A(rt)Life 2.0
SoFA Gallery Installation Proposal
Norbert Herber, Department of Telecommunications
Larry Yaeger, School of Informatics
Indiana University, Bloomington
Keywords
Artificial Life, music, sound, sound art, animation, flocking behavior, emergence
Abstract
A(rt)Life is an ongoing series of projects that explores the possibilities of music and sound in Artificial Life (A-Life) systems. A-Life, as a field, can also be considered "synthetic biology." Rather than approach research using a traditional top-down methodology A-Life scientists engage in bottom-up processes where synthesis takes the place of analysis. Life is studied not only through observation, but cultivation.
In an A-Life system, virtual organisms called agents cohabitate. They live, die, eat, and mate much like organisms in our physical world. As we find in our physical world, their cohabitation leads to emergence. The simple act of living gives way to extraordinarily complex patterns of self-organization in and across communities.
Emergence, and the patterns it creates, can be found in all strata of carbon-based life, from ant colonies to global economies. Similarly these patterns are a predominant characteristic of the silicon-based A-Life systems used to study various aspects of life. A(rt)Life seeks to reveal the emergent dynamics of these systems as 3D animation and music.
Version 2.0 of A(rt)Life examines the group dynamics and inter-agent relationships that arise from a flocking behavior. In this installation a flock of 200 agents is projected onto the floor of the gallery. Emergence governs their movement; it is poetic yet silent. Agents are revealed as players in the flock's internal orchestra, where their individual dynamics become the driving force of a complex sound world. When agent position and trajectory is translated into a continuous composition, listeners are enveloped in clouds of music representing the sound of the flock and the emergent behavior that drives it.
The algorithm for A(rt)Life 2.0 was developed in Craig Reynolds' OpenSteer (opensteer.sourceforge.net), an open source C++ library of steering behaviors. The music is generated in real time using software developed in Cycling 74's Max/MSP.
Norbert Herber, Department of Telecommunications
Larry Yaeger, School of Informatics
Indiana University, Bloomington
Keywords
Artificial Life, music, sound, sound art, animation, flocking behavior, emergence
Abstract
A(rt)Life is an ongoing series of projects that explores the possibilities of music and sound in Artificial Life (A-Life) systems. A-Life, as a field, can also be considered "synthetic biology." Rather than approach research using a traditional top-down methodology A-Life scientists engage in bottom-up processes where synthesis takes the place of analysis. Life is studied not only through observation, but cultivation.
In an A-Life system, virtual organisms called agents cohabitate. They live, die, eat, and mate much like organisms in our physical world. As we find in our physical world, their cohabitation leads to emergence. The simple act of living gives way to extraordinarily complex patterns of self-organization in and across communities.
Emergence, and the patterns it creates, can be found in all strata of carbon-based life, from ant colonies to global economies. Similarly these patterns are a predominant characteristic of the silicon-based A-Life systems used to study various aspects of life. A(rt)Life seeks to reveal the emergent dynamics of these systems as 3D animation and music.
Version 2.0 of A(rt)Life examines the group dynamics and inter-agent relationships that arise from a flocking behavior. In this installation a flock of 200 agents is projected onto the floor of the gallery. Emergence governs their movement; it is poetic yet silent. Agents are revealed as players in the flock's internal orchestra, where their individual dynamics become the driving force of a complex sound world. When agent position and trajectory is translated into a continuous composition, listeners are enveloped in clouds of music representing the sound of the flock and the emergent behavior that drives it.
The algorithm for A(rt)Life 2.0 was developed in Craig Reynolds' OpenSteer (opensteer.sourceforge.net), an open source C++ library of steering behaviors. The music is generated in real time using software developed in Cycling 74's Max/MSP.
