(Attractiveness vs. Efficiency)
9 Conclusion
The results indicate that mate preferences for arbitrary features may not necessarily inhibit evolution of energy efficiency in all cases, but in some experiments, energy efficiency was inhibited, as in in the experiment in which attractiveness was set to equal lack of movement. In addition to this conclusion, a wealth of discoveries and surprises have resulted, as the populations discovered ways to adapt their phenotypes to increase reproduction.
It is hoped that this paper inspires further, more in-depth explorations in similar artificial worlds, where the search for the perfect mate has an impact on how things evolve.
Future Developments
Now that a simple scheme has been built into the model, enabling swimbots to evaluate a few phenotypic features in potential mates, it would be useful to add more extensive motion feature detectors. For instance, swimbots could respond to features such as uniformity of movement, possibly giving rise to symmetrical swimming styles and anatomies. Pattern-matching could also be used, whereby swimbots generate archetypal periodic motions from a parameter set, which they then compare to motion trajectories detected in potential mates.
Many other developments could be easily envisioned, including the addition of gender to the model, extending the physics to 3 dimensions, and adding motor modulators which respond to additional mental states (such as courting).
Acknowledgements
Special thanks goes to Dr. Will Harvey for his support and suggestions. Thanks also to Michael Kaplan for technical help and fruitful conversations. Much appreciation also goes to Brian Dodd and Bryan Galdrikian for their many insights. Thanks to Frey Waid and Mike Rosenzweig for helpful suggestions.
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