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Visual simulations, artificial animals and virtual ecosystems.

¹Institute of Biomedicine, PO Box 8, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. jyrki.hokkanen@helsinki.fi

The Journal of Experimental Biology

|November 24, 1999

Summary

Computer animation creates artificial life for theoretical biology, simulating locomotion and evolution. Biologists can explore these visual simulations to advance digital biology methods.

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Area of Science:

Computer animation
Theoretical biology
Computational biology

Background:

Computer animation traditionally outside biological sciences.
Focus on creating self-powered artificial life.
Explores biological concepts through simulation.

Purpose of the Study:

Present selected computer animation works relevant to biologists.
Highlight simulations of locomotion, behavior, and evolution.
Encourage adoption of interactive computational methods by biologists.

Main Methods:

Review of computer animation research.
Animated simulations of legged locomotion.
Simulations of flexible-bodied animal movement (swimming, crawling).
Virtual ecosystems with artificial fish.
Automated learning and evolutionary algorithms for virtual creatures.

Main Results:

Demonstration of diverse animated biological simulations.
Visualizations of creature evolution (morphology, locomotion, behavior).
Availability of animations for download.
Intriguing visual simulations presented.

Conclusions:

Computer animation offers novel tools for biological research.
Interactive methods driven by computing power can be leveraged.
Potential to stimulate digitally oriented biologists.

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