Morphological Computation and Control Complexity

Abstract

Morphological computation proposes the idea that in a physical system, certain computational processes can be off-loaded to the body. However, the concept has still eluded serious theoretical quantification attempts, unlike traditional computational theory. This perspective examines the notion of morphological computation from the well established theories of traditional computation and computational complexity, drawing parallels between the two, to understand the differences and similarities. Further, we look at the quantification efforts of morphological computation and attempt to link it to the unexplored field of control complexity. We argue that the development of complexity theory for control problems is necessary to study and utilize the concept of morphological computation, if it is possible.