Reactive Agents and Perceptual Ambiguity

Situated and embodied reactive agents solve relatively complex tasks by coordinating action and perception. Reactive agents are generally believed to be incapable of coping with identical sensory states that require different responses (i.e., perceptual ambiguity). In contrast to reactive agents, non-reactive agents can cope with perceptual ambiguity by storing and integrating sensory information over time. This paper investigates how and to what extent reactive agents can cope with perceptual ambiguity. An active categorical perception model is introduced in which agents categorise objects by coordinating action and perception. The agent’s neurocontrollers are evolutionary optimised for the task. Our results show that reactive agents can cope with perceptual ambiguity despite their incapability to store sensory information over time. An analysis of behaviour reveals that reactive agents use the environment as an external memory.