Sensorial computing

Humanity is at a special time in its relationship with technology where there is an increasing likelihood of artificially replicating characteristics which we thought were the realm of humanity. Artificial Intelligence and Robotics are making the news increasingly often and replication of body parts is also making progress. This chapters looks at senses which although not exclusively human are powerful capabilities which support other higher functions and aspects of human life. Technology has been developing nature inspired artifacts which resemble somehow their human counterparts with specific practical applications. So far these explorations have been mostly isolated. It is only a matter of time until these are physically and logically connected into a cooperative fashion, in fact Robots typically use them although may be not in their full expression. This will provide machines with interface capabilities of a higher order we are used to, bringing new powerful tools to solve new problems, whilst raising unexpected scenarios and challenges for our society. We can think whether we want it or not, however seems impossible to stop it. We assume this development will happen and stay and look at the artificial and human synergies, how interaction with machines is influenced by sense-like interface capabilities, “sensorial computing”.