Theory of Mind (ToM)—a social cognitive ability commonly underdeveloped in individuals with autism—is necessary to attribute mental states to oneself and others. Research into robot-assisted interventions to improve ToM ability in children with autism has become increasingly popular. However, no appropriate task currently exists to measure the degree of efficacy of robot-assisted interventions targeting ToM ability. The authors demonstrate how animation techniques and principles can be leveraged to develop and produce videos of humanoid robots interacting, which could selectively measure ToM.

Agency in Movement is a collection of papers responding to ideas concerning perceptions of life and agency through movement. This quest is part of a research project that explores, practically and theoretically, the animation of lab-grown life: Tissue Engineered Muscle Actuator (TEMA). Here the author introduces different approaches to untangle the relations between life and movement.

Tissue engineering promises to replace and repair body organs but has largely been overlooked for artistic purposes. In the last 6 years, the authors have grown tissue sculptures, “semi-living objects,” by culturing cells on artificial scaffolds. The goal of this work is to culture and sustain for long periods tissue constructs of varying geometrical complexity and size, and by that process to create a new artistic palette to focus attention on and challenge perceptions regarding the utilization of new biological knowledge.