Rajesh P. N. Rao
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Associate Professor, CSE, University of Washington
Adjunct Associate Professor, EE, University of Washington
Adjunct Associate Professor, BioE, University of
Washington
Faculty Member, Neurobiology
& Behavior Program, University of
Washington
Sloan Postdoctoral Fellow, Salk Institute
(1997-2000)
Ph.D., University of Rochester, 1998
- First “MOOC” (massively open online course) on Computational Neuroscience
- PLOS One paper on reward optimization and decision making
- NIPS 2012 paper on priors in decision making in humans and monkeys
- Review article on predictive coding models of brain function
- TED talk on the Indus script
Research
Computational
Neuroscience and Brain-Computer Interfacing
The primary goal of my research is to discover the computational principles
underlying the brain's remarkable ability to learn, process and store
information, and to apply this knowledge to the task of building adaptive
robotic systems and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). How does the brain learn
efficient representations of objects and events occurring in the natural environment?
What are the algorithms that allow useful sensorimotor behaviors to be learned?
What computational mechanisms allow the brain to adapt to changing
circumstances and remain fault-tolerant and robust? How can the knowledge
gained through computational studies of the brain be used in biomedical
applications such as BCIs for the disabled? My students and I are investigating
these questions using a combination of probabilistic techniques, computer
simulations, and collaborative neurobiological experiments. Such an
interdisciplinary approach has provided functional interpretations of several
otherwise puzzling neurobiological properties while at the same time suggesting
biologically-inspired solutions to problems in computer vision, robotics and
artificial intelligence.
Humanoid Robots
that Learn from Humans
We are developing new methods that allow a humanoid
robot to learn new actions and skills from a human teacher in much the same way
that human infants and adults learn through observation and experimentation.
Such an approach opens the door to a potentially powerful way of programming
general-purpose humanoid robots--through human demonstration, obviating the
need for complex physics-based models and explicit programming of behaviors.
Analysis of the
4000-year-old Indus Script
Despite a large number of attempts, the script of the Indus civilization (circa
2500-1900 BC) remains undeciphered. The absence of a
multilingual "Rosetta stone" as well as our lack of knowledge of the
underlying language have stymied decipherment efforts. Rather than attempting
to ascribe meaning to the inscriptions, we are applying statistical techniques
from the fields of machine learning, information theory, and computational
linguistics to first gain an understanding of the sequential structure of the
script. The goal is to discover the grammatical rules that govern the
sequencing of signs in the script, with the hope that such rules will aid
future decipherment efforts.
Visit the Laboratory for Neural Systems Web Page for additional information.
Awards
- ONR Young Investigator Award, 2003
- David and Lucile Packard Fellowship, 2002
- NSF CAREER Award, 2002
- Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship for Junior Faculty, 2001
- Alfred P. Sloan Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1997
Press
Social Robots (2011)
Cover
article in Science News on social robots
MIT Technology
Review on social robotics
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Babies and social robots (press release) o Popular Science, Slashdot, Daily Tech |
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New York Times (mentions our robot Morphy) |
Brain-Computer Interfacing (2010)
Neural Augmentation by Brain-Computer Interfacing (2010)
Brain-Controlled Humanoid Robot (2007)
Publications
Computational Neuroscience and Brain-Computer Interfaces
Robotics, Machine Learning, and Vision
Indus Script
Other Activities:
- Band member, The Smashing Notkins (2002-2003). Official Band Photo (copyright: Melissa Garcia, 2003)
Computer Science & Engineering
566 Allen Center
University of Washington
Box 352350
Seattle, WA 98195-2350
Phone: 206-685-9141
Fax: 206-543-2969
WWW: http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/rao
e-mail: rao[at]cs[dot]washington[dot]edu