Artificial LIfe ENvironment

Artificial Life ENvironment (ALIEN) is an artificial life simulation tool based on a 2D particle engine specialized in CUDA for soft bodies and fluids. Each simulated body consists of a particle network that can be equipped with high-level functions, ranging from information processing capabilities to physical equipment (sensors, muscles, weapons, constructors, etc.), whose execution is orchestrated by neural networks. The bodies can be considered as agents or digital organisms operating in a common environment. Their construction blueprints can be stored in genomes and transmitted to offspring. The simulation code is written entirely in CUDA and optimized for large-scale real-time simulations with millions of particles.

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• Soft body and fluid physics simulation. The engine simulates the mechanics of soft and rigid bodies, fluids, heat dissipation, damage, and adhesion between particles. Interactions are realistic and allow for the creation of complex structures.
• Genetic system for digital organisms. Multicellular organisms are simulated as particle networks. Their construction blueprints are stored in genomes containing the information for the cell-by-cell construction of offspring.
• Neural networks for function control. Integrated neural networks orchestrate high-level functions, such as controlling sensors to perceive the environment and muscles for movement and interaction.
• Full GPU execution via CUDA. The entire simulation runs on the graphics card using CUDA, allowing it to handle millions of particles in real-time and freeing up the main processor.
• Rendering and interoperability with OpenGL. The graphics engine uses OpenGL for rendering and post-processing, leveraging CUDA-OpenGL interoperability for efficient visualization of simulations.
• Graphical editor for particles and connections. The tool includes a graphical editor to manipulate each particle and the connections between them, allowing for detailed control of the organism's structure.
• Genetic editor for organism design. A specialized editor allows designing custom organisms by directly modifying their genome, defining the arrangement and functions of their cells.
• Support for spatially variable simulation parameters. Simulation parameters, such as gravity or viscosity, can vary in different areas of space, creating heterogeneous and dynamic environments.
• Freehand drawing and geometric tools. To facilitate the creation of structures, freehand drawing tools and geometric shapes are included to streamline the design of environments and agents.
• Mass operations and scaling functions. The program offers functions to apply operations to large groups of particles at once, as well as tools to scale (enlarge or reduce) entire structures.
• Integrated simulation browser. It features a built-in browser that allows exploring, downloading, and uploading simulation files, as well as rating other users' creations with a star system.
• Customizable color system for cell types. Various colors can be used to customize cell types according to one's own specifications, facilitating the visual identification of different parts or functions.

The ALIEN project has been actively developed for several years by a team of programmers led by Jonatan Waern. The first public version dates back to around 2016 and has seen constant evolution since then. An important milestone was version 4.0, released in August 2023, which introduced the genetic system with an editor, neural networks, a fluid solver, and new statistical functions. In July 2024, the project's video Emerging Ecosystems won the Virtual Creatures Competition. The program is written entirely in CUDA and C++, enabling its high performance on Nvidia GPUs. The source code is available under the BSD-3-Clause license.

Alternatives to Artificial LIfe ENvironment:

ProtoEvo Project

El Proyecto ProtoEvo desarrolla un entorno computacional donde entidades similares a protozoos evolucionan su morfología y comportamiento para sobrevivir y reproducirse.

Price: Free   Size: 46.7 MB   Version: 0.3.4   OS: Windows