GamesSportsScientists say they not only taught hydrogel how to play Pong, but to get better at it over timeWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesSportsScientists say they not only taught hydrogel how to play Pong, but to get better at it over timeWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Atari)
Bear with me as I try to explain how this worked. A computer simulation of Pong was hooked up to two electrode arrays, with a layer of hydrogel in the middle. Opposing pairs of electrodes were stimulated to map to the movement of the ball across the screen. Charged ions in the hydrogel moved in response to that electrical stimulation, and the point where the current was highest was treated as the position of the paddle.
As a layperson it sounds to me like proof that Pong is a simple enough game a random array of charged ions attracted to electrical stimulus will eventually line up in a way that represents a slightly better than random tactic. When the game was new, kids would arrange the controls so that the ball would bounce back and forth between them indefinitely then sit back and stare at the hypnotic display for ages—what I’m saying is Pong is not a complex simulation. It’s a game designed for children from 1972.
Still, I do love the claim that electrical goop is capable of forming memories. It’s like the first scene in a remake of The Blob where the goo is eventually trained on more modern, violent videogames until it learns to kill and breaks free to have its revenge. Researchers may resent the way horror movies insist on portraying them as mad scientists, but they will continue giving quotes to the mainstream media that make them sound as unhinged as any Vincent Price character.
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