A history and outlook of the use of internet and web technology in artificial life research

What is it about?

We review the influence of web technology on research in artificial life, artificial intelligence, evolutionary robotics and related areas. We begin with a look at early uses of networking and internet technology in these areas, and proceed to review the influence of web technologies as the web has developed. We are interested in all ways in which the web and ALife research interact, including the web as a platform, as an environment, and as an enabler for ALife research. We follow the survey with a discussion of common themes and methodologies that can be observed in recent work and identify a number of likely directions for future work.

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Why is it important?

As web technology continues to become more standardised and powerful, the potential for developing complex web-based ALife research and applications grows greater each year. Whether or not a WebAL project is primarily focused on education or public outreach, the very nature of the web means that WebAL research is inherently open and can reach a wide audience. As funding councils around the world place increasing emphasis on the public understanding of science, WebAL is well placed to play an important role in the communication of ALife research to a wide and diverse audience. Furthermore, WebAL not only enables wide dissemination of results, but it also promotes public engagement with and participation in ALife research. It is likely that the work reviewed in the article only the tip of the iceberg of what could be possible. This work represents a great showcase of some of the possibilities of WebAL, and yet we suspect there are many other possibilities, some as yet unimagined. Advances will doubtless be made in all of the areas outlined in our discussion of emerging themes and future directions, and likely in completely different areas as well. It is a truly exciting time to be involved in WebAL research. We expect the current rapid pace of development to continue, and indeed to accelerate, over the next few years. We look forward to witnessing the advances and achievements, both expected and unexpected, that will emerge from these efforts.