(Emergent Morphology)
2 Disney Meets Darwin
To imbue computer animated characters with expressive motion behavior for humor and personality
are also goals of this work. Since I have approached this exploration primarily as a visual
artist specializing in animation, the original motivation springs from the art of character
animation and efforts to develop alternative ways to generate complex and expressive motion
art. Strange, monstrous, and comical animats emerging in populations, even as a result of
programming bugs, have been welcomed (the bugs are corrected, while trying to keep the
spirit of serendipity manifest in the system). In the midst of the surreal biodiversity,
familiar-looking forms and motions do emerge, indicating that the system is converging on
solutions akin to those which nature favors. Morphologies and compatible motion styles
usually emerge together. For instance, horse-like shapes emerge along with a propensity
to gallop or trot. One population produced a family of animats which behaved like upright
snakes traveling on crutches - both crutches being moved in parallel. Not that nature
has ever produced such a phenomenon, but if ever there were a snake on crutches,
this animat comes as close as I can imagine it would look.
One outcome of evolution is the appearance of "intention" in the animats' behaviors,
which emerges without explicit design. An animat from an evolved population tends to
make use of each part of its body, even if the associated body part of its ancestors
may have seemed purposeless or even obstructive. For instance, a limb which is not used
for locomotion in the direct way that legs are may become useful as a way to shift the
animat's center of gravity forward during a crucial step to aid in the gait. The net
result is an organic motion in which all the parts are orchestrated towards a common goal.
The best proof of this comes simply from watching an evolved animat do its thing -
as there may be no numerical measure of "style" above and beyond the fitness values
used to determine selection in the GA.
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