I'm not entirely sure what to think of this project. However, it is certainly very interesting. This group is developing artificial life via what they call "Framsticks". It is an attempt at creating artificial life forms that evolve into higher and higher functioning beings using neural networks for control and genetic algorithms for breeding more advanced, capable Framsticks. I suppose you could think of it as a less cuddly version of "Creatures".

The sticks that comprise the body are specialized for things such as touch, smell, locomotion, ingestion, and even defense. They go into great detail on the site about how the NNs are trained and how they are applied to the Framsticks.

There are numerous (large!) videos and many pictures on the site showing some of the Framsticks in action. You can also download the software - although I admit that I haven't done that yet. If any of you do get a chance to play around with it, I ask that you stop back by and comment on it.

Labels: ANN, Framsticks, genetic algorithm, learning, research