Three simulators for growing artificial creatures

Artificial embryogeny aims to develop a complete organism starting from a unique cell. For years, plenty of developmental models have been introduced. The main interests are reported on morphogen positioning, differentiation mechanisms and cellular interactions. In this paper, we show how the developmental model Cell2Organ has been extended to become a multi-level simulator able to work both on morphogen positioning thanks to an hydrodynamic layer and on cellular interaction with a physical layer. Through different experiments, we show the capacities of such a model with a “muscular joint” able to move in a physical world and a small organism able to create substrate vortices thanks to the hydrodynamic engine. The inspiration of such a set of simulators is provided the gastrulation stage of vertebrate embryos. During this stage, the embryo reorganizes its environment to continue its growth.