Mind, Machine and Motor Nexus
The M3X Program funds research on interaction and reasoning between human and synthetic actors in physics-based environments.
Funder: National Science Foundation
Due Dates: No fixed deadline (proposals accepted anytime)
Funding Amounts: Award size and duration vary; typical NSF research grants range from 1–5 years and are based on project scope and budget justification.
Summary: Supports fundamental research on embodied reasoning and bidirectional sensorimotor interaction between human and synthetic actors in physics-based environments.
Key Information: Proposals must address human and synthetic actors, sensorimotor interaction, and embodied reasoning in a physics-based environment, or risk being returned without review.
Description
The Mind, Machine and Motor Nexus (M3X) Program funds fundamental research that advances understanding of embodied reasoning as mediated by bidirectional sensorimotor interaction between human and synthetic actors. Embodiment, in this context, is defined as the capacity to interact with physics-based environments—real, virtual, or hybrid.
The program seeks to spur innovative, multidisciplinary research that explores the convergence of human and synthetic actors’ capabilities and actions during task performance in physics-based settings. Research may be conceptual, mathematical, empirical, experimental, computational, or cross-cutting, and should integrate multiple perspectives for a holistic approach.
Key concepts that must be addressed in all proposals:
- Human and Synthetic Actors: Proposals must involve interaction between at least one human and one synthetic (embodied) actor.
- Sensorimotor Interaction: There must be bidirectional exchange of information through sensorimotor channels (e.g., haptic, visual) in a physics-based environment.
- Embodied Reasoning: Both human and synthetic actors must engage in cognitive activities (e.g., intent detection, trust-building) enabled or evolved through sensorimotor interaction.
Research that does not address all three concepts, or that involves only a single actor or lacks a physics-based environment, will not be considered.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Collaboration, cooperation, and competition among human and synthetic actors
- The role of virtual, mixed, and hybrid environments in decision making and learning
- New approaches to modeling, guiding, and controlling reasoning and interaction
- Development of research infrastructure (e.g., open-source instrumentation, models, data, environments)
