An important development within this project is the software AffectSim that allows to simulate the evolution of emotion-like functions under a number of different scenarios
and frame conditions. After having invested years for developing the conceptual basis and the software itself, the authors find it
appropriate
to make this software availabe to everyone who is interested: download AffectSim 4.0.
Find in the following a short description of basic functionality of AffectSim 4.0.
The essential console to start a simulation run and to define options and frame conditions for the evolutionary process is the dialog box Simulation Parameters:
It allows you define parameters like number of generations for a simulation run, mutation rate and strength, the initial population size, number and
energy content of food units that are distributed in each action step and many more. The manual which can be downloaded together with the software AffectSim gives you a detailed
description for each of theses parameters together with tips how to setup different selection scenarios and how that will potentially effect the evolving affective patterns.
After pushing the start button, AffectSim will take a moment to initialize the action space and the population. Then it will start to run the simulation and display the
default interface:
You can see the action space (with food units and the moving agents) and two dialog boxes. The dialog box Statistics of Simulation Dynamics gives you detailed information
about the current state of the simulation like number of agents, average energy intake and consumption per agent, percentage of action steps that agents spend in the different modes,
grouping of agents and many others. The dialog box Statistics of the Gene Values provides details concerning the current state of the genotype of the agents. It allows to monitor the effects
of mutation and selection on step size, perception and energy consumption in the different affective modes. Both panels are continously updated and the manual provides with
further detailed information.
An useful interface is the dialog box Time Series:
It displays a selection of time series and updates the display from generation to generation.
You can choose among
