Craig Reynolds

Craig Reynolds, an A-life and computer graphics expert, created the Boids artificial life simulation in 1986. Reynolds worked on the film Tron (1982) as a scene programmer, and on Batman Returns (1992) as part of the video image crew. Computer animator Craig Reynolds similarly used three simple rules to create recognizable flocking behaviour in groups of computer-drawn "boids" in 1987. With no top-down programming at all, the boids produced life-like solutions to evading obstacles placed in their path. Computer animation has continued to be a key commercial driver of alife research as the creators of movies attempt to find more realistic and inexpensive ways to animate natural forms such as plant life, animal movement, hair growth, and complicated organic textures.

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