Tutorial on Embodiment

Exercise solution

Theoretical Scheme: Information self-structuring


To concIude the chapter on the information theoretic implications of embodiment, let us visualize the case studies presented in the theoretical scheme that is guiding us through this tutorial (see Fig. 4.3.1.). We have shown that the information that reaches the brain or the controller, that is the raw material that it can use to take appropriate decisions, crucially depends on two things: (i) morphology of the sensory apparatus, and (ii) active generation of information through sensory-motor coordination. The former is simply depicted by circle 1. However, the latter encompasses the whole scheme (circle 2). The whole sensory-motor loop including all the components impact the structure of the information that reaches the controller.


Fig. 4.3.1. Information self-structuring. The information that is available to the controller/central nervous system is shaped by the properties of the sensory system (circle 1), and by the whole sensory-motor loop (circle 2). Actions and whole sensory-motor coordinated behaviors induce information structure that passes through the sensory system to reach the controller.