The aim of Computers in the Human Interaction Loop (CHIL) , a European project, is to change the way we use computers and to create environments in which they are used for communication between humans and in which humans do no need to oversee or operate them.
Fifteen partners from universities and research centres in Europe and the USA are taking part in the project. One of the five intelligent rooms forecast is being built by the UPC. In it, eight video cameras and 84 microphones record and react to the voices and movements of occupants using visual and sound recognition. It is a smart space in which how to make computers feel, see and understand their environment and interact with people is being investigated.
Three UPC research groups from the Department of Signal Theory and Communications and the Department of Software
who are working on image, voice and natural language technologies are involved in the CHIL project. In charge of the project at the UPC are Josep R. Casas, who works on image, Climent Nadeu, who works on voice, and Jordi Turmo, who works on natural language.