Author Description

This book addresses the question of whether and how current computational approaches to communication can or might be able to accommodate the range ofcomplexities that characterize both human-human and human-machine communication. The chapters in the book are based on papers presented at a NATO Advanced Research Workshop held in Italy in late 1990 where an international group of computer scientists and cognitive scientists met to discuss theoretical and applied issues concerning communication. The initial chapters are more theoretical in nature with an emphasis on formal approaches to communication. The middle chapters focus on particular application issues, such as the generation of multimedia documents and the role of planning in building systems to support human-human or human-machine interaction. The final few chapters consider more general issues relating to communication, such as the influence of social structure on, and the role of affect in communication.