This is an experiment with cellular automata. Each particle in the tank follows very simple rules based on the hue of its neighbors. As they stack together and interact complex shapes emerge. The result looks a lot like coral.

Interaction: First click on the applet to gain focus, then move the mouse to aggitate particles near the mouse. Click and drag to draw support structures. Press and hold ‘z’ to relocate randomly selected particles to the mouse’s position. Press any other key to erase the supports and shake the whole tank up.

Here is the source code for this applet licensed under the GPL.

Joshua Minor - November 2003