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PROJECT CANCELLED
Create-a-Creature is the working title of a collaborative project with the lovely cuddly people at NESTA's Futurelab and elsewhere. The general idea is to create a large-scale, internet-based, 3D virtual world into which schoolchildren can place creatures that they've constructed themselves. The creatures' behaviour is a natural but complex consequence of their body structure, and whether they survive and reproduce depends on how fit they are for the environment and ecological niche into which they are put. The idea is to help children learn from first-hand experience about ecological ideas and animal behaviour, but also about more abstract concepts such as complexity theory, cybernetics and so on. We are particularly trying hard to avoid the irritating fallacies that these concepts often fall foul of - the idea that top-level predators are somehow "better" than other kinds of creature, for example. Our role is to develop the underlying 3D A-life engine. The prototype development work for this is presently being funded through a NESTA Collaboration Grant, although the project team is looking for national or international funding to bring the idea to fruition. The official web page for the project is here. |
Copyright © 2004 Cyberlife Research Ltd. |
