People spontaneously synchronize their mental states and behavioral actions when they interact. This paper models general mechanisms that can lead to the emergence of interpersonal synchrony by multiple agents with internal cognitive and affective states. In our simulations, one agent was exposed to a repeated stimulus and the other agent started to synchronize consecutively its movements, affects, conscious emotions and verbal actions with the exposed agent. The behavior displayed by the agents was consistent with theory and empirical evidence from the psychological and neuroscience literature. These results shed new light on the emergence of interpersonal synchrony in a wide variety of settings, from close relationships to psychotherapy. Moreover, the present work could provide a basis for future development of socially responsive virtual agents.@en

Resonance, a powerful and pervasive phenomenon, appears to play a major role in human interactions. This article investigates the relationship between the physical mechanism of resonance and the human experience of resonance, and considers possibilities for enhancing the experience of resonance within human–robot interactions. We first introduce resonance as a widespread cultural and scientific metaphor. Then, we review the nature of “sympathetic resonance” as a physical mechanism. Following this introduction, the remainder of the article is organized in two parts. In part one, we review the role of resonance (including synchronization and rhythmic entrainment) in human cognition and social interactions. Then, in part two, we review resonance-related phenomena in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). These two reviews serve as ground for the introduction of a design strategy and combinatorial design space for shaping resonant interactions with robots and AI. We conclude by posing hypotheses and research questions for future empirical studies and discuss a range of ethical and aesthetic issues associated with resonance in human–robot interactions.

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