Discover the seven ISIR research projects that are part of the SUAVES scientific outreach programme, designed to open the doors of fundamental research to the general public.
Supported by Sorbonne University, the SUAVES (Sorbonne University Visual Arts and Scientific Experiences) project is a scientific outreach and promotion programme that aims to make the approaches and results of fundamental research visible beyond academic circles.
The artistic work of the seven photographers selected to shoot the scientific projects will lead to the production of two media formats that complement each other to reach different targets:
- A free exhibition open to the general public throughout the Paris region and even nationally, in public places such as museums, media libraries, school groups, etc., accompanied by outreach activities;
- A campaign of captioned photographic publications, distributed through various media, both inside and outside the university.
In all, 82 scientific projects from a variety of disciplines are involved, grouped by major research area. ISIR is contributing to this scientific outreach programme through seven of its research projects.
ARCOL project
Designing a human co-learning device
Through theatrical staging and a play of brightly coloured lights, the photographer reveals a strange cardboard musical instrument.
The project is developing intelligent systems to support learning and creativity, particularly in neuro-divergent audiences. This human-machine co-learning device facilitates the acquisition of new motor skills using an innovative teaching method. The team works with associations for disabled children, experimenting with cardboard instruments to create experimental music. These simple instruments make it easy to create music in a group without any prior knowledge. The colours intensified by the photographer make the instruments playful and accessible, linking the subject to everyday problems.
Project leaders: Baptiste Caramiaux, research fellow, and Théo Jourdan, post-doctoral researcher.
BYCEPS project
Creating a biometic prosthesis for and with a Paralympic athlete
The photographer chose to take a portrait of Christophe Huchet, a former top-level Paralympic athlete. The bluish light draws the eye to his posture and his familiar gesture made with a robotic prosthesis.
The research project is developing a biometric arm prosthesis that provides fine, natural and simultaneous control of movements in symbiosis with the body. By doing away with invasive or surgical techniques, the aim is to harness the ability of amputees to learn new movements in order to regain greater functional ability, autonomy and comfort.
Project leader: Nathanaël Jarrassé, Research Director
HUSKI project
Reinforcing movement learning with an exoskeleton
Through the projection of a bluish light, the photographer reveals the movement of the scientist, equipped with an impressive walking assistance exoskeleton (Atalante X, Wandercraft). The mathematical formulae written on the blackboard are a reminder of the theoretical design work required to teach the robot its movements.
The research project, based on the reinforcement learning method, aims to design algorithms to improve the robot’s skills based on its own experience and to make the exoskeleton’s movements more robust, fluid and adaptable to each individual.
Project leader: Nicolas Perrin-Gilbert, research fellow
LEXIKHUM project
Communicating physically with robots
Set against a futuristic backdrop, the photographer shows a blind person and the device they are manipulating, a robot with big eyes and a joystick hand.
Combining language sciences, robotics, cognitive sciences and aeronautics, the project studies communication between humans and machines. The aim is to make machines intelligible through sensory apprehension of the body by using a portable device consisting of a camera, a rucksack with a computer and a belt with a small joystick to guide a blind person along a route. The robot uses touch to tell the blind person whether to move to the left or right.
Project leader: Ludovic Saint-Bauzel, senior lecturer
MAPTICS project
Reading digital content with your fingertips
The photographer shows researchers placing tactile alphabet cards on a photograph of the city of Paris, translating reality into symbols that can be read by touch.
The project involves developing tactile screens capable of producing patterns by vibration or friction that can be interpreted by touch. Ultimately, a freely accessible library of sensations for touch-sensitive surfaces (haptic feedback) will be created. This will make it possible to read content (particularly maps) by touch on interactive devices.
Project leader: David Gueorguiev, research fellow
ROBINE project
Mapping the infinitely small
The photographer draws our attention to the eye of the researcher, concentrating on preparing his intriguing machine, which will enable him to observe the bluish image projected onto him.
A micro-robot with a needle a thousand times thinner than a hair is capable of scanning the surface of an object the size of a human red blood cell in three-dimensional space. By combining electron microscopy with atomic force microscopy, it is possible to map a relief and its elasticity on a nanometric scale. The aim is to develop a robot control interface within the reach of the general public, opening up vast prospects for medicine and materials science.
Project leader: Mokrane Boudaoud, senior lecturer
SESAMS project
Making a request while conversing with the machine
The photographer captures the halo of white light that reveals the traces of white chalk erased from the blackboard, giving the illusion of a human-machine conversation.
Access to information from a search engine is based on queries in the form of keywords, restricting the search framework. In the field of human-machine conversation, the project proposes a new Information Retrieval (IR) paradigm aimed at optimising the search process by enabling an individual to interact in natural language with the search engine using a conversational system.
Project leader: Laure Soulier, senior lecturer
Unfiltered research: photographers’ views on science and the humanities
As part of the SUAVES project, the exhibition “Recherche sans filtre: regard de photographes sur les sciences et les humanités” (Unfiltered research: photographers’ view of science and the humanities) invites you to discover the viewpoints of seven photographers on 82 research projects, on an unprecedented scale and offering an original journey through six themes: the gestures, tools and spaces of research, human relations, observation and data at the heart of the scientific process.
The exhibition will be on display until 30 November 2024 at the Atrium, on Sorbonne University’s Pierre and Marie Curie campus.
Find out more about the exhibition on the Sorbonne University website.
Published on 13/11/2024.
