Collective Behavior - YouTube

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Fish schooling or flocking is a biological mechanism that serves as a basis for collective intelligence in many natural systems. The concept behind this phenomenon is that individual organisms collectively display advanced behavior over and above what would be possible for a single organism alone. Understanding such collective behavior patterns observed in nature can help researchers design computational models of group behavior for applications in various domains. TouchDesigner is a sophisticated platform with many elements for developing complex simulations like this. My simulation aims to emulate the collective biological behavior of fish flocking and swarming. I propose to simulate these conditions using Nvidia Flex-Solver, a powerful tool for computational fluid dynamics that provides a fine-grained simulation of fluid motion with very little computation time. The biomimicry found in the simulation design is inspired by the behavior of fish in schools, where individual fish move together in a coordinated manner. This flocking simulation's design is practical to execute since it draws inspiration from the natural school behavior of fish. Fish follow interaction rules to develop their group behavior. In my simulation, we mimic this behavior and create individuals that move based on their interactions with other group members. This strategy is achievable using Nvidia Flex-Solver to create a large number of particles in real time. Regarding the biodesign scale, my simulation precisely emulates the organismal-level behavior by replicating schools of fish's swarming behavior, which is intricate and ever-changing. Individuals move based on their nearby surroundings, resulting in the collective behavior we sought to model. This modus operandi creates dynamic scaling, effectively building a group model whereby manipulating the number of individuals changes the system configuration. The visualization for my bio-inspired design is represented by a blueprint of the digital environment displaying the flocking simulation and images that include different orientations of the flock as they move around in the simulated environment. The design could be applied to a scaled system such as a marine aquarium, where the visual cues can be observed in a more spatial setting, and the swimming algorithms can be modified to create different behaviors. Flocking and swarming behavior in organisms like fish, have evolved to help them survive as a group. Investigating and emulating such behavior-based systems could help find new bio-inspired approaches in social robotics, traffic control, and manufacturing processes. Understanding the collective behaviors of natural systems through scientific research and computational modeling will also help us design better and more efficient systems for our survival on this planet. In conclusion, my simulation demonstrates the feasibility of modeling biological collective behavior in a digital environment. Furthermore, it is evident how this approach can be helpful to researchers investigating group dynamics in various bio-inspired problem domains. In the future, such work will help designers and engineers take inspiration from nature to create more innovative and effective systems for our biocultural survival. #TouchDesigner #ParticleArt #GenerativeDesign #AudioReactive #LiveVisuals #DigitalArt #InteractiveArt #VisualPerformance #ArtAndTech #CreativeCoding