By Abigail Bao and Shannon Horning
Just a few streets down from Carnegie Mellon, tucked between the cozy shops of South Craig Street, a cutting-edge startup is making large leaps in the field of neuroscience and robotics.
Founded in 2020 by Mohammad Nadji, Neuraville is a company pioneering technologies that will lay the foundations for the robots of the future, particularly those that can accompany humans through all stages of their lives. But the Neuraville team isn’t just innovating; they’re also focused on empowering others to access to the same technology and knowledge.
Nadji’s journey to founding Neuraville began the moment he entered college, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. “I thought I would do best if I owned my own company to reach my goals,” Nadji shared. This philosophy led him to the United States, where he earned his PhD and advanced his research on general artificial intelligence. Between education and full-time work, the process took him ten years.
“It’s been a long journey, I can put it that way,” Nadji reflected.
His expertise and research in computer science helped him establish Neuraville in Kansas before moving to Pittsburgh to better achieve his goals. There, Nadji leased a location on South Craig Street, right between the campuses of Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh. Many students may have passed by the inconspicuous office space without even realizing the innovation taking place behind its doors.
Inside Neuraville’s office, the team is developing revolutionary technologies to create artificial brains that can adapt and evolve, much like biological brains. To do this, the team uses a game engine to visualize exactly what the “brain” of a robot looks like.
“The brain of a robot is built in layers, and connections between these layers,” Nadji explains. “It’s a deep spiking neural network where spatial mapping, combined with neuroplasticity, fosters cognitive abilities reminiscent of the human brain.”
This cutting-edge approach acts as a foundation for Neuraville’s core technology: the Framework for Evolutionary Artificial General Intelligence, or FEAGI. FEAGI, as described by Nadji, is an open-source neurorobotics platform designed to build and evolve artificial brains. It is inspired by neurons, changing membrane potentials, and the way data is formed and directed to different regions of the brain. However, what truly sets Neuraville apart from other companies focused on artificial intelligence is its approach to transparency and user understanding.
“The work we are doing is highly modular and transparent, in terms of understanding,” Nadji says. “You don’t look at one big black box that you can’t explain how it works.”
The black box problem has long plagued the field of artificial intelligence. The “black box” of AI is the challenge of learning how deep learning systems arrive at their decisions. It’s akin to a magician dropping a handkerchief into a hat and pulling out a dove — the secrets of the trick remain unseen by the public eye, much like AI systems and their internal workings. This obscurity raises concerns and skepticism about the safety and reliability of AI.
But unlike traditional AI models, FEAGI breaks down artificial brains into smaller, more manageable components. This allows users to see exactly how each part operates so that they can slowly build upon them to create an AI assistant that can perform increasingly complex tasks.
To further meet their standards for accessibility, Neuraville also offers Neurorobotics Studio, a software platform that utilizes FAEGI to enable users – even as young as kindergarteners – to experiment with robotic intelligence. Neurorobotics Studio offers everything from basic tutorials to more advanced content, allowing users of all skill levels to develop an artificial brain tailored to their needs. Users can even share their creations, view others’ projects, and collaborate.
“Think of going on YouTube, where you are able to see all this content made by content creators,” Nadji explains. “People can share and discover new content. Neurorobotics Studio is like that but for the brains of robots.”
In the coming weeks, Neuraville is also planning to add new features to the platform to increase accessibility for users with no prior technology experience.
As Neuraville continues to push the boundaries of neuroscience and robotics, the team faces the challenge of breaking new ground in largely uncharted territory. Translating this highly technical research for a broad audience is no small feat, but the Neuraville team remains committed to making their state-of-the-art technology accessible and usable for all. As Nadji puts it, “It [artificial intelligence] shouldn’t be something limited to someone working on postdoc research, coming up with these models that then fuel the next generation. Instead, we believe that a 13-year-old’s curiosity could be generating that next wave of AI.”
Nadji concluded, “We invite everyone to visit neuraville.com and become part of our open-source community, helping us shape the future of robotics through collaboration and innovation.”