165:, which were variants of the parents, sometimes incorporating aspects of both parents and other times favoring one parent creature's attributes over the others. General behavior patterns had emerged, but it was difficult to predict what was going to happen based solely on a creature's design. The one thing all TechnoSphere creatures did have in common was that they would all eventually die.
154:" was linked to each component and the completed creature's attributes (speed, visual perception, rate of digestion, etc.) was determined by the combination of each feature's strengths and weaknesses—their "fitness for survival." Once a creature design was finished, users would name their digital creature, tag it with their
120:
Physically, the virtual landscape of TechnoSphere consisted of 16 km of terrain. It was capable of supporting approximately 4,000 creatures, though other sources suggest that as many as 20,000 creatures typically would coexist in the virtual environment at one time. After the relaunch, it was
168:
There was only one gender in TechnoSphere, so the creature that initiated mating was the parent that ended up carrying and caring for the offspring. Creature behavior was directed by a set of algorithms called
Creature Comforts, designed by Julian Saunderson. It dictated, for example, that mating
104:
TechnoSphere was a real-time, 3D simulation of an environment that was populated by virtual creatures. Users across the globe had the capability to create their own creatures through a website. TechnoSphere III, one of many incarnations of the original design, used an artificial life program and
205:
Many museums and educators found the digital ecology interesting and some teachers even used TechnoSphere as a teaching tool. The technological innovations and digital images produced by the project were of such interest that temporary installations were put in at several museums, including the
196:
One report described the project's popularity by citing that the online version had attracted over a 100,000 users who had created 3,286,148 and growing creatures. Over the years in which the website was operating, the growing popularity facilitated necessary updates to the server software and
125:
algorithm written into the program, creatures could be found organizing themselves into groups, most likely impelled by urges to mate and eat. The programs that supported the website were scalable, and could be modified to support a larger or smaller community of creatures.
121:
explicitly stated that the software limited the number of creatures at 200,000. Because each creature's behavior was unique, no single event could have been predicted, though some significant patterns developed. For example, even though there was no explicit
238:
terminals and then released them immediately into the TechnoSphere. Once in the digital environment, the creatures could be observed within the world on a series of large projection screens, further expanding the popularity of the project.
189:
135:
28:
109:, which were governed by a complex set of rules and algorithms that determined how the virtual ecosystem reacted. The program was capable of modeling such concepts as simple
408:
176:
When significant events occurred in the TechnoSphere, a user's creature would send brief email messages "home." Users were also able to visit the website and view
117:. Despite limited available creature designs, no two would ever behave in the same way, due to chance interactions with its environment and other creatures.
342:
272:
Prophet, Jane. (1996). Sublime ecologies and artistic endeavors: Artificial life and interactivity in the online project "TechnoSphere".
370:
382:
367:- Jane Prophet. Agents of Change: the photographers guide to the future. Fifth National Photography Conference. 22–24 September 1995.
352:
376:
364:
61:
and Dr. Gordon Selley, TechnoSphere was a place where users from around the globe could create creatures and release them into the
358:
96:. The experiment operated online until 2002. It was relaunched on January 15, 2007, but became offline again as of November 2012.
77:
that determined each creature's unique behavior based on their components and interactions with each other and their environment.
223:
398:
318:
69:." Earlier incarnations of TechnoSphere did not have the advantage of web-accessible 3D graphics, but was still governed by
215:
40:
303:
290:
180:
snapshots of their creature, check family trees, "world" statistics, and search for other creatures and their users.
248:
403:
88:
began to grow. Many museums and classrooms found the tool to be a valuable complement to learning material on
337:
207:
170:
177:
62:
122:
227:
50:
355:- Gordon Selley. 4D Dynamics Conference, 20–21 September 1995. De Montford University, England.
361:- Jane Prophet. European Media Art Festival. Kunsthalle, Osnabruck, Germany September 9, 1995.
114:
106:
89:
32:
173:
of digital DNA) could only be initiated if both creatures' hunger was at least 50% satiated.
35:
of TechnoSphere. The trees were positioned with a seeding algorithm created by Gordon Selley.
322:
81:
66:
222:, Australia), and the Donald R. and Joan F. Beall Center for Art and Technology at the
155:
142:
Users accessing the site were able to create their own artificial life forms, building
85:
54:
192:
A screenshot of the web interface where users were able to choose creature components.
392:
150:
from a select few component parts (heads, bodies, eyes, and wheels). Their "digital
379:- A report on TechnoSphere version I by Julian Saunderson (edited by Jane Prophet).
