This field of research examines how embodied and situated agents, such as robots, evolve language and thus communicate with each other. This book is a comprehensive survey of the research in this emerging field.

The contributions explain the theoretical and methodological foundations of the field, and then illustrate the scientific and technological potentials and promising research directions. The book also provides descriptions of research experiments and related open software and hardware tools, allowing the reader to gain a practical knowledge of the topic.

The book will...

It has become clear to researchers in robotics and adaptive behaviour that current approaches are yielding systems with limited autonomy and capacity for self-improvement. To learn autonomously and in a cumulative fashion is one of the hallmarks of intelligence, and we know that higher mammals engage in exploratory activities that are not directed to pursue goals of immediate relevance for survival and reproduction but are instead driven by intrinsic motivations such as curiosity, interest in novel stimuli or surprising events, and inter-est in learning new behaviours. The adaptive value...

Evolution and complexity characterize both biological and artificial life by direct modeling of biological processes and the creation of populations of interacting entities from which complex behaviors can emerge and evolve.

This edited book includes invited chapters from leading scientists in the fields of artificial life, complex systems, and evolutionary computing. The contributions identify both fundamental theoretical issues and state-of-the-art real-world applications.

The book is intended for researchers and graduate students in the related domains.