The long-term goal of our research in the regard of artificial life is
a computational theory that can, potentially, account for the
interplay of locomotion, perception and behavior in higher animals.
We believe that a good touchstone of such a theory is its ability to
produce visually convincing results in the form of realistic computer
graphics animations with little or no animator intervention.
An obvious research direction would address the goals of researchers interested in evolving artificial life. We may be within reach of computational models that can imitate the spawning behaviors of the female fish and fertilization by the male. Through simulated sexual reproduction in a competitive world, gametes representing artificial fish genotypes can be fused to evolve new varieties of artificial fishes. Interestingly, Pokhilko, Pajitnov, et al., have already demonstrated the simulated breeding of fish models much simpler than ours using genetic algorithms, and this idea has resulted in the fascinating computer game program ``El-Fish'' [Corcoran1992].
| Xiaoyuan Tu | January 1996 |