Introduction

JohnnyVon is an implementation of self-replicating automata in continuous two-dimensional space. Two types of particles drift about in a virtual liquid. The particles are automata with discrete internal states but continuous external relationships. Their internal states are governed by finite state machines but their external relationships are governed by a simulated physics that includes Brownian motion, viscosity, and spring-like attractive and repulsive forces. The particles can be assembled into patterns that can encode arbitrary strings of bits. If an arbitrary "seed" pattern is put in a "soup" separate individual particles, the pattern will replicate by assembling the individual particles into copies of itself. We also show that, given sufficient time, a soup of separate individual particles will eventually spontaneously form self-replicating patterns. JohnnyVon has implications for research in nanotechnology, theoretical biology, and artificial life.

News

2006-08-01: JohnnyVon 2.0 Journal Paper available.

2005-03-01: JohnnyVon 2.0 Tech Report available.

2005-01-19: JohnnyVon 2.0 released. New website.

Press