2025-07-17: Particle Simulator
Published my 3rd demo project
Credit where it’s due.
I got the inspiration for this project after watching this YouTube video.
I also found several browser-based examples online, including this beautifully designed, high-performance simulator: sandbox-science.com/particle-life
.
So I decided to create my own—mostly as a way to refresh my programming muscles.
Not bad for a first simulator attempt, I think.
(The last one I built was a Game of Life implementation—over a decade ago at university.)
I really enjoyed the creative process. It even made me reconsider my career path.
Lately, I’ve been diving into the world of artificial life. Watching and reading Dr. Takashi Ikegami’s interviews on artificial life was fascinating. There’s way more serious research in this area than I expected—blending science, art, and philosophy.
During my research, I also stumbled upon this simulation
, which sparked the idea of defining particle behavior using simple DNA-like rule structures.
My next project
explores that idea—a neural cellular automaton simulator I’m “vibe coding” in JavaScript. I’ve got the basic framework ready but needs lot more refactoring and algorithm checks, before I start fine tuning the rules.
I might actually learn a thing or two about optimizing rule definitions, emergent intelligence, and what it means to measure intelligence.
TODO: Particle Simulator
- Add zoom and follow-cell functionality
- Performance tuning to support 1,000 particles across 5 types at 30 FPS
TODO: Neural Cellular Automaton
- Fix bug where mutation creates invalid neural network.
- Count how long a cell stays in the survival zone (used as a fitness/reward bias)
- Study the optimal mutation rate that supports adaptation to environmental changes