Boids
Boids is the name given to certain interacting objects in a computer simulation. The name comes from a groundbreaking artificial life program that was developed by Craig Reynolds in 1986 to simulate the flocking behavior of birds. He called the simulated objects boids .
Boid-based models represent a form of emergent behavior, i.e. the complexity of the model results from the interaction of the individual agents (in this case the boids) who follow a simple set of rules. In the simplest variant, the following rules apply:
- Separation: choose a direction that counteracts the accumulation of boids
- Alignment: choose a direction that corresponds to the mean direction of the neighboring boids
- Cohesion: choose a direction that corresponds to the middle position of the neighboring boids
Other rules, such as avoiding obstacles or looking for a destination, can be added.
The movement patterns can basically be divided into chaotic (random movement and breaking up of the swarm) and ordered.
The boids model is often used for computer graphics that provide a realistic representation of birds or other living things (fish, sheep), for example in the video game Half-Life from 1998.
Boids are related to the cellular automaton , as they act in the same way depending on their neighbors.