitive responses and behaviour when faced with different situations. Have we set out on a path of no return to life in virtual worlds? How will this process transform us?

Mel Slater, ICREA professor at the EventLab (University of Barcelona)
Mavi Sánchez-Vives, ICREA professor at the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS)

Presented by: Mònica López Ferrado, journalist, currently at the newspaper Ara

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