Nerve garden: germinating biological metaphors in net‐based virtual worlds

Abstract

Nerve Garden is a biologically‐inspired multi‐user collaborative 3D virtual world available to a wide Internet audience. The project combines a number of methods and technologies, including L‐systems, Java, cellular automata, and virtual reality modeling language. Nerve Garden is a work in progress designed to provide a compelling experience of a virtual terrarium which exhibits properties of growth, decay and energy transfer reminiscent of a simple ecosystem. The goals of the Nerve Garden project are to create an on‐line “collaborative artificial life laboratory” which can be extended by a large number of users for purposes of education and research.

Citation

Damer, B., Marcelo, K. and Revi, F. (2003), "Nerve garden: germinating biological metaphors in net‐based virtual worlds", Kybernetes, Vol. 32 No. 1/2, pp. 174-183. https://doi.org/10.1108/03684920310452391