Karl Sims - Evolved Virtual Creatures, Evolution Simulation, 1994

[kevindias12]

can this game be played online?

[jorgegt60]

Don't know what all the fuss is about, they're just doing what they have been programmed to do. If you really wish to be amazed take a look at what takes place inside every cell. Now there you will find trully amazing programming, only this time it's from the mind of God not man.

[seebeess]

@jorgegt60 The amazing part is that the looks and behaviors of and those creatures were not programmed, but rather they evolved from some non-sense creatures to behave in the way you see now.

[aseacucumber07]

@jorgegt60 What you see here is man exploring the means God used to create us, only we've just barely scratched the surface... the complexity of genetic algorithms' correct implementation are a testament to just how obscenely intelligent our maker is. Implementing GAs are a lot of fun too- I would go as far as to call them a spiritually enlightening process, given the vast number of parallels between them and intelligent design, or at least from a higher level, appeal to the creative side.

[sulljoh1]

Now call me naive but why can't we use this AL process to generate low energy/carbon vehicles, devices and buildings? Look at those innovative solutions the program is finding to difficult problems. The world has a lot of difficult problems to solve right now...

[aseacucumber07]

@sulljoh1 They already are : )

[sulljoh1]

@aseacucumber07 Are they? I've been digging though the literature. All I find are Koza/Holland type GAs being used to solve constrained optimization problems in engineering. These creatures are developed using evolvable instruction sets to find solutions that look, frankly, creative.

If you know of any techniques more like Sims' being used in industry I'd really appreciate a reference or link!

[aseacucumber07]

@sulljoh1 Ehhh my understanding is that they're mostly constrained problems in the industry, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were something else happening with them. In terms of literally evolving a car from the ground up, I have no idea. There are even car commercials that mention the use of GAs, though. Engineers may only know to apply GA algorithms in constrained ways, since that's the only way Excel allows ; )

[sulljoh1]

@aseacucumber07 We're a long way from evolving a car from the ground up. Nature has the great advantage of processing power, which sounds strange, but try calculating the path of a rock falling down a complex hill in every detail.

I was part of a project where we optimized wind harvesting design for power output and increased it by over 30% but we didn't get any creative problem solving like Karl's evolvable instruction sets here, and I don't know anywhere that is happening, sadly.

[aseacucumber07]

@sulljoh1 I mean, GAs are principally used as an optimization algorithm- this video shows an initially random hunk of blocks being optimized for its environment. Also, it may seem creative, but GAs can be used to evolve tree graphs and other arbitrarily sized structures (like acyclic graph NNs and even parse trees interpreted as programs! Look up Genetic Programming- it's terrifyingly awesome.) The "growing" aspect is probably a difficult feature to make user-friendly to engineers, though.

[th3keyofawesome]

0:16 its a sperm cell

[calabiyauasaurus]

My ex had this at some point, anyone know where to find it?

[MienMedia]

How strange is the one that just wants to hit the other one? Very interesting.

[kei1010101010]

They... Are... CUTE! :3

[1949rickray]

Evolution is awesome, too bad I won't be around long enough to see more of it. Check out what's happening with the macaque monkeys in Japan...evolution in its process.

[josephknightcom]

@1949rickray What? I looked but I can't find specifically what you're referring to. What's happening with the Macaques?

[DevilMaster]

I find it hilarious that a guy named SIMS developed virtual creatures.

[SergeantLedge]

@DevilMaster mind = blown

[konstiblum]

this is so old and still better than all the stuff that came after his work.

[lytealight]

cant hear!!

[scotchfaster]

One of the most impressive programs ever written. Even in 2011, this is still amazing.

[31rS3RP3N7]

0:26... those are from mah penis.

[TheSonOfDumb]

@31rS3RP3N7

Not fucking funny.

[swastikaPOWER]

um what dimension is this

[haribharadwaj1]

I'd like a creationist's opinion on this video :)

[tehcheeseitman]

"flail randomly" that made me laugh lol

[wiseye61]

what happens if you let the program run for a few mouths without interraptions? maybe an interesting "creature" will arise and we would use it as a blueprint to make machines that use the same technique to move and function.

Dear god, someone tell me If this has been tried?

[therealsean4u]

@wiseye61 - sorry to be 5 months late but you'd be interested in Lipson and Pollack's work. It took a bit of finding on YouTube, but what you're looking for is at the end of this clip about the Golem project. That was quite a long time ago, maybe somebody has something better?

v=ifTFCH80xF0

[wiseye61]

@therealsean4u

thanks! :D

[therealsean4u]

@wiseye61

Search for the Golem Project - Hod Lipson and Jordan(?) Pollack. It's a long time ago, so there might be something a bit more recent than that,

[couldbecowboy]

I bet the render time took months

[couldbecowboy]

These graphics are terrible!!! When was this made??? Like '94 or something?

[Theokondak]

its not supposed to be a video game.Its is supposed to be a research program build to emulate Darwinian evolution.Check Video info for more.

[1tabligh]

@Theokondak its not supposed to be a video game.Its is supposed to be a research program build to emulate Darwinian evolution.

_____

Many new questions in regard to almost every principle mentioned by Darwin have arisen. For example, it is asked whether the appearance of a new organ or for that matter any other organic change, always results from the use of that organ and the attempt to adapt it to one's environment or it may be due to mutation or any other cause? ...

[laflugantabastardo]

@1tabligh

This was copypasted from:

al-islam org/philosophyofislam/11 htm

Still copypasting, I see? :-)

[1tabligh]

The acquired qualities are hereditable as a principle or genetic investigations have rejected this theory?

The organic changes, whatever may be their cause, are always aimed at survival and evolution or sometimes they may be due to the inconsistency with the environmental conditions and may culminate in death and extinction?

Natural selection is or is not like artificial selection which leads the existing generation to evolution?

[Tigrou7777]

read the title cowboy....

[theprotolight]

I once made a 2d simulation like this. It had little circles that had to mutate to survive. The only variable that changed (that affected genetic selection) was their radius. The bigger ones ate the little ones but the little ones reproduced faster. They also had random color changes. After a few minutes of watching the simulation you would see hundreds of colorful circular organisms evolve of all different sizes.

[Nphyx]

@theprotolight That's funny, I did something similar to that, but mine were light-based; the more light they had, the brighter they were. Beyond a certain threshold they'd divide, splitting the light content between the two children. Below a certain threshold they'd die. I haven't got around to finishing the inheritance code yet so they're given random genetics right now, and I keep the available light level constant to stabilize the population, but it is a fun little experiment.

[elementpollo]

awesome!

[AngilasGuy]

Where can I get this for my computer

[ShrapnelSong]

Any info on this program?

[heatmourning33]

this is amazing

[emadof007]

i sow that long ago and was amazed happy i found it

[dvdgensler]

1994?WOW