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Toward an
ecological description of actions
- How does body movement specify the environment? - |
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Masato Sasaki
Univ. of Tokyo
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It is often pointed out that a robot's movements are not flexible. Flexibility
of an action is the quality which enables the movement to take various course
in accordance with changes in the environment. Though it is true that lower
animals are capable of making diversified selects of courses in order to
attain their goal, a robot can make movements only in accordance with a
stored program in advance. The project aims at creating a robot capable
of making flexible movements. Our team aimed at clarifying the way in which
flexibility in action has been attained. Primarily using the method of observation,
we described the process by which a person with physical impairments acquired
the ability to make new adaptable movements. Choosing for observation purposes
some individuals with damage in cervical spinal cord injury or higher order
brain disfunction, we longitudinally observed the process of re-development
or re-tuning to the environment. As our report shows, their movements became
flexible largely with the support of the environment, and by describing
actions and the environment as a whole unit it will be possible to unravel
the riddle concerning flexibility in movement.
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