Vito Mengers

I am a doctoral researcher in the Science of Intelligence Cluster at Technische Universität Berlin, where I am part of Prof. Oliver Brock’s Robotics and Biology Laboratory. With a background in Computer Engineering, my work sits at the intersection of robotics, perception, and computational models of intelligence.

My research centers on interconnected recursive estimators—systems that continuously refine internal models based on sensory input. Initially explored for robust robotic perception, I could demonstrate that these estimators can also be used for action selection through gradient descent. This tight coupling of perception and action enables intelligent agents to both react adaptively to environmental changes and actively probe their surroundings to improve perception.

Beyond robotics, I also investigate these systems as a model for biological behavior. I have shown that the same architecture can model complex processes such as human visual attention (e.g., scanpath generation in natural videos) and collective behavior. The resulting systems exhibit rich, robust, and explainable behavior, offering insight into the underlying interactions between recursive modules—both as computational tools and as models of cognitive mechanisms.