Richard Dawkins, genetic theorist, created the biomorph algorithm in his book "The Blind Watchmaker", in order to explain his theory of genetic determinism. Although they can look very complex, the images that the program creates actually have a very simple set of instructions.
An implementation of the algorithm in a java applet is here.
http://www.phy.syr.edu/courses/mirror/biomorph/Each biomorph in the Blind Watchmaker algorithm has the following 15 genes:
genes 1-8 control the overall shape of the biomorph,
gene 9 the depth of recursion,
genes 10-12 the colour of the biomorph,
gene 13 the number of segmentations,
gene 14 the size of the separation of the segments,
gene 15 the shape used to draw the biomorph (line, oval, rectangle, etc).
These kind of drawing rules could be very easily put into play by the flash drawing api.
Blackshoals project is a realtime graphical representation of the stockmarket in a planetarium. Each star corresponds to a different trading company, and they move and grow dependent on real time information streams coming into the simulation. Artificial life forms live within the simulation feeding the light from these stars.
The project website has some interesting observations and materials relating to a-life.
http://www.blackshoals.net/
Ernst Haeckel illustrations.
Heres some examples of some lovely illustrations of different biological specimens by Ernst Haeckel. He was a biologist and responsible for a number of important theories about evolution (and some pretty dodgy ones too).
You can see some really nice subtle variations on forms and simple shapes that might inspire you thinking about biological bodies.
Heres a link to a huge collection of very large high quality scans of his work at Berlin Natural History Museum.
Haeckel ScansI'll admit that I'm not sure exactly what creatures that these images are of- but they're certainly organisms.
Organism Project Materials
Thanks to everyone for great input so far, already some great ideas taking shape.
I’ll be sending out a group email to confirm our meetings for next week, the timetable changes are a tad confusing.
I'm going to post any interesting and relevant projects here for you to check out as the project goes on, as well as anything good you find yourselves- I'm posting the main sections of the lecture notes as a quick reference here if you need it.
Project BriefThe project brief is to design and create an organism, so below we'll look at the ideas that surround this in more detail.
An organism is a life form or structured entity that resembles a life form. The aim of this project is to take an open an creative approach to your conceptualising your idea for the organism, idea first, technology later.
Your organism- or organisms- should demonstrate 'lifelike' qualities such as physical body, it should change over time, react to elements in its environments or other objects around it and should have variable qualities.
Forms of LifeAmoebas and protozoa,
Cells,
Simple invertebrates,
Insects,
Reptiles and Mammals.
Plants and plankton.
Also there are some that are unsure-
Prions and viruses- self replicating structures - systems - artifical life forms
Larger forms of life are actually collections of these things-
for instance- a human being is actually made up of a number of co-operating groups of different cellular life forms.
"It would not be too far-fetched to say that the extermination of mankind begins with the extermination of germs." [ Jean Baudrillard ]
Is something that self replicates alive?
Henrietta Lacks
Viruses
Computer Viruses
Prions
Some attributes of life to consider in your designs;Complex - they often have multiple levels of different structural organisations, such as a hive of bees, cells, structured to create individual bees, that then create the hive that then operate as part of an ecosystem.
From micro to macro levels.
Reproduction - Genetic systems - Life forms change throughout generations in response to environmental factors. Natural selection does this by mixing the gene pool with each generation in the hope that particularly successful hybrids will result.
Self organising - Emergence - very large groups of very simple beings can demonstrate very complex behaviours- such as nest building insects, using a simple system of rules they create large and intricate structures.
Swarm theory.
Responsive - Many animals have none or very small brains, and simply respond automatically to stimuli- however that response can appear to have clear intention.
Metabolism - Relies on food or other fuels - converts one substance into another, consumes other life forms or material from them (amino acids).
Growth- resulting from the metabolisation of material.
Movement- Almost all life forms have the ability to move under their own will.
Internal agency- Intention and intelligence.The intelligence of a being may be contained in its structure and also in mental tissue and heigher level processing.
Artificial Life and Artificial Intelligence Research.A-life and AI research usually have one of two purposes, the generation of novel, interactive, complex or beautiful artworks or the understanding of life by modelling it- attempting to re-create it.
Steve Grand's Lucy project is all about creating intelligent life from the bottom up. Steve thinks that artificial intelligence will be impossible without a body for the mind to use.
http://www.cyberlife-research.com/people/steve/
Ken Renaldo's work with robots.
Autopoesis is a robotic work which responds to humans using an array of very simple sensors. However the group of robots working together in tandem gives the viewer the impression that they have internal agency and intention.
http://accad.osu.edu/~rinaldo/
Paul BrownPaul Brown is an artist who uses cellular automata to control time based drawings.
http://www.paul-brown.com/
Cellular automata are mathematical games that display interesting patterns and behaviour. The first, and most famous of these is Conway's Game of life, created by mathematician John Conway whilst trying to discover a life like mathematical system that would display self replicating properties. The game of life was originally painstakingly played out on a paper grid, with one sheet for each turn, or on a go-board.
Game of life rules
For a space that is 'populated':
Each cell with one or no neighbours dies, as if by loneliness.
Each cell with four or more neighbours dies, as if by overpopulation.
Each cell with two or three neighbours survives.
For a space that is 'empty' or 'unpopulated'
Each cell with three neighbours becomes populated.
http://www.bitstorm.org/gameoflife/