70:
315:
161:
There they chased or evaded each other, ate, grew, and mated. They also produced
235:
231:
162:
147:
143:
110:
93:
74:
17:
373:- Jane Prophet. Virtual Futures Conference. Warwick University 27 May 1995.
188:
134:
27:
211:
219:
49:
was an online digital environment launched on
September 1, 1995 and
197:
hardware, causing website downtime and often slow response times.
187:
133:
26:
138:
Some TechnoSphere creatures roaming around in the 3D environment.
302:
Prophet, Jane. (n.d.). TechnoSphere website. Available online:
151:
206:
National Museum of
Photography, Film and Television (now the
58:
385:- A report on TechnoSphere version II by Rycharde Hawkes.
365:"TechnoSphere: a case study in networked collaboration"
338:
June 25, 2003 internet archived version of the website
316:The Information page on the Technosphere website
234:, [US). Museum visitors created creatures using
158:, and enter it into the digital environment.
65:environment, described by the creators as a "
8:
377:"Report on the Artificial Life Environment"
80:The online program was one of many digital
268:
266:
264:
409:Internet properties established in 1995
343:Association for Heritage Interpretation
260:
7:
285:Leonardo. (2000). TechnoSphere III.
353:"An A-Life Ecology on the Internet"
25:
224:University of California, Irvine
84:simulations that evolved as the
1:
216:Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre
383:"Get-A-Life Munchy Morsels"
289:, 33(2). Available online:
425:
249:Digital organism simulator
38:
57:university. Created by
399:Artificial life models
193:
139:
36:
208:National Media Museum
201:Museums and education
191:
137:
30:
39:For other uses, see
53:on a computer at a
321:2007-05-16 at the
194:
140:
107:fractal landscapes
37:
345:- Prophet, Jane.
276:, 29(5): 339-344.
115:carrying capacity
90:natural selection
33:fractal landscape
16:(Redirected from
416:
404:Science websites
359:"Digital Beings"
325:
313:
307:
300:
294:
283:
277:
270:
21:
424:
423:
419:
418:
417:
415:
414:
413:
389:
388:
334:
329:
328:
323:Wayback Machine
314:
310:
301:
297:
287:L E O N A R D O
284:
280:
271:
262:
257:
245:
203:
186:
132:
102:
82:artificial life
67:digital ecology
44:
23:
22:
15:
12:
11:
5:
422:
420:
412:
411:
406:
401:
391:
390:
387:
386:
380:
374:
368:
362:
356:
350:
340:
333:
332:External links
330:
327:
326:
308:
295:
278:
259:
258:
256:
253:
252:
251:
244:
241:
202:
199:
185:
182:
156:e-mail address
131:
128:
101:
98:
86:World Wide Web
24:
14:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
421:
410:
407:
405:
402:
400:
397:
396:
394:
384:
381:
378:
375:
372:
369:
366:
363:
360:
357:
354:
351:
348:
344:
341:
339:
336:
335:
331:
324:
320:
317:
312:
309:
305:
299:
296:
292:
288:
282:
279:
275:
269:
267:
265:
261:
254:
250:
247:
246:
242:
240:
237:
233:
229:
225:
221:
217:
213:
209:
200:
198:
190:
183:
181:
179:
174:
172:
171:recombination
166:
164:
159:
157:
153:
149:
145:
136:
129:
127:
124:
118:
116:
112:
108:
99:
97:
95:
91:
87:
83:
78:
76:
72:
68:
64:
60:
56:
52:
48:
42:
34:
29:
19:
371:"Get A-Life"
347:TechnoSphere
346:
311:
298:
286:
281:
273:
204:
195:
175:
167:
160:
141:
119:
103:
79:
73:and similar
71:chaos theory
59:Jane Prophet
47:TechnoSphere
46:
45:
41:Technosphere
31:Part of the
18:TechnoSphere
236:touchscreen
100:Description
393:Categories
255:References
232:California
184:Popularity
169:behavior (
148:herbivores
144:carnivores
94:ecosystems
75:algorithms
163:offspring
130:Creatures
111:evolution
319:Archived
274:Leonardo
243:See also
212:Bradford
123:flocking
214:, UK),
228:Irvine
220:Sydney
51:hosted
304:HTML
291:HTML
113:and
92:and
210:) (
152:DNA
146:or
395::
263:^
230:,
178:2D
63:3D
55:UK
349:.
306:.
293:.
226:(
218:(
43:.
20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
