Multimodality and spontaneity in human-computer interactions analogies of ontogeny

The use of developmental analogies in multimodal human-computer interaction reaseaches is proposed in this paper. Unlike in received approaches to multimodal human —computer interaction, multimodality is defined as an inherent property of communication. Three aspects of communication in early infancy is highlighted: (1) amodal perception and intermodal coordination, (2) imitative learning and diadic interaction, (3) gaze following and triadic interaction.