Morphological Computing and Physical Levels of Computation

Natural, embodied computation is a computational model of the physical world that in general can be seen as morphological computation on a variety of levels of organization of physical matter. It provides a basis for framing, parameter studies and simulations of physical systems – from nano-scale agents up to cognitive systems and from quantum mechanical to large-scale self-organized astrophysical structures. The aim of this article is to elucidate the relationships between computation, information and morphology on different levels of organization of physical systems, especially those with relevance for biology and robotics.