Machine perception is the capability of a computer system to interpret

data Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...

in a manner that is similar to the way

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

s use their

sense A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditio ...

s to relate to the world around them. The basic method that the

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

s take in and respond to their environment is through the attached hardware. Until recently input was limited to a keyboard, or a mouse, but advances in technology, both in hardware and

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

, have allowed computers to take in sensory input in a way similar to humans. Machine

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

allows the computer to use this sensory input, as well as conventional

computational A computation is any type of arithmetic or non-arithmetic calculation that is well-defined. Common examples of computation are mathematical equation solving and the execution of computer algorithms. Mechanical or electronic devices (or, historic ...

means of gathering

information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpretation (perhaps Interpretation (log ...

, to gather information with greater accuracy and to present it in a way that is more comfortable for the

user Ancient Egyptian roles * User (ancient Egyptian official), an ancient Egyptian nomarch (governor) of the Eighth Dynasty * Useramen, an ancient Egyptian vizier also called "User" Other uses * User (computing), a person (or software) using an ...

. These include

computer vision Computer vision tasks include methods for image sensor, acquiring, Image processing, processing, Image analysis, analyzing, and understanding digital images, and extraction of high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical ...

, machine hearing, machine touch, and machine smelling, as artificial scents are, at a

chemical compound A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules (or molecular entities) containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds. A molecule consisting of atoms of only one element ...

, molecular,

atom Atoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements. An atom consists of a atomic nucleus, nucleus of protons and generally neutrons, surrounded by an electromagnetically bound swarm of electrons. The chemical elements are distinguished fr ...

ic level, indiscernible and identical. The end goal of machine perception is to give machines the ability to see, feel and

perceive Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

the world as humans do and therefore for them to be able to explain in a human way why they are making their decisions, to warn us when it is failing and more importantly, the reason why it is failing. This purpose is very similar to the proposed purposes for

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

generally, except that machine perception would only grant machines limited

sentience Sentience is the ability to experience feelings and sensations. It may not necessarily imply higher cognitive functions such as awareness, reasoning, or complex thought processes. Some writers define sentience exclusively as the capacity for ''v ...

, rather than bestow upon machines full

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...

self-awareness In philosophy of self, philosophy, self-awareness is the awareness and reflection of one's own personality or individuality, including traits, feelings, and behaviors. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. While ...

, and

intentionality Intentionality is the mental ability to refer to or represent something. Sometimes regarded as the ''mark of the mental'', it is found in mental states like perceptions, beliefs or desires. For example, the perception of a tree has intentionality ...

Machine vision

Computer vision Computer vision tasks include methods for image sensor, acquiring, Image processing, processing, Image analysis, analyzing, and understanding digital images, and extraction of high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical ...

is a field that includes methods for acquiring, processing, analyzing, and understanding images and high-dimensional data from the real world to produce numerical or symbolic information, e.g., in the forms of decisions. Computer vision has many applications already in use today such as facial recognition, geographical modeling, and even aesthetic judgment. However, machines still struggle to interpret visual impute accurately if it is blurry or if the viewpoint at which stimuli are viewed varies often. Computers also struggle to determine the proper nature of some stimulus if overlapped by or seamlessly touching another stimulus. This refers to the Principle of Good Continuation. Machines also struggle to perceive and record stimulus functioning according to the Apparent Movement principle which is a field of research in

Gestalt psychology Gestalt psychology, gestaltism, or configurationism is a school of psychology and a theory of perception that emphasises the processing of entire patterns and configurations, and not merely individual components. It emerged in the early twent ...

Machine hearing

Machine hearing, also known as machine listening or computer audition is the ability of a computer or machine to take in and process sound data such as speech or music. This area has a wide range of application including music recording and compression, speech synthesis and

speech recognition Speech recognition is an interdisciplinary subfield of computer science and computational linguistics that develops methodologies and technologies that enable the recognition and translation of spoken language into text by computers. It is also ...

. Moreover, this technology allows the machine to replicate the human brain's ability to selectively focus on a specific sound against many other competing sounds and background noise. This ability is called " auditory scene analysis". The technology enables the machine to segment several streams occurring at the same time. Many commonly used devices such as a smartphones, voice translators and cars make use of some form of machine hearing. Present technology still has challenges in speech segmentation. This means it is occasionally unable to correctly split words within sentences especially when spoken in an atypical accent.

Machine touch

Machine touch is an area of machine perception where tactile information is processed by a machine or computer. Applications include tactile perception of surface properties and

dexterity Fine motor skill (or dexterity) is the coordination of small muscles in movement with the eyes, hands and fingers. The complex levels of manual dexterity that humans exhibit can be related to the nervous system. Fine motor skills aid in the growt ...

whereby tactile information can enable intelligent reflexes and interaction with the environment. Though this could possibly be done through measuring when and where friction occurs and also the nature and intensity of the friction, machines however still do not have any way of measuring few ordinary physical human experiences including physical pain. For example, scientists have yet to invent a mechanical substitute for the

Nociceptor A nociceptor (; ) is a sensory neuron that responds to damaging or potentially damaging stimuli by sending "possible threat" signals to the spinal cord and the brain. The brain creates the sensation of pain to direct attention to the body part, ...

s in the body and brain that are responsible for noticing and measuring physical human discomfort and suffering.

Machine olfaction

Scientists are developing computers known as machine olfaction which can recognize and measure smells as well. Airborne

chemicals A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

are sensed and classified with a device sometimes known as an electronic nose.

Machine taste

Future

Other than those listed above, some of the future hurdles that the science of machine perception still has to overcome include, but are not limited to: -

Embodied cognition Embodied cognition represents a diverse group of theories which investigate how cognition is shaped by the bodily state and capacities of the organism. These embodied factors include the motor system, the perceptual system, bodily interactions wi ...

- The theory that cognition is a full body experience, and therefore can only exist, and therefore be measure and analyzed, in fullness if all required human abilities and processes are working together through a mutually aware and supportive systems network. - The Moravec's paradox (see the link) - The Principle of similarity - The ability young children develop to determine what family a newly introduced stimulus falls under even when the said stimulus is different from the members with which the child usually associates said family with. (An example could be a child figuring that a chihuahua is a dog and house pet rather than vermin.) - The Unconscious inference: The natural human behavior of determining if a new stimulus is dangerous or not, what it is, and then how to relate to it without ever requiring any new conscious effort. - The innate human ability to follow the likelihood principle in order to learn from circumstances and others over time. - The

recognition-by-components theory The recognition-by-components theory, or RBC theory, is a process proposed by Irving Biederman in 1987 to explain object recognition Object recognition – technology in the field of computer vision for finding and identifying objects in ...

- being able to mentally analyze and break even complicated mechanisms into manageable parts with which to interact with. For example: A person seeing both the cup and the handle parts that make up a mug full of hot cocoa, in order to use the handle to hold the mug so as to avoid being burned. - The free energy principle - determining long before hand how much energy one can safely delegate to being aware of things outside one's self without the loss of the needed energy one requires for sustaining their life and function satisfactorily. This allows one to become both optimally aware of the world around them self without depleting their energy so much that they experience damaging stress, decision fatigue, and/or exhaustion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Machine Perception Artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence engineering