Meaning in the timing? The emergence of complex pointing patterns

We present observations that suggest that pointing can fulfill not only a deictic but also an iconic function. We discuss the possibility that the iconic patterns emerge mainly because of tight timing and close sequence of a deictic gestures and another, iconic gesture. Thus, instead of overloading single gesture performances with deictic and iconic information at the same time, complex pointing patterns is hypothesized to emerge from two distinct gestures that convey meanings so tightly related that the movements are triggered and generated either closely one after the other or even in overlap. We hypothesize that effects due to the biological constraints of the human body and co-articulation as well as the time characteristics involved in this form of incremental gesture thinking may have a significant impact on the resulting gesture pattern. This performance may, in turn, be perceived and interpreted by the observer as complex in terms of different forms of information. We tested this alternative hypothesis by analyzing empirical data on pointing in mother-child dialogues. In addition, we simulated the emergence of pointing patterns using an artificial system, the virtual human MAX, whose motor control model is able to fluently blend independent, successive gestures that can be exactly timed.