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Article: Simulated fish swim through virtual seas. (aquarium simulation mimics natural behavior in fish) (Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- July 16, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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They glide gracefully through water, group into schools, and scatter when pursued by predators. They eat, mate, and teach themselves to swim smoothly. And yet they don't exist physically.
Such artificial fish exist only in a computer netherworld. The fish, displayed on a color monitor, swim together within a supercomputer's processors. Each emanates from an autonomous computer program nested within a larger program, which generates a simple underwater ecosystem.
"Our algorithms try to emulate not only the appearance, locomotion, and behavior of individual animals, but also the complex group behaviors evident in some aquatic ecosystems," says Demetri ...