The essence of embodiment: A framework for understanding and exploiting structural coupling between system and environment

A framework for understanding and exploiting embodiment is presented which is not dependent on any specific ontological context. This framework is founded on a new definition of embodiment, based on the relational dynamics that exist between biological organisms and their environments, and inspired by the structural dynamics of the bacterium Escherichia coli. The definition draws on the idea of mutual perturbation between a system (biological organism, robot, or software agent) and its environment, enabling structural coupling between the two. The framework provides a vocabulary and concepts that can be used to discuss and analyze embodiment in any kind of environment, not just the material world. Rather than blurring boundaries between disciplines and domains, this permits the characterization of distinctions and common features between them, in a manner meaningful to all parties. Other benefits include the potential quantification of embodiment, and access to practical and theoretical ideas associated with material embodiment for those working with non-material systems. The relational embodiment definition is illustrated by ongoing experimental work in which the relational dynamics that exist between E. coli and its environment are applied in a variety of environments, both software and material, using a Cellular Automata-based system with artificial ‘sensory’ and ‘effector’ surfaces. This experimental system is also used to outline a biologically grounded, dynamical systems-based approach to the generation of behavior in a variety of operational environments, exploiting features of the embodiment framework presented.