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Creating Relationships with Computers and Robots 3are interested in learning about and participating in SIA research, but at presentthe only way to learn about the field is to go through and select among a largenumber of widely ‘distributed’ and often difficult to access publications, i.e.journal issues, books, conference and workshop proceedings etc. Our motivationto edit this book was therefore based on the belief that there is a strongdemand for a book that can be used by students, researchers and anybody interestedin learning about Socially Intelligent Agents. The main strength ofthe book is the breadth of research topics presented and the references given atthe end of each chapter, so that researchers who want to work in that field aregiven pointers to literature and other important work not included in the book.The book presents a coherent and structured presentation of state-of-the-artin the field. It does not require the reader to possess any specialist knowledgeand is suitable for any student / researcher with a general background in ComputerScience and/or Artificial Intelligence or related fields (e.g. CognitiveScience, Cybernetics, Adaptive Behavior, Artificial Life etc.). Also, at presentthe growing field of Socially Intelligent Agents has no core text that can beused in university courses. This book fills this gap and might be used in differentcourses for postgraduate studies, and as research material for PhD students,e.g. for studies in Applied Artificial Intelligence, Intelligent and AutonomousAgents, Adaptive Systems, Human-Computer Interaction, or Situated, EmbodiedAI.2. Book Structure and Chapter OverviewsThe remaining thirty-two chapters of this book are organized into two parts.The structure of the book is visually shown in figure 1.2. The first part addressesthe theory, concepts and technology of Socially Intelligent Agents. Thesecond part addresses current and potential applications of Socially IntelligentAgents. The first part of the book has twelve chapters organized in three sectionscovering three major themes, namely relationships between agents andhumans, edited by Alan Bond, agents and emotions/personality edited by LolaCañamero, and communities of social agents, edited by Bruce Edmonds. Thesecond part of the book consists of twenty chapters organized in five sectionscovering the themes of interactive therapeutic agent systems, edited by KerstinDautenhahn, socially intelligent robots, edited by Lola Cañamero, interactiveeducation and training, edited by Kerstin Dautenhahn, social agents in gamesand entertainment, edited by Alan Bond, and social agents in e-commerce,edited by Bruce Edmonds. The content of the sections and chapters is describedin more detail below.Note, that thematically we have strong overlaps between all chapters in thisbook, the division into thematic sections is mainly of practical nature. This