Technosphere III by Jane Prophet and Gordon Selley
(Above)TechnoSphere III (1999) is a three-dimensional, real-time world populated by artificial life forms. The world consists of 16 square kms of terrain capable of supporting approximately 4,000 creatures. They chase, eat, grow, mate and produce offspring that are variants of their parents. Each creature's "fitness for survival" is influenced by the interactions between its attributes and the environment. Each creature therefore behaves slightly differently from the others and, although patterns emerge, it is difficult to predict what any one creature may do from moment to moment. For example, although there is no explicit flocking algorithm in the system, creatures often organize themselves into groups, impelled by mating and feeding attractors.

Museum visitors can create creatures using touchscreen terminals to build creatures from available body parts. Once ported into the TechnoSphere, the creatures can be observed within the world on a series of large projection screens. TechnoSphere raises contentious issues involving virtual life and competitive "Darwinian" machines.

Jane Prophet is an artist based in London, U.K.

(© Jane Prophet and Gordon Selley. Photo: Paul Thompson)
(Contact: Jane Prophet. 43 Stapleton Hall Road, Finsbury Park, London N4 3QF, U.K.
E-mail: jane@cairn.demon.co.uk
Web: http://www.cairn.demon.co.uk/exhibit.htm)


____________________________
| wired worlds | | gallery entrance | | past exhibitions | | Leonardo On-Line |