Apologies for cross-postings. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The First Symposium on Intelligent Systems for Animal Welfare will be held on April 4th, 2014 at Goldsmiths, London. The symposium is part of the AISB-50 Annual Convention, held on April 1-4 by the Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behavior (AISB): http://www.aisb.org.uk/. SYMPOSIUM WEBSITE: http://mis.hevra.haifa.ac.il/~annazam/isawel/<http://mis.hevra.haifa.ac.il/%7Eannazam/isawel/> OVERVIEW: The boundaries between the disciplines of artificial intelligence (AI) and animal studies have been extensively studied from different angles: developing biologically inspired AI, modeling animal behaviour, interaction and cognition, and building robotic animals are just some examples of the current thrust to explore the multifaceted connections between organic and artificial life. However, while there has been a strong focus on the emulation of biological models in computing, the connections between AI and animal welfare have received much less attention. The aim of this symposium is to explore these connections. We will take a bi-directional approach that brings together scholars from both AI and animal related disciplines who are interested in harnessing AI methodologies and tools for improving animal welfare. We welcome both empirical and conceptual works that: (1) take an AI perspective if the research is grounded in animal studies, or (2) take an animal welfare perspective if grounded in AI or related fields. Theoretical frameworks, experimental research and tool demonstrations are appropriate. We encourage contributions that come from a wide range of perspectives, including (but not limited to): The applications to animal studies of: - Machine learning - Data mining - Game theory - Knowledge representation and management - Knowledge discovery and acquisition - Modeling and simulation - Information visualization - Animal-computer interaction - Decision support systems The applications of AI in: - Veterinary medicine - Applied animal behavior - Farm and livestock management - Animal health surveillance - Ecology - Animal biology PROGRAMME COMMITTEE: Arturo Gonzales-Ferrer, Granada University, Spain Gerd Kortuem, The Open University, UK Shaun Lawson, University of Lincoln, UK Janet van der Linden, The Open University, UK Clara Mancini, The Open University, UK Daniel Mills, University of Lincoln, UK Suzanne Santamaria, Virginia Tech, US Stuart Turner, Leafpath Informatics, US Anna Zamansky, Haifa University, Israel Helen Zulch, University of Lincoln, UK ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Clara Mancini , The Open University, UK Suzanne Santamaria, Virginia Tech, US Anna Zamansky, University of Haifa, Israel (Chair) SUBMISSION AND PUBLICATION DETAILS: Extended abstracts should be submitted via EasyChair: https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=isawel14. Templates can be found at http://www.aisb.org.uk/convention/aisb08/download.html . Submissions should be limited to four pages. Each submission will receive at least two reviews. Selected abstracts will be published in the general proceedings of the AISB Convention, with the proviso that at least one author attends the symposium in order to present the paper. IMPORTANT DATES: Extended abstract submission deadline: *4 January 2014* Notification of acceptance/rejection decisions: 3 February 2014 Final versions of accepted abstracts (Camera ready copy): 24 February 2014 Convention: 1-4 April 2014 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Please note that there will be separate proceedings for each symposium, produced before the convention. Each delegate will receive a memory stick containing the proceedings of all the symposia. In previous years there have been awards for the best student paper, and limited student bursaries. These details will be circulated as and when they become available. Authors of a selection of the best papers will be invited to submit an extended version of the work to a journal special issue. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr Clara Mancini Head of Animal-Computer Interaction Lab Computing and Communications Department The Open University Milton Keynes United Kingdom Tel +44(0)1908 652165 Email [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Web http://crc.open.ac.uk/Themes/ACI -- The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302).