Vito Mengers

Photo: SCIoI
Vito is a doctoral researcher in the Science of Intelligence Cluster at Technische Universität Berlin, working in Prof. Oliver Brock’s Robotics and Biology Laboratory. With a background in Computer Engineering (BSc and MSc, TU Berlin), his research lies at the intersection of robotics, perception, and computational models of intelligence.
His work focuses on interconnected recursive estimators, systems that continuously update internal models based on sensory input. Originally applied to robust robotic perception, Vito has shown that these estimators can also support action selection via gradient descent. This tight integration of perception and action enables agents to both respond quickly to environmental changes and actively shape their perception through behavior.
Pushing beyond robotics, Vito explores these systems as a candidate principle of intelligence. He has demonstrated their ability to model complex phenomena such as human visual attention (e.g., scanpath generation in natural videos) and collective behavior (e.g., distributed estimation or coordinated motion). These systems exhibit rich, robust, and explainable behavior, offering insight into the possible computational mechanisms underlying biological intelligence.
Projects
Vito Mengers is member of:
Publications +
Thursday Morning Talk -
Aravind Battaje and Vito Mengers, “Principles at Play: What is Intelligence?”
External Event -
Girls’ Day 2023 at SCIoI
Medium – August 2025 - Why We Make Bad Decisions Over and Over
Mdr Wissen – March 2025 - Gruppen entscheiden besser, wenn ihre Mitglieder verschieden und nicht zu selbstsicher sind
Jura Forum – March 2025 - Von der Natur lernen: Unsicherheit und heterogene Gruppen machen kluge Entscheidungen möglich
Das Wissen / March 2025 - Künstliche Intelligenz unter der Lupe: Ethik und Entscheidungen im Fokus!
My Science – March 2025 - Von der Natur lernen: Unsicherheit und heterogene Gruppen machen kluge Entscheidungen möglich
Life Boat – March 2025 - From robot swarms to human societies, good decisions rely on the right mix of perspectives
Tech Xplore – March 2025 - From robot swarms to human societies, good decisions rely on the right mix of perspectives