About this app
Wisp Evolution is an interactive demonstration of artificial evolution using a genetic algorithm inspired by natural selection. Each wisp carries a chromosome made up of individual genes that together encode the wisp's movement instructions. The first gene controls the wisp's launch direction, while each gene that follows controls how the wisp steers at a particular moment during its journey.
Wisps that perform better are more likely to be chosen as parents for the next generation. Performance is determined by how far a wisp travels horizontally, how many gates it passes, and whether it reaches the finish line. The parents' chromosomes are combined and mutated, so over many generations the wisps can evolve increasingly successful paths through the course.
You can adjust the mutation rate. A higher rate creates more variation and may help the wisps discover new paths, but it can also destroy useful gene combinations. A lower rate preserves successful combinations more reliably, but makes new paths harder to discover.
The beauty of evolutionary algorithms is that you do not need to know the solution in advance. Through trial and error, new useful genes are discovered and passed on to future generations.