BoxCar2D.com has programming that has huge potential
BoxCar2D.com is a website that simulates virtual genetics. But instead of creating some sort of life form, the website creates a vehicle with a very clear goal. The goal is to reach the end of a track or course, with variable terrain and difficulty. How far the car gets in the course directly corresponds to the acquired score. What makes things interesting is that the computer tries to create vehicles that do better in the course. But the twist is how it does that. The simulation actually uses virtual chromosomes that keep track of the body, number of wheels, and orientation of the car. So the program can literally, ‘mate’ two cars that may have achieved a decent score, and then create a new car that is a hybrid of the two parents. Although the simulation is quite entertaining and fun…there’s more. The user can actually mark cars that he or she feels are good vehicles. These cars get higher priority in genetic selection. Conversely, a user can ‘down’ a vehicle and basically delete them from the gene pool. This adds a level of dynamics that makes the simulation much more interactive and adds insight to the evolution of the program.
There is tremendous potential for this kind of programming technology to be adapted into a myriad of other fields. These types of virtual genes could be used for a problem solving computer that has to deal with creative ways to deal with flaws in construction. Or another application could be in creating a computer that could better recognize patterns. One computer could have the job of attempting to determine what an image is, and another computer could take that answer and input it into google and determine if there is a pattern match. If the computer does not acquire a match, then the genetic algorithm would not pass on. But if there was a partial match, then the gene could be stored until it could mate with another partially successful match. The program itself could evolve and be recoded and be evaluated in virtual ‘computer time’ and the process of evolution could happen quite quickly. Human interaction could be used to give feedback on the program’s development and guide the process.
This may seem like a very Sci-Fi application of this type of technology, but the potential is really there. I honestly love the BoxCar2D website and I think they are seriously onto something big.
One thing that is mind blowing is that the cars are not indestructible. There is a complete physics engine that can punish a structurally weak car if it takes a jump too hard, or hits the ground at the wrong angle. This is truly virtual evolution in real time.
Click HERE to visit BoxCar2D.com
-Tyler