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ScienceQuiet 8d · day 11

Simulated fruit-fly brain plays video games and strategy simulations

Researchers mapped a real Drosophila connectome into a playable AI that competes in games from strategy to shooters.

newest coverage 7d agosummary written 7d ago5 pieces5 likes & upvotes Hacker NewsGoogle NewsReddit

What to know

  • A complete fruit-fly brain (138,639 neurons) is now playable in the browser, wired exactly as the 2024 FlyWire connectome maps a real Drosophila.
  • The brain is not trained or pre-recorded; it runs live, receives game states as sensory input, and its neuron spikes directly map to game actions.
  • The simulated fly performs poorly at video games and strategy games—worse than random play—because its brain evolved for survival, not gaming.
  • Multiple game ports now exist (strategy, shooters, animations), each showing the same autonomous, untrouched neural execution in different environments.

Shiu et al. Connectome researchersOpen Fly creator Developer

Simulated fruit-fly brain plays video games and strategy simulations
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How it unfolded 3 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts

Peak 1 piece in 3h at Sep 13, 1 PM; 5 pieces over 11 days (1 article · 4 posts) Sep 13, 1 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Hacker News 1Sep 13, 4 PM — quietSep 13, 7 PM — quietSep 13, 10 PM — quietSep 14, 1 AM — quietSep 14, 4 AM — quietSep 14, 7 AM — 1 piece · 1 article — Google News 1Sep 14, 10 AM — quietSep 14, 1 PM — quietSep 14, 4 PM — quietSep 14, 7 PM — quietSep 14, 10 PM — quietSep 15, 1 AM — quietSep 15, 4 AM — quietSep 15, 7 AM — quietSep 15, 10 AM — quietSep 15, 1 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Hacker News 1Sep 15, 4 PM — quietSep 15, 7 PM — quietSep 15, 10 PM — quietSep 16, 1 AM — quietSep 16, 4 AM — quietSep 16, 7 AM — quietSep 16, 10 AM — quietSep 16, 1 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Reddit 1Sep 16, 4 PM — quietSep 16, 7 PM — quietSep 16, 10 PM — quietSep 17, 1 AM — quietSep 17, 4 AM — quietSep 17, 7 AM — quietSep 17, 10 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Hacker News 1Sep 17, 1 PM — quietSep 17, 4 PM — quietSep 17, 7 PM — quietSep 17, 10 PM — quietSep 18, 1 AM — quietSep 18, 4 AM — quietSep 18, 7 AM — quietSep 18, 10 AM — quietSep 18, 1 PM — quietSep 18, 4 PM — quietSep 18, 7 PM — quietSep 18, 10 PM — quietSep 19, 1 AM — quietSep 19, 4 AM — quietSep 19, 7 AM — quietSep 19, 10 AM — quietSep 19, 1 PM — quietSep 19, 4 PM — quietSep 19, 7 PM — quietSep 19, 10 PM — quietSep 20, 1 AM — quietSep 20, 4 AM — quietSep 20, 7 AM — quietSep 20, 10 AM — quietSep 20, 1 PM — quietSep 20, 4 PM — quietSep 20, 7 PM — quietSep 20, 10 PM — quietSep 21, 1 AM — quietSep 21, 4 AM — quietSep 21, 7 AM — quietSep 21, 10 AM — quietSep 21, 1 PM — quietSep 21, 4 PM — quietSep 21, 7 PM — quietSep 21, 10 PM — quietSep 22, 1 AM — quietSep 22, 4 AM — quietSep 22, 7 AM — quietSep 22, 10 AM — quietSep 22, 1 PM — quietSep 22, 4 PM — quietSep 22, 7 PM — quietSep 22, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 7 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 7 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quietToday, 1 AM — quietToday, 4 AM — quiet 123
Sep 14Sep 15Sep 16Sep 17Sep 18Sep 19Sep 20Sep 21Sep 22now · 5:46 AM ET
  1. 3

    Simulated fly plays Half-Life

    Video emerges of the fruit-fly brain model playing Half-Life, extending the series of video game trials.

  2. 2

    Open Fly project launches: fruit-fly brain plays grand strategy game

    A browser-based project deploys the simulated fruit-fly brain to play Open Doctrines, a historical grand strategy game. Each game turn, the country's state is encoded as sensory input, the brain's 138,639 neurons fire for 200 milliseconds, and its 1,299 descending neurons mapped to 39 game actions determine the nation's decisions. The brain performs worse than a do-nothing baseline.

    “Nothing here is pre-recorded, and nothing was trained. The brain runs on your machine, and every order you see comes from its spikes.”
    — Open Fly creator
  3. 1

    Simulated fly plays Counter-Strike 2 with 10ms reaction time

    The fruit-fly brain model is deployed to play CS2, achieving a 10-millisecond reaction time in the shooter environment.

    1. 1 outlet first by community.skin.club, 9d ago · read ↗

  4. background

    Simulated fruit-fly brain plays Bad Apple on neural visualization — A project emerges showing the FlyWire connectome model executing while visualizing neural activity in sync with the Bad Apple animation.

  5. background

    Shiu et al. publish complete Drosophila connectome in Nature — The FlyWire project publishes a full connectome map of an adult fruit-fly brain with 138,639 neurons, providing the neural wiring diagram later used for simulations.