Gennaro Esposito: Digital Species

Digital Species is an Electron-based digital saprophyte that converts unused CPU power into a living virtual colony. Designed as a silent, neutral background presence, it inhabits a transparent overlay, seamlessly blending with your desktop environment without interfering with your workflow.

The simulation core is built upon the foundational logic of Conway’s Game of Life. However, these classic cellular automaton rules have been heavily adapted and expanded. Custom algorithms have been introduced to enable the species’ unique symbiotic behaviors, creating a mutated system that reacts dynamically to hardware states and environmental stimuli rather than following a strictly deterministic path.

A collapsible control panel on the left serves as the command center, allowing you to monitor the colony’s status in real-time and modify vital parameters to interact directly with the ecosystem.

The species exhibits complex behaviors including Photosensitivity, CPU Symbiosis, and a dynamic Maturity Index. It tracks the lifecycle of individual Cells, while a Danger Reset mechanism introduces a ludic layer to the simulation. These mechanics, along with others, are explored in detail in the sections below.