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Perception as Inference: The Brain and Computation

Dr. Bruno holding a model of a brain.

How does the brain assemble a three dimensional model of the world based on light entering the eye? What can computer science contribute to our understanding of this process?

A new video produced by the Simons Institute examines the computational processes by which the brain builds visual models of the external world, based on noisy or incomplete data from patterns of light sensed on the retinae. The video — the first of a series of “Theory Shorts” the institute will be producing — features Dr. Bruno Olshausen, Professor of Vision Science, Optometry and Neuroscience.

A review in Forbes described the video as “an excellent and well-worth watching opener for the video series…and is both informative and engaging, offering a vivid and telling exploration of how the eye captures visual images, along with the vital intertwining of the brain and the mind in making sense of what the eye is observing. Kudos goes to Dr. Bruno Olshausen…as he is the expert extraordinaire for this enlightening video about the eye-brain duality.”

More About Dr. Olshausen

Olshausen Profile Olshausen Lab

About the photo

Professor Olshausen as narrator and explainer in the first of the Simons Institute video series called “Theory Shorts”