selforganizing

Nodes placed randomly on the screen organize themselves into circles.

Get started

• npm i
• npm start

Inspiration

This project was inspired by What Do Algorithms Want? by Michael Levin. In the paper he describes placing sorting algorithms on the items to be sorted. I thought that it would be fun to try this with some more visual goals - like, for example - nodes want to organize themselves into circles with their neightbors. The first version was created as a colaboration between Josh On (myself) and Miles Thompson.

Potential next steps

• Understand the reasons why there is often a single node sitting outside a circle in a stable formation.
• Add UI controls for the main values
• Add different circle algorithms
• Make the default values work on any size screen
• Introduce a destruction node that bounces around with a disruptive force on other nodes
• Have some nodes that want to organize themselves into squares... (this is a more complex set of coordination - four nodes will be corners... maybe this is why we don't see a lot of squares in nature...)
• Add lifespans, and reproduction
• Add interactivity
• Have higher level goals - make the circles have objectives - e.g. to find other and circles and share the same center...