Ipke Wachsmuth:
Representation and Processing of Shape
in Coverbal Iconic Gestures
Abstract
In face-to-face dialogue, verbal descriptions of object shape are frequently
accompanied by gestures expressing meaning via similarity to the referent,
so-called iconic gestures. While speech is a symbolic modality of communication
unfolding in time, iconic gestures embody mental images and unfold in time
and space. This talk presents a study (conducted with Timo Sowa) examining
the morphological variety of shape-related iconic gestures and the way they
express aspects of object shape. It is shown that information about object
extent, boundary, and part structure is reflected both in coverbal gestures
and their verbal affiliates. A computational model for the representation
and processing of object shape is proposed which is targeted for coverbal
iconic gesture comprehension and production in an embodied (virtual) agent.
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