Embodiments described herein relate to a method of changing connectivity of a cognitive architecture for animated display of an avatar, which may be a virtual object, a digital entity, and/or a robot, by applying mask variables to connectors linking computing modules. The mask variable may open or close the connector, or more flexibly, the mask variable may modulate the strength of the connector. The operation of applying several mask variables at a time places the cognitive architecture in different behavioral cognitive modes.
Cognitive pattern setup in bodily activator