Contact:

Eric Sloss                          
412-268-5765
ecs@andrew.cmu.edu

Byron Spice
412-268-9068
bspice@andrew.cmu.edu

Media Advisory:
Carnegie Mellon Class Installs
"Art That Learns" at Children's Museum

Robotic Art Installations Explore Machines That Can Learn

Event: The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh will host interactive art installations controlled by computers programmed to learn from their surroundings, or from the people observing the art. The installations were developed by students in the interdisciplinary "Art That Learns" class at Carnegie Mellon University, led by Osman Khan, visiting professor in the School of Art, and Carlos Guestrin, assistant professor of computer science. The class spent time at the Children's Museum observing family interaction and consulting with the exhibits department on the development of these machines.

The installations explore the potential of computers to learn things, make choices from a complex set of data and even improve their performance. In one installation, visitors create and submit simple artwork to "The Curator" computer, which decides whether to accept or reject the drawing based on its originality and comparisons with previously submitted work. Another installation, "Synch," explores a computer's ability to synchronize lights to pulse together by detecting the signals of surrounding bulbs.  

When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday, April 25. Faculty and students will be in attendance from noon to 2 p.m.

Where: The Pittsburgh Children's Museum, 10 Children's Way, Allegheny Square

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