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196937

Dynamic field theory and embodied communication

Yulia SandamirskayaGregor Schöner

pp. 260-278

Abstract

Dynamical Field Theory is a neurally based approach to embodied and situated cognition, in which information is represented in continuous activation fields defined over metric spaces. The temporal evolution of activation patterns under the influence of inputs and neuronal interaction is described by a dynamical system, whose stable states, localized peaks of activation, are the units of representation. This approach has been successfully used to capture many elementary forms of cognition. Communication poses the new challenge of understanding how different modalities can be integrated in a continuously unfolding communicative process. In this chapter we give a brief introduction to Dynamical Field Theory in embodied cognition, and discuss extensions of its ideas to embodied communication. We sketch a highly simplified example of how sequence generation may occur in dynamical fields. We apply these concepts to a specific exemplary problem in embodied communication, turn taking, the temporal structure of which we capture in a simple model.

Publication details

Published in:

Wachsmuth Ipke, Knoblich Günther (2008) Modeling communication with robots and virtual humans: second ZIF research group international workshop on embodied communication in humans and machines, bielefeld, Germany, april 5-8, 2006, revised selected papers. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 260-278

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-79037-2_14

Full citation:

Sandamirskaya Yulia, Schöner Gregor (2008) „Dynamic field theory and embodied communication“, In: I. Wachsmuth & G. Knoblich (eds.), Modeling communication with robots and virtual humans, Dordrecht, Springer, 260–278.