This chapter addresses embodied social interaction in life-like agents. Embodiment is discussed from both artificial intelligence
and psychology viewpoints. Different degrees of embodiment in biological, virtual and robotic agents are discussed, given
the example of a bottomup, behavior-oriented, dynamic control of virtual robots. A ‘dancing with strangers’ experiment shows
how the same principles can be applied to physical robot-human interaction. We then discuss the issue of sociality which differs
in different academic communities with respect to which roles are attributed to genes, memes, and the individual embodied
agent. We attempt to define social intelligence and integrate different viewpoints in a hierarchy of social organization and
control which could be applied to both artificial and natural social systems. The project AURORA for children with autism
which addresses issues of both human and robotic social agents is introduced. The conclusion points out challenges in research
on embodied socially intelligent life-like agents.