Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

International Conference on Evolutionary and Biologically Inspired Music and Art

EvoMUSART 2015: Evolutionary and Biologically Inspired Music, Sound, Art and Design pp 224–235Cite as

Biological Content Generation: Evolving Game Terrains Through Living Organisms

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 9027))

Abstract

This study explores the concept of evolving game terrains through intermediation of living biological organisms and presents a proof of concept realization thereof. We explore how fungal and bacterial cultures can be used to generate an evolving game terrain in real-time. By visually capturing growing cultures inside a Petri-dish, heightmaps are generated that form the basis of naturally evolving terrains. Possible consequences and benefits of this approach are discussed, as are its effects on the visual appearance of simulated terrains. A novel and convenient method for visually capturing growing microorganisms is presented, with a technical description for translating captured footage to virtual terrains. This work is experimental in nature and is an initial venture into the novel domain of organically growing virtual terrains.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Hendrixk, M., Meijer, S., Van Der Velden, J., Iosup, A.: Procedural content generation for games: a survey. ACM Trans. Multimed. Comput. Commun. Appl. (TOMCCAP) 9(1), 1:1–1:22 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Lamers, M.H., van Eck, W.: Why simulate? hybrid biological-digital games. In: Di Chio, C., et al. (eds.) EvoApplications 2012. LNCS, vol. 7248, pp. 214–223. Springer, Heidelberg (2012)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  3. Perlin, K.: An image synthesizer. ACM siggraph Comput. Graph. 19(3), 287–296 (1985)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Weibel, D., Wissmath, B., Habegger, S., Steiner, Y., Groner, R.: Playing online games against computer- vs. human-controlled opponents: effects on presence, flow, and enjoyment. Comput. Hum. Behav. 24(5), 2274–2291 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Young, D.: Lumberjacked (2005). http://rhizome.org/artbase/artwork/35526/

  6. Tan, R.K.C., et al.: MetazoaLudens: mixed reality interactions and play for small pets and humans. Leonardo 41(3), 308–309 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. van Eck, W., Lamers, M.H.: Animal controlled computer games: playing pac-man against real crickets. In: Harper, R., Rauterberg, M., Combetto, M. (eds.) ICEC 2006. LNCS, vol. 4161, pp. 31–36. Springer, Heidelberg (2006)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  8. Riedel-Kruse, I.H., Chung, A.M., Dura, B., Hamilton, A.L., Lee, B.C.: Design, engineering and utility of biotic games. Lab Chip 11, 14–22 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Alfrink, K., van Peer, I., Lagerweij, H., Driessen, C., Bracke, M.: Playing with pigs (2012). http://www.playingwithpigs.nl/

  10. Vermeulen, A.: Biomodd (2007). http://www.biomodd.net/

  11. van Eck, W., Lamers, M.H.: Hybrid biological-digital systems in artistic and entertainment computing. Leonardo 46(2), 151–158 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Rinaldo, K.: Augmented fish reality (2004). http://kenrinaldo.com/

  13. Hertz, G.: Cockroach controlled mobile robot (2004). http://www.conceptlab.com/roachbot/

  14. van Eck, W., Lamers, M.H.: Hybrid biological digital games blog. http://biodigitalgames.com/

Download references

Acknowledgments

Preliminary results of this study were presented at the symposium “What’s Next for Procedural Content?” at IT University of Copenhagen, November 2014. We thank the participants for their useful feedback and comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Media Technology Research Group, Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Wim van Eck & Maarten H. Lamers

  2. Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Wim van Eck

Authors
  1. Wim van Eck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Maarten H. Lamers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wim van Eck .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom

    Colin Johnson

  2. University of A Coruña, A Coruña, Spain

    Adrian Carballal

  3. University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    João Correia

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

van Eck, W., Lamers, M.H. (2015). Biological Content Generation: Evolving Game Terrains Through Living Organisms. In: Johnson, C., Carballal, A., Correia, J. (eds) Evolutionary and Biologically Inspired Music, Sound, Art and Design. EvoMUSART 2015. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9027. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16498-4_20

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16498-4_20

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16497-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16498-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation