Cognitive Developmental Robotics (CDR) is a field of research that can be described as Minoru Asada’s life’s work, aiming to elucidate the processes of human cognitive development and apply these insights to robot design and societal implementation. Unlike approaches focused merely on enhancing AI performance, CDR places significant emphasis on exploring how embodiment and social interaction contribute to the formation of the mind and the development of consciousness. It is an interdisciplinary domain that integrates fields such as neuroscience, developmental psychology, philosophy, and engineering. By experimentally verifying, through robotic implementations and simulations, the diverse emergent forms of intelligence that appear at various developmental stages—from fetal movements and sensory development to imitation, joint attention, emotional sharing, and the development of understanding others via mirror neuron systems—CDR contributes both to deepening our understanding of humans and to advancing robot design.
Asada’s paper [1] systematically organizes these individual research efforts within CDR, presenting a comprehensive depiction of how the self is formed through the intricate interplay of embodiment and social interaction. The paper also addresses ethical and philosophical issues, positioning CDR as a new scientific approach for understanding humans. Meanwhile, another paper [2] further develops the discussions from the Anthology, delving deeper into the perspective that development begins even before birth, and exploring in detail how recent AI foundation models, such as large language models (LLMs) and Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models, impact CDR. As a critique of modern AI’s dependence on massive datasets, the paper re-emphasizes the importance of the “starting small” learning approach, highlighting that incremental learning is fundamental to human development. Furthermore, the paper refers to the concept of “super-embodiment,” which extends beyond traditional notions of embodiment to include internal organs, metabolism, and mental processes. This idea was proposed by Professor Yasuo Kuniyoshi of the University of Tokyo [3], and Asada and colleagues are incorporating this concept as they seek to elucidate the physical and social underpinnings of abstract concepts. Ultimately, the vision presented aims at the integration of CDR with Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), envisioning a future society in which humans and robots mutually enhance each other’s capabilities and coexist in harmony.
[1] Minoru Asada. Anthology: Cognitive Developmental Humanoids Robotics. International Journal of Humanoid Robotics, Vol.21, No.1, 2450002, 2024.
[2] Minoru Asada and Angelo Cangelosi. Reevaluating development and embodiment in robotics, Device, Vol.2, No.11, pp.100605, 2024.
[3] Yasuo Kuniyoshi. From embodiment to super-embodiment: An approach to open-ended and human aligned intelligence/mind. International Journal of Humanoid Robotics, 21 (01):2350029, 2024.