| Site Map | Webmaster | ||||
La Jolla, CA – Dr. David Fogel, chief executive officer of Natural Selection, Inc.®, is pleased to make a significant and special announcement today.
Following Dr. Fogel’s and Kumar Chellapilla’s groundbreaking research on Blondie24, the computer program that taught itself to play checkers at a level that is competitive with human experts, Natural Selection, Inc. has teamed with Digenetics, Inc. to bring Blondie24 to life.
Today, Digenetics, Inc. and Natural Selection, Inc.® are proud to announce the launch of “Evolutionary Checkers Starring Blondie24: Checkers with an Attitude.” In this new software game, players can test their skills against a truly artificially intelligent program. The game, which runs on PCs and is particularly well suited for today’s new-generation desktop computers, appeals to people of all ages and backgrounds. It is Digenetics, Inc.’s first product in what will become a new genre of software called “evolutionary entertainment.”
During the past two months, Dr. Fogel has appeared at several book-signing events for his new book "Blondie24: Playing at the Edge of AI". Members of the audiences at these events have had the unique opportunity to play against a beta version of the new Blondie24 game. “The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Dr. Fogel. “Challenging Blondie24, a computer program that literally taught itself, is clearly compelling, and once someone loses to her, someone else jumps up to challenge her almost immediately. It’s addictively fun.” Both adults and children enjoy the game, Dr. Fogel said, continuing: “At my book signings at the Boston Museum of Science and the New York Hall of Science, there were at least as many children lining up to play Blondie as there were adults.” “Some kids wanted to play over and over again,” added a smiling Dr. Fogel, “and it was nice to hear the comments from the parents who appreciated our crafting a game that doesn’t involve violence or offensive language for the kids.”
Even though Blondie24 is a certified expert checkers player, “Evolutionary Checkers Starring Blondie24: Checkers with an Attitude” lets players seek out their own competitive level. By incorporating two of Blondie24’s “friends,” named “Shannen” and “Amber,” who can each play at novice, intermediate, and advanced levels, anyone from a young child to a seasoned checkers’ player can have fun with the program. And while Blondie24 takes her checkers game seriously, Shannen and Amber are playful, lighthearted, and sometimes demonstrate a bit of an attitude when they’re winning. “It’s only natural to want to exact some revenge when Amber starts insulting you,” said Dr. Fogel. All three characters, “Blondie,” “Shannen,” and “Amber,” are played by real-life professional models, captured on video. The game presents more than one thousand different possible video segments, providing nearly endless variety for players, who will likely never see the same game, played the same way, with the same reactions from the characters.
Doug Johnson, chief executive officer of Digenetics, Inc. says “Dr. Fogel and Kumar Chellapilla really started something with their ‘Blondie24’ research project a couple of years ago. The fundamental ideas and evolutionary computing techniques they used are closely related to certain components of our new proprietary Digenetics™ technology. At Digenetics, Inc., we’re eager to bring our ‘evolutionary entertainment’ concept to life, and bring it to the public as soon as possible. David’s and Kumar’s work was a natural starting point for us. We’re moving Blondie from the theory of the science lab to the nascent world of evolutionary digital entertainment.”
Doug Johnson knows the software entertainment industry intimately, having more than a decade’s experience. Before forming Digenetics, Inc., Mr. Johnson was the founder and former chief executive officer of Quadra Interactive, an award-winning multimedia publishing company whose game, “Reelect JFK”, was inducted into the MacWorld Magazine Game Hall of Fame as the fantasy role-playing game of the year for 1995.
Dr. Fogel, who serves as chief scientist and executive vice president of Digenetics, Inc., notes that the Blondie24 game is only the first in what will be a new genre of entertainment products spearheaded by Digenetics, Inc. “The prospects for having computers evolve new and innovative behaviors in games goes well beyond the traditional efforts in artificial intelligence,” Dr. Fogel said. “Indeed, we call our approach to evolutionary entertainment ‘beyond intelligence” for just this reason.” Doug Johnson added, “In fact, Digenetics, Inc. will soon be introducing an exciting new line of intelligent board games under the Beyond Intelligence™ brand name. These products will provide continual novelty and entertainment for our customers, whether we’re delivering familiar board games like checkers, or other groundbreaking forms of entertainment that will be available over the Internet.” Digenetics, Inc. has patent-pending technology governing these new forms of entertainment.
Since its creation in 1999, Digenetics, Inc. has worked to position itself as the market leader in this new genre of ”evolutionary entertainment.” Working closely with scientists at Natural Selection, Inc.®, both companies look forward to bringing the innovative efforts in evolutionary computation that Natural Selection, Inc.® has applied successfully for its customers in industry, medicine, and defense to this new genre.
“Evolutionary Checkers Starring Blondie24: Checkers with an Attitude” has a suggested retail price of $29.95 plus shipping and handling, but during the holidays it’s being offered at a special introductory price of $19.95 and is available for immediate ordering through www.digenetics.com.
Natural Selection, Inc.® was founded in 1993 to address complex problems in industry, medicine, and defense. The company possesses unique expertise in computational intelligence techniques, including evolutionary computation, neural networks, and fuzzy logic. The corporation's current research efforts support the discovery of new pharmaceuticals, optimizing the routing and scheduling of national transportation services, and a variety of military projects.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. David B. Fogel,
Chief Executive Officer,
Natural Selection, Inc.,
3333 N. Torrey Pines Ct.,
Suite 200,
La Jolla, CA, 92037
tel: (858) 455-6449
fax: (858) 455-1560
dfogel [at] natural-selection.com
Please visit our web site at www.natural-selection.com.