The Italian community in Artificial Life and Evolutionary computation has grown remarkably in recent years, and this book is the first broad collection of its major interests and achievements (including contributions from foreign countries). The contributions in Artificial Life as well as in Evolutionary Computation allow one to see the deep connections between the two fields. The topics addressed are extremely relevant for present day research in Artificial Life and in Evolutionary Computation, which include important contributions from very well-known researchers. The volume provides a very...

This volume describes our intellectual path from the physics of complex sys tems to the science of artificial cognitive systems. It was exciting to discover that many of the concepts and methods which succeed in describing the self organizing phenomena of the physical world are relevant also for understand ing cognitive processes. Several nonlinear physicists have felt the fascination of such discovery in recent years. In this volume, we will limit our discussion to artificial cognitive systems, without attempting to model either the cognitive behaviour or the nervous structure of humans or...

Did you always dreamed of turning your own hobby into a business? Yes? We were also We like travelling and partying. Whether as a local or a tourist, the following question gets asked a lot: -Which nightclub has got something happening tonight?- It is the story of a journey, from a crazy vacation to a serious business. An adventurous Swiss youth discovers a wild American nightlife culture that contrasts sharply with his dull home scene. Two brothers decided to turn their passion into an innovative business. This book is the story of the hard road to a dream: a chronicle of mistakes, just...