"JavaAntz" - A Boid Ant Simulator

Directions:
Click the mouse to drop some breadcrumbs,then watch...

What is this? How does it work?
See "About this Game"below

Why did I make this?
No, it is not because I have too muchfree time. It's because I'm fascinated with "Boid" algorithms which seek to simulate life's complex patterns with simple algorithms and rules. Also, I really wanted to capitalize on the surge of interest in ants that is bound to happen now that that movie "Antz" is out. Your feedback is appreciated. joeh@goldbay.com Oh yes, one more thing: if you are looking for furniture, or know someone who is, try out http://www.goldbay.com -- fine antique Chinese Furniture.

Aboutthis Game

This game is an example of a simple "Artificial Life" program. Although the ant's behavior looks random, it is not at all.

In the most general terms, each ant is a simple moving thing which travels according to some simple rules.

The Ant Rules
(1) If you don't know where breadcrumbs** are, try to find some.
(2) If you see another ant, ask if they know where bread crumbs are. If they know, head toward them. If not, run away from that ant (because afterall, food probably isn't nearthem if they don't know where food is.)
(3) If you find bread crumbs, takeit back to the hole, and return to the place where you found food (because where there is food, there is probably more food.) If you don't find any crumbs where you thought they were supposed to be, start searching again (and tell other ants there is no food there).

That's it! With those simple rules, the "complex" behavior above results.

**A number of users have commented that the bread crumbs look more like rice than bread crumbs and that in fact ants are more attracted to rice than bread crumbs. You may decide for yourself.

Ants in search of food.

Some ants file in towards the bread crumbs while others head back to the hole carrying crumbs on their backs.

Letters



Date: Friday, November 19, 1999 1:42 AM
To: joeh@goldbay.com
Subject: great!

Hi joe,
your simulation was so great!
I hug you, from Italy...

Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1999 20:57:58 PDT
To: joeh@goldbay.com
Subject: Ant Simulator

Hi Joe,

Very nice and tasteful Ant Simulator. I found your site via "Complex
Adaptive Systems and Artificial Life" of Moshe Sipper. In my quest for
graphical artificial life programs, yours is certainly one of the most
elegant.  

I wish I could work out the following idea for an Artificial Life program:
Bees, in search of honey, pollinate flowers that subsequently get
distributed. The evolutionary interaction between the flowers and the bees
should lead to different life forms.

But I am afraid that in this field there are enough wild idea's.

Best regards,
Amsterdam, Holland

Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 20:57:58 PDT
To: joeh@goldbay.com
Subject: ant mnemonics

HEY JOE!!

nice ant game.  By the way...  About a year ago I encountered 
some very interesting ant behavior, that I hope you could tell me if 
there has been previous record of, or not.  

I was doing some gardening in Eugene, Oregon, the Hare Krishna temple 
to be exact.  When I came across a small group (100+) of very tiny black ants.  
They looked harmless, and as I grew closer I noticed that they had not 
been moving at all!  In fact, they were paired into sets of two, facing 
one another while standing on their hind-legs, while they met each other 
face to face - standing perfectly still with only an ocean of wavering antennae!!  

Perhaps they had evolved into a psychology of utilizing radio waves or 
maybe it is just a religeon or mathematical anomoly of dynamic 
consciousness - and perhaps even, humans may have obtained or, "aquired" 
religeon from the insect realm; even as unlikely as that one sounds 
to most folks, the encounter does bring up emptysightedness about 
the educational, civic, and scientific communities as well as stereotype 
shattering proof that communion exists within the other life forms.  

But as a mythic axiomatic also, we should develope the existential 
perspective of Absolutist; that essentially, we are a conceptuality 
of AND: the 'one' is carried over the soliton equation arriving at "WE", 
when in fact there has been nothing but concern about the psychological 
stability of, 'The Inner Sanctum'.  

However, not too far from the first episode.  I was on a field trip to the 
mountain waterfall just outside of Seattle, of which the 'Krishna's like to 
visit.  Standing at the edge of the parking lot, I found (50+I think) a 
small group of red ants, quite a bit larger than their Oregonian counterparts, 
who moved about 3 steps or so at a time then stopped simultaneously!  This 
was just as amazing.  I watched for some time, and called over one devotee 
to see also what I couldn't believe.  They kept going with a magical mathematical 
awareness that transcended distance, they were one!  

Perfect zen!

Java Antz was written by Joe Heitzeberg in October of 1998 because after careful examination of the internet he found there was "not enough bugs". You can contact him at joeh@goldbay.com

Source