Brain Maze is a simple little program that grows a funny wobbly
loopy thing. It kind of looks a little like a brain growing. Just watching
it grow can be kind of fun. After it has grown for a while, you can put a question
mark (the question) somewhere outside of it and watch it try to get to
the center of the brain. There in the middle sits an exclamation point! (the
answer)
Brain Maze demonstrates a few things.
On the one hand it demonstrates a technique for generating a fractal-like pattern
via physics: it is a closed loop, consisting of a chain of points, each of which
experience a combination of repulsive forces and attractive forces with other
points, such that it maintains its chain-like topology, yet is free to curl
up in many ways. New points are born at random positions of the loop at a constant
rate. As the loop grows in length, extra curls accumulate within the loop. The
curls are like extra knowledge growing in your brain!
Brain Maze also shows a simple maze algorithm which is inspired by biological
systems and techniques from artificial life. The question is attracted to the
answer, but repelled by the brain's looping walls. It meanders around experiencing
these different forces. The way it actually gets to the answer is by way of
a cute little trick: the question leaves behind a little trail, which it is
repelled by, i.e., it tends to not go where it recently went. With the added
force of "repulsion from past locations", the question can often pull itself
out of a dead-end (but not always!)
Manipulate it!
You can manipulate the brain by selecting a piece of it and pulling it around.
You can also pick up the question or the answer and move them anywhere on the
brain.
The Brain has and Outside and an Inside
Note that you can put the question either on the outside of the brain or inside
of the brain. It is not always easy to tell, in a mature brain, whether a curl
is inside or outside. But if the question is placed outside of the brain, you
will see that it may reach a point close to the answer, but it will never actually
get there!
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