In this paper, we study the collaboration of perception and action representations involved in cursive letter recognition and production. We propose a mathematical formulation for the whole perception–action loop, based on probabilistic modeling and Bayesian inference, which we call the Bayesian Action–Perception (BAP) model. Being a model of both perception and action processes, the purpose of this model is to study the interaction of these processes. More precisely, the model includes a feedback loop from motor production, which implements an internal simulation of movement. Motor knowledge can therefore be involved during perception tasks. In this paper, we formally define the BAP model and show how it solves the following six varied cognitive tasks using Bayesian inference: i) letter recognition (purely sensory), ii) writer recognition, iii) letter production (with different effectors), iv) copying of trajectories, v) copying of letters, and vi) letter recognition (with internal simulation of movements). We present computer simulations of each of these cognitive tasks, and discuss experimental predictions and theoretical developments.

This paper is about modeling perception-action loops and, more precisely, the study of the influence of motor knowledge during perception tasks. We use the Bayesian Action-Perception (BAP) model, which deals with the sensorimotor loop involved in reading and writing cursive isolated letters and includes an internal simulation of movement loop. By using this probabilistic model we simulate letter recognition, both with and without internal motor simulation. Comparison of their performance yields an experimental prediction, which we set forth.

This paper concerns the incremental learning of hierarchies of representations of space in artificial or natural cognitive systems. We propose a mathematical formalism for defining space representations (Bayesian Maps) and modelling their interaction in hierarchies of representations (Sensorimotor Interaction operator). We illustrate our formalism with a robotic experiment. Starting from a model based on the proximity to obstacles, we learn a new one related to the direction of the light source. It provides new behaviours, like phototaxis and photophobia. We then combine these two maps so as to identify parts of the environment where the way the two modalities interact is recognizable. This classification is a basis for learning a higher-level of abstraction map, that describes the large scale structure of the environment. In the final model, the perception-action cycle is modelled by a hierarchy of sensorimotor models of increasing time and space scales, which provide navigation strategies of increasing complexities.