Riedel-Kruse and his lab group have developed the first video games in which a player's actions influence the behavior of living microorganisms in real time – while the game is being played.
These "biotic games" involve a variety of basic biological processes and some simple single-celled organisms (such as paramecia) in combination with biotechnology.
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The player attempts to control the paramecia using a controller that is much like a typical video game controller. In some games, such as PAC-mecium, the player controls the polarity of a mild electrical field applied across the fluid chamber, which influences the direction the paramecia move. In Biotic Pinball, the player injects occasional whiffs of a chemical into the fluid, causing the paramecia to swim one direction or another.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
"Stanford researcher uses living cells to create 'biotic' video games"
Posted by
John
at
6:46 PM
Labels: science, video games