PERCEPTAIULM University Center for Consciousness and Perception
in Humans, Robots, and AI
Exploring experience at the meeting point of philosophy, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence.
Discover PERCEPTA
Our research is taking shape.
So is this website.
How do we perceive the world? What makes experience conscious? And what changes when the perceiver is a machine?
PERCEPTA brings philosophy, computer science, cognitive science, robotics, and communication into a shared research space. We investigate natural and artificial perception, connecting fundamental questions about consciousness with experimental work.
Hosted by IULM University in Milan, the center is developing a human-centered approach to intelligence: attentive to experience, meaning, responsibility, and the ways technology enters our lives.
Our first research programs connect theoretical inquiry with models, prototypes, and human experience.
Integrating cognitive and artificial models to investigate visual attention, perception, and the relationship between information processing and conscious experience.
Philosophy of mind · Cognitive models · Visual perceptionStudying AI for culture, communication, and biomedical insight, including multimodal systems, interpretable models, and the role of people in AI-assisted processes.
Multimodal AI · Biomedical analytics · CultureBringing cognitive models into human-centered robotics through sensorimotor integration, biologically inspired vision, and human–robot interaction.
Robotics · Embodied AI · Human–robot interactionAn open-laboratory project comparing human and artificial vision through a robotic retina, perceptual illusions, experiments on consciousness, and a shared-scene human–machine comparison.
Developed by Riccardo Manzotti and Alessandro Bruno. Technologies are operational or being prototyped; the public installation is in preparation.
Explore the proposed public programA growing community connecting philosophy, perception, artificial intelligence, and robotics.
SCIENTIFIC DIRECTORFull Professor of Theoretical Philosophy
IULM University
Engineer and philosopher. His research explores consciousness, perception, and the Mind-Object Identity theory.
OPERATIONS COORDINATORAssociate Professor of Computer Science
IULM University · Research Associate, ISASI–CNR
His work connects computer vision, artificial intelligence, and experimental approaches to human and artificial perception.
CORE MEMBERFull Professor of Business Administration
IULM University · Rector’s Delegate for Sustainability and Social Responsibility
Her research explores financial communication, corporate social responsibility, intellectual capital, and strategic performance management.
The founding network is being finalized. Further profiles and affiliations will follow.
Public experiments and conversations are part of the work. Our first activities are taking shape.
A proposed hands-on laboratory exploring seeing and consciousness through four complementary stations: a robotic retina, perceptual illusions, phenomenological experiments, and a human–AI comparison.
A lecture-performance by Riccardo Manzotti on language, knowledge, value, and human choice. A journey through literature and AI, asking who chooses the horizon when machines can calculate the route.
A forthcoming seminar series bringing researchers across disciplines into conversation about consciousness, perception, and human-centered intelligence.
International workshop on multimodal models, artificial intelligence, and their applications. Visit the workshop page for the programme, call for contributions, and submission information.
Visit MMM-ConAI-2026Creativity: Minds and Machines — the third annual conference of the International Center for Consciousness Studies, bringing together philosophy, science, and artificial intelligence in Rome and Vatican City.
Conference informationPERCEPTA is in its initial phase. This introductory website will grow alongside the center, with research updates, people, publications, and upcoming events.
Back to the beginning