PICO _ SCAN - using body data to create artificial life forms

Artificial Life as a field of research attempts to synthesize life in silico by using computers to create virtual life. By definition life and artificial life should display the following characteristics: self-organization, metabolization, self-reproduction, and adaptive evolution. Until now, most Artificial Life inspired artworks have created artificial characters or creatures that display some kind of behavior but do not really feature all of the above characteristics. The modeling of artificial evolution is a major challenge in Artificial Life research as well as for Artificial Life artworks. In the past we have developed several interactive computer art systems that use artificial life principles in combination with user-machine interaction. [1] The underlying aim of these systems is to study the application of Artificial Life principles to the creation of selfsustaining and evolving interactive artworks. The interaction of the audience with these works has a significant impact on the evolution of the works; by linking the interaction parameters of the users’ interactions to the evolutionary software structure of the system, we aim to create artworks that can interpret and visualize the users’ interaction with these works and furthermore enable adaptive evolution within the works.