Embodied Language Processing: A New Generation of Language Technology

At a computational level, language processing tasks are traditionally processed in a language-only space/context, isolated from perception and action. However, at a cognitive level, language processing has been shown experimentally to be embodied, i.e. to inform and be informed by perception and action. In this paper, we argue that embodied cognition dictates the development of a new generation of language processing tools that bridge the gap between the symbolic and the sensorimotor representation spaces. We describe that tasks and challenges such tools need to address and provide an overview of the first such suite of processing tools developed in the framework of the POETICON project.