The “Electric Sheep” Screensaver

Last Updated on: September 5, 2023

I know that a screensaver is a bit passé these days, but a nice bit of eye candy is always good to raise a smile.

The electric sheep screen-saver found its way onto my computer in 2006 and is still going strong today. It captured my imagination with its nod to the excellent novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

“Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” as imagined by midjourney

The screensaver is a random abstract animation created using a genetic algorithm. Each animation is known as a “sheep”, which reproduces and dies.

A “sheep” looks like this and is ever-changing, and ever-moving:

An example “Sheep” from the screensaver

Users watching the screensaver can vote for the current sheep with a spacebar tap. The popular ones will live longer and pass on more of their characteristics to the next generation.

The concept is a great tribute to one of my favourite science fiction books, and it has a big cult following.

Check it out at https://electricsheep.org/


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