The XML Approach to Synthetic Phenomenology

David Gamez

Department of Computer Science
University of Essex
daogam@essex.ac.uk

Abstract

One of the major challenges in synthetic phenomenology is to find a way of systematically describ- ing artificial non-conceptual phenomenal states. This paper puts forward a solution to this problem that uses three different XML files to describe a machine's structure, internal states and phenome- nology. The advantages of XML are that it can be read by both machines and humans, it is good at capturing hierarchical relationships between data and it can be automatically generated, analysed and archived. XML could also be a useful tool for other methods of representing non-conceptual mental content, such as content realization and ability instantiation. Furthermore, as scanning tech- nologies develop, the XML approach could be applied to the neurophenomenology of humans, which would serve as a foundation for a more scientific psychology of both humans and machines and facilitate precise comparisons between the two. The XML approach outlined in this paper will be used to describe the synthetic phenomenology of Holland s and Troscianko s CRONOS robot that is currently under development at the University of Essex and the University of Bristol.