This interactive is built for a mouse and a larger screen, and runs poorly on phones. For the full experience, open it on a computer.
Click to occlude, double-click to place a creature. Switch between transient and fixed occlusions.
All embodied agents are fundamentally patterns in physiological or other excitable media, blurring the distinction between objects and processes. What competencies do these patterns possess? We equip the creatures from Chan's Lenia with the capacity to sense regions of occlusion, via a biologically inspired modification to the update rule. These occlusions act as obstacles and are received in a variety of ways. When not immediately destroyed, many creatures steer away from occlusions — some immediately, some only after turning toward the obstacle. Occlusions can serve to push a creature into a new dynamical regime, changing its morphology and by proxy, its identity. Occasionally, occlusions provoke the generation of a second, identical creature. Response depends jointly on the occlusion's size, shape, and placement relative to the creature's heading and on the parameters of the creature itself.
where is the binary occlusion mask (1 occluded, 0 visible) and the denominator renormalizes by the kernel mass landing on visible ground.