Distress, Unite, Collaborate, Disperse 1
Project: Emergence and Navigating Space

Emerging Something From Nothing
After seeing the presentations on different emergent topics, I was inspired to drive my first project in the direction of swarm intelligence and BOIDs. I want to create a system where, based on a small set of rules, creatures will make autonomous actions (according to the surroundings) and achieve some goal that would have otherwise not been attained without the help of accompanying creatures. The process is divided into three parts: Unity, Collaboration, Dispersion.



The idea is as follows: all creatures (or lines that represent creatures) will move at random in whatever direction it feels like. Once a creature comes within a certain range of another creature, the creatures will unite and feed off each others momentum to propel each other fast through the space. Once a creature has maxed out its speed, it'll disperse from the group and continue on its normal rules of movement. The more creatures that join in each other's "momentum cloud", the faster each creature will be able to accelerate. The creatures will rotate about each other in a sinusoidal manner while they're still feeding off each others momentum.

This idea of coming together to propel one another forward, where "something is created from nothing", was inspired by a segment in Kevin Kelly's "Out of Control" book, where it explains that most things in life are "Distributed" beings: "When the sum of the parts can add up to more than the parts, then that extra being (that something from nothing) is distributed among the parts."

In my case, the creatures themselves all want to move faster throughout their space, and the only way that is achieved is through emerging themselves together with the other creatures; that "extra being" is speed, which is distributed to all the creatures who are within each others momentum clouds.

I'm hoping that from this decentralized system, where only autonomous decisions are made on an individual basis, we'll be able to see some fascinating interactions and even more interesting visuals that exhibit the process.

Wed, Jan 16, 2008  Permanent link

Sent to project: Emergence and Navigating Space

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