This narrated computer animation shows results from a research project involving simulated Darwinian evolutions of virtual block creatures. A population of several hundred creatures is created within a supercomputer, and each creature is tested for their ability to perform a given task, such the ability to swim in a simulated water environment. The successful survive, and their virtual genes containing coded instructions for their growth, are copied, combined, and mutated to make offspring for a new population. The new creatures are again tested, and some may be improvements on their parents. As this cycle of variation and selection continues, creatures with more and more successful behaviors can emerge.
The creatures shown are results the final products from many independent simulations in which they were selected for swimming, walking, jumping, following, and competing for control of a green cube.
Director: Karl Sims
15 Comments
garshThat was actually pretty neat! Upvote!
bloodymariosays...O yeah, you think evolution is so great? Let's see if this video can evolve all the way to the top.
coreburnsays...This reminds me of a game called Sumotori Dreams.
Found here: http://web.t-online.hu/archee83/sumotori/ but better described here: http://www.fun-motion.com/physics-games/sumotori-dreams/
bamdrewDire Straits totally rules...
flyingkitty67I'm really not that impressed.
8756Aaah ... Genetic algorithms. Really nice. These works by Karl Sims are very famous in the Artificial Intelligence community. The great deal with this is that it mixes genetic algorithms and artificial neural networks.
ThrobbinAnd how do we know that WE are not the ones in the machine, being pitted against each other for the green cube?
AeroMechanicalsays...The green cube is a lie.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
vairetubegood
viewer_999I admit I'm always terribly fascinated by these, and have often wished my programming skills were better than they are so that I could design such systems myself.
ridesallyridencsays...gold star, green cube... what's the difference?
deedub81I'm baffled how this got (at this point 79) so many votes.
ReverendTedAnything that even smells of an anti-creation viewpoint gets "teh voets".
I would like to learn more about the simulation parameters, though - evolutionary simulation is definitely a fascinating topic. TO THE INTERNET!
winkler1Maybe it's the appropriate hockey gesture.
viewer_999Ugh, it's not about being anti-religion, and it's not just some prebaked creatures they placed into a test box to see how they behave. The researchers create a set of rules by which elementary living objects thrive, die, and change. The life forms shown in the video are the result of gradual evolutionary processes. Each time you run the simulation, you'd get different results. The geek's ultimate dream is that someday these types of simulations could be so sophisticated that if allowed to run unchecked, sentient AI could result. Even the stuff they show above is freaking wild, in my opinion.
That's what's so cool about it. It's like a box you shake up and watch what comes out.
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