Cellular automata from 2019

In the Spring of 2019, long before the Cartilage idea became clear in the Fall of 2020, I experimented a lot with alternative model of computation, based on passing symbols that define local routing logic. Until Cartilage, these weren't very useful, but they produced amazing visuals. Extremely simple rules can be used to create unusual appearances!

The most feasible for general computation. Reversible and information-conservative

• Conservative
• Charges ("discrete" positrons+electrons). Give this machine about 20 minutes to develop

These look like your computer should look. Not information-conservative, they get "hot":

• Driller (wild)
• Machine (stable)
• Machine (the same automata, but with random state re-init every few seconds)

Organic / looking like large-scale nature

• Discrete fluid (in the ShaderToy window, CLICK ON THE BACKGROUND to start a wave).
• Islands (stable)
• Vortex (wild)

Nonlocal symbol routing

There were other two machines developed in February 2019, but these are available only as Windows apps written in C++ for Direct3D12

Cellular automata from 2021

Finally, there was a practical for digital circuit design new model of computation created in the middle of COVID-induced chip shortage in the summer of 2021

• Cartilage (let it develop)

An example of a ShaderToy you can use to browse and reverse-engineer its action here:

• Cartilage on ShaderToy(original publication from Summer 2021)