Future technical systems will be companion systems, competent assistants that provide their functionality in a completely individualized way, adapting to a user’s capabilities, preferences, requirements, and current needs, and taking into account both the emotional state and the situation of the individual user.

This book presents the enabling technology for such systems. It introduces a variety of methods and techniques to implement an individualized, adaptive, flexible, and robust behavior for technical systems by means of cognitive processes, including perception, cognition, interaction, planning, and reasoning. The technological developments are complemented by empirical studies from psychological and neurobiological perspectives.