NationStates Jolt Archive

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Animal Controlled Computer Games, a graduation project by Wim van Eck, is a Pac-Man-style game in which humans can play against real insects. The project has been written up in a short paper submitted to the 2006 International Conference on Entertainment. His project parallels part of the plot of Ender's Game, the Hugo and Nebula award-winning novel by Orson Scott Card.

Here's how the animals control the Pac-Man computer game in van Eck's project:
Instead of computer code, I wanted to have animals controlling the ghosts. To enable this, I built a real maze for the animals to walk around in, with its proportions and layout matching the maze of the computer game. The position of the animals in the maze is detected using colour-tracking via a camera, and linked to the ghosts in the game. This way, the real animals are directly controlling the virtual ghosts.
Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20060709/sc_space/liveinsectschallengehumansinbizarrecomputergame

So how humiliating would it be to get beaten at Pac-Man by a bug? And what do the bugs get if they win? And what are the animal rights activists going to say when they find out about this?

When the insects come for us, we'll have no one to blame but this guy...

I, for one, welcome our new geeky, insectoid overlords.

First they'll master Pac-man, then they'll be running our online banking for us and then... we'll be the ones running through mazes dodging virtual threats.

You'll see! You'll all see! With compound eyes, at that...

I, for one, welcome our new geeky, insectoid overlords.
I guess you have a point. Could they really do a worse job of running the planet than humans?

You know what'd be cool? A game of Galaxian with real insects!

You know what'd be cool? A game of Galaxian with real insects!

It'd have to be Galaga.

It'd have to be Galaga.
Yes! Galaga! Wasn't sure which one of those two it was.

I guess you have a point. Could they really do a worse job of running the planet than humans?

Depends on which insect. It would be a cold day in Hell before I let cockroaches take over. They'll nuke us all.

I don't think the bugs are smart enough to actually chase something around.
How would you get the bugs to chase the Pac-Man? I don't get it.

Even if they can get past that, what happens when the bugs get fatigued and cant go on any longer - hahahaha! Victory!

I don't think the bugs are smart enough to actually chase something around.
How would you get the bugs to chase the Pac-Man? I don't get it.

Even if they can get past that, what happens when the bugs get fatigued and cant go on any longer - hahahaha! Victory!
To be fair, though, initiall they didn't chase Pac-Man in the original game, they just went around the maze. That's why "The Pattern" works and there are places you can stay without ever getting hit by a ghost.

If your pac man eats a cherry do you get to kill the bugs for real?

If your pac man eats a cherry do you get to kill the bugs for real?
You have to eat them.

You have to eat them.

Cherries or bugs?

"Sir? Is this going to be a standard mission, or is it just another bug hunt?"

Depends on which insect. It would be a cold day in Hell before I let cockroaches take over. They'll nuke us all.
Nah, in the insect world, cockroaches are the homeless bums on the street corner. The ones we have to worry about are the ants. They're disciplined, efficient, and they outnumber us by at least a million to one.

Nah, in the insect world, cockroaches are the homeless bums on the street corner. The ones we have to worry about are the ants. They're disciplined, efficient, and they outnumber us by at least a million to one.
Leiningen to the rescue!