Embodiment and interaction in socially intelligent life-like agents

  • Authors:

  • Kerstin Dautenhahn

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Cybernetics, University of Reading, United Kingdom

  • Venue:
  • Computation for metaphors, analogy, and agents
  • Year:
  • 1999

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Abstract

This chapter addresses embodied social interaction in lifelike agents. Embodiment is discussed from both artificial intelligence and psychology viewpoints. Different degrees of embodiment in biological, virtual and robotic agents are discussed, given the example of a bottomup, behavior-oriented, dynamic control of virtual robots. A 'dancing with strangers' experiment shows how the same principles can be applied to physical robot-human interaction. We then discuss the issue of sociality which differs in different academic communities with respect to which roles are attributed to genes, memes, and the individual embodied agent. We attempt to define social intelligence and integrate different viewpoints in a hierarchy of social organization and control which could be applied to both artificial and natural social systems. The project AURORA for children with autism which addresses issues of both human and robotic social agents is introduced. The conclusion points out challenges in research on embodied socially intelligent life-like agents.