Lenia is a continuous cellular automaton system inspired by Conway's Game of Life. It extends the concept to continuous space, time, and states, allowing for more complex and organic-looking patterns. Lenia explores the boundary between artificial life and real biology, creating fascinating, lifelike patterns and behaviors.

Pros

• Creates beautiful, organic-looking patterns and structures
• Highly customizable with various parameters and kernels
• Provides a platform for studying complex systems and emergent behaviors
• Offers both Python and JavaScript implementations for flexibility

Cons

• Can be computationally intensive, especially for large grids or complex patterns
• Requires some understanding of cellular automata and mathematical concepts
• Limited practical applications beyond research and artistic purposes
• Documentation could be more comprehensive for newcomers

Code Examples

1. Creating a basic Lenia world:

import numpy as np
from lenia import Lenia

world_size = 256
lenia = Lenia(world_size)
initial_state = np.random.rand(world_size, world_size)
lenia.set_state(initial_state)

2. Running a simulation for 100 steps:

for _ in range(100):
    lenia.step()
    # Optionally visualize or process the current state
    current_state = lenia.get_state()

3. Changing Lenia parameters:

lenia.set_params(R=13, T=10, m=0.15, s=0.015, b1=1, b2=0.3)
lenia.set_kernel("gaussian")

4. Visualizing the current state:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.imshow(lenia.get_state(), cmap='viridis')
plt.colorbar()
plt.show()

Getting Started

To get started with Lenia:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Chakazul/Lenia.git
   cd Lenia
   

2. Install dependencies:

   pip install numpy matplotlib
   

3. Run the example script:

   python examples/lenia_run.py
   

This will launch a basic Lenia simulation with default parameters. Explore the examples folder for more advanced usage and visualizations.