Embodiment and perceptual crossing in 2D: A comparative evolutionary robotics study

Abstract

We present the results from an evolutionary robotics simulation model of a recent unpublished experiment on human perceptual crossing in a minimal virtual two-dimensional environment. These experiments demonstrate that the participants reliably engage in rhythmic interaction with each other, moving along a line. Comparing three types of evolved agents with radically different embodiment (a simulated arm, a two-wheeled robot and an agent generating a velocity vector in Euclidean space), we identify differences in evolved behaviours and structural invariants of the task across embodiments. The simulation results open an interesting perspective on the experimental study and generate hypotheses about the role of arm morphology for the behaviour observed. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.