Abstract

Embodied intelligent systems are naturally subject to physical constraints, such as forces and torques (due to gravity and friction), energy requirements for propulsion, and eventual damage and degeneration. But embodiment implies far more than just a set of limiting physical constraints; it directly supports the selection and processing of information. Here, we focus on an emerging link between information and embodiment, that is, on how embodiment actively supports and promotes intelligent information processing by exploiting the dynamics of the interaction between an embodied system and its environment. In this light the claim that “intelligence requires a body” means that embodied systems actively induce information structure in sensory inputs, hence greatly simplifying the major challenge posed by the need to process huge amounts of information in real time. The structure thus induced crucially depends on the embodied system’s morphology and materials. From this perspective, behavior informs and shapes cognition as it is the outcome of the dynamic interplay of physical and information theoretic processes, and not the end result of a control process that can be understood at any single level of analysis. This chapter reviews the recent literature on embodiment, elaborates some of the underlying principles, and shows how robotic systems can be employed to characterize and quantify the notion of information structure.