Call for Participation and Presentations:
 IDIAP 15th Anniversary Workshop
 12-13 September, 2006
 http://www.idiap.ch/ws15/
 IDIAP Research Institute, Martigny, Switzerland
 
 Abstract Submission Deadline : July 11, 2006
 
 Workshop Description :
 
 IDIAP is leading Swiss research institute dedicated to the study of
 human-machine interaction, with strong activity in speech processing,
 machine learning, multimodal interaction, brain computer interfaces,
 computer vision and information retrieval. 
 
 As part of IDIAP's 15th Anniversary, the workshop will provide an
 informal setting within which to discuss and interact, taking place in
 the beautiful setting of Martigny in the Swiss Alps. 
 
 The two day workshop will cover four key areas:
 
 * Machine Learning
 * Speech Processing
 * Computer Vision
 * Information Retrieval
 
 The last 15 years has brought a maturation in these fields, leading to
 many theoretical and practical advances. The statistical paradigm has
 been prevalent in recent years, leading to a common framework within
 which many of the techniques applied in these different areas may be
 related. Whilst, therefore, a stronger understanding of the commonality
 of techniques now exists, each field requires specific insights for the
 continued and successful development toward solving substantial
 real-world applications. 
 
 The workshop will address these areas from the viewpoint of key progress
 made, current techniques and applications, and will discuss future
 prospects in these ever growing and exciting fields. The scope of the
 workshop is broad, with the desire to encourage interaction between
 researchers from these diverse areas. Of particular interest are key
 technical developments, and the highlighting of current difficulties
 preventing their further application to substantial real-world problems. 
 
 Invited speakers :
 Chris Bishop (Microsoft Research, Cambridge, UK)
 Nelson Morgan (International Computer Science Institute, Berkeley, USA)
 Thomas Hofmann (Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany)
 Patrick Perez (Irisa/Inria-Rennes, France.)
 
 Call for Presentations :
 We invite talks from students and researchers in any of the above
 fields, addressing either a theoretical or application issue. Talks
 which discuss technical developments are welcome, particularly those
 which address key stumbling blocks in the application of theory to
 substantial real-world problems. 
 
 The talks are to be 15 minutes + 5 minutes questions.  Please see
 http://www.idiap.ch/ws15/ for submission of abstracts of presentations. 
 
 * Deadline for abstract submission is 11:59pm (GMT) Tuesday July 11, 2006.
 * Decisions will be emailed on or before July 20.
 
 Registration for the workshop is free, but limited to 150 participants.
 
 Travel Grants :
 A small number of travel grants (limited to CHF 500 each) are
 available. Please see http://www.idiap.ch/ws15/ for details of how to
 apply.
 
 Organizers:
 David Barber (IDIAP)
 Herve Bourlard (IDIAP