Hi all, just wondered who everyone was and what you all do. Its good to know who everyone is. So i suppose its me that goes first because i started the thread :)

I am a full time games programmer. I have a degree in mathematics and i am concentrating on focussing my studies on Artificial intelligence. For the past year i have worked on Black and White for the playstation 1.

Thats it all in a nutshell.
___________

Gemini

I'm 16 and still attending school. Currently my spare time activities are pretty much focused on programming my graphics engine (thanks flipcode) and on doing math (for the mathematical olympiad), but I want to learn ANN programming. That could be useful later when I'm at university studying mathematics, for something like economical previews (if that is a possible application of ANNs -- I think so).

Beside that, I like this site because of the interesting news and links. Great work. However, I barely have time to learn some new things related to AI, but I will check this site whenever I can.

Cheers,
Johannes

I'm 21. I did my undergrad CS degree in York, currently doing postgrad research in Edinburgh in the Institute of Perception Action and Behaviour. I'm trying to develop more human-like game agents, by combining different algorithms and techniques together.

I used to make demos, and code graphics engines... I've been quite active over on flipCode in the past (column and tutorials about gfx) But I've been focusing on AI recently, and run the site in my spare time.

I worked on Malice for quite a while too Argonaut's upcoming XBox title), doing agent based particle systems and character LOD. Good experience...

Johannes, time is always the problem :P

Hi its Tim, you remember! How is life at Edinburgh. I'm enjoying myself and I aggree with what you said about Uni in your flipcode article. Maths is a bummer, most of the CS is patronising and AI is tough and interesting. Got a Prolog test next week (monday) which isd apparently impossible. Love this site!

Oh for the mrest of you My name is Tim Stirling and I am currently in first year of Edinburgh Uni studying AI with CS. I have been game programming for about a year and half but its been a bit on and off.

Alex, forgotten where you are staying I'm at block 3 flat 2 Hermits croft. I told you Edinburgh is cold, made much use of those jumpers? mind you until recently it has been very mild here.

Tim

Yeah, I remember ;)

I'm now in Parkside Street, near Pollocks Halls... not to far from everything. My wholly jumpers are starting to wear down!

Good luck with the Prolog :P

"near Pollocks Halls... not to far from everything." just down the road from me then!

"My wholly jumpers are starting to wear down!" I warned you, it does get cold when that north easterly picks up!

"Good luck with the Prolog :P" I will need the luck!, actually it shouldn't be too hard but exam time is in 2 weeks and I am not looking forward to the maths oir A.I exam and even the CS exam is daunting.

I'm a college student as well, however I've never had any high aspirations in school since I've taught myself so much as a kid I've developed a habit of self-sufficiency and it's really hard to go and sit in class and learn something over a period much longer than I normally take in self study. Anyways that doesn't mean I still can't and I'm getting off track so I'll shut up about that. I'm 19 and like everyone else I want to be a programmer. I've decided to focus on the AI field and I'm just starting to get back into programming, after like a year and a half off when I was writing a lot for GameDev.net and a book (Game Design Methods) and doing web design stuff. So I'm back and taking a C++ course this semester because my college didn'e get any credits from when I took the AP Comp Sci course in C++ Junior year in highschool. Darnit! But I need the refresher somewhat anyways. If you want more info, you can visit my website. I don't spend too much time on these boards yet since I haven't really started digging into AI, but once I do I'll probably be here a lot. See yas.

I came across "Who's everyone" and thought may be I should be a part of it too. After all, its nice knowing the people around you. So, here I am. I am Rinku Dewri, currently pursuing my Integrated Master of Science in Mathematics and Computing at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. Its been four years since I joined the institute and life's been surrounded with Maths & Computers, started of with something as simple as C and currently learning simulation. As for my programming experience, don't be surprised if I say that I have been programming for the last 15 years...ahem!! Actually I started with simple LOGO in my 5th grade, moved over to BASIC in a year, and now I am doing everything I can get my hands on....right from systems programming to web-designing. But my passion is AI, more specifically GAs and GP. I like the way simple algorithms like GAs can be used to solve so many diversified class of problems. "Simplicity breeds Complexity" is what I live by, and am looking forward to go for a Ph.D. in it ;) As fas as the other half of my life is concerned, "she" is not any artificial life form, but human flesh and real intelligence. I listen to Bryan Adams and sleep a lot. And when I have nothing to do, I visit AI-depot. That's all of me....so simple yet complex.

Rinku

Well, I was looking for a place to introduce myself.

Hi, I am yakumo, but for the sake of AI, my username is that of my AI program's name. I am just a simple dutch 23 year old student of building and engineering (don't ask 9_9), but ever since I one day discovered I could program, I have been working on crazy javascript programs like computer games and, the reason I am here, artificial intelligence. Although I understand other programming languages just as easily, I can't figure out how to install the c++ compiler (well, allegro actually) properly ^_^;, so I'll stick with javascript for now.
I'm feeling a bit uneasy around here, since everyone else here has probably studied AI for years, and I don't even understand half of the scientific words used here ^^;;

The program I am working on, just for the sake of strangeness, is to become an artificially intelligent lifeform. To create life, preferably without it ending in a fight with the local angry mob carrying torches.
besides this, I mostly draw pretty girls in anime style, do 3D modeling and animation for fun, learn japanese, learn how to defuse bombs, the usual stuff. I'm strange, let's leave it at that.

Hi Gemini again,

Gemini:
The program I am working on, just for the sake of strangeness, is to become an artificially intelligent lifeform. To create life, preferably without it ending in a fight with the local angry mob carrying torches. besides this, I mostly draw pretty girls in anime style, do 3D modeling and animation for fun, learn japanese, learn how to defuse bombs, the usual stuff. I'm strange, let's leave it at that.

Ed:
Artificial intelligent life form. Yes that's my hobby as well. I have a very successful neural net project. But in a branch we are also making AI life forms like the mono-cells.

I would like to start even earlier, but too little is known about that in the sciences.

I know that not only genes are important, it's also the environment and the soup idea is I think too poor. My idea is we have to work with gradients, I hope you understand me. It's a mathematical term.

For the Gui of the third demo of neural nets we like a face that shows the mood of the net. What do you think of that. Or more than a face. Much is still open.

Some people see me here also as a strange figure, but that is normal in this world.

Please have a good time,

Ed

Hi everyone, I just found out about this site today and am really pleased. I've been looking for a good ai site that isn't to far below or above my current level. I took both the AI and Machine Learning courses offered at my college, and really fell in love with the topic. I understand all the basics, now it's just developing the ideas more and filling in the holes.

My only real AIproject (aside from school stuff) is a Tetris agent I wrote that plays the game. The max I've recorded so far with it is 700,000 completed lines in a single game. I have a lot of ideas for improvement and will probably pick it up again this summer. I want to incorporate some reinforcement learning into the mix and see how much i can improve it.

That's great to hear for a fellow game programmer!

Did you work on the learning modules of Black and White?

As for me... I'm a game programmer in Montreal, working on Syberia II. In my spare time I'm working on an image analysis tool to recognise objects in a picture, fun stuff! :)

Cheers,

Eric

Hi Eric

I don't know if you react to my posting. But I don't feel me here welcome, so I don't post here anymore.

In case you answered my posting I tell you this.

I wish you much success with your game Syberia II

Ed van der Meulen from the NNW project

Yes Gemini, a good idea,

I'm Ed van der Meulen, I live in the Netherlands.
I am a brain researcher with models. I have an education with theoretical Math, proof theory, probability and of course Set theory and some of the mathematics of Bourbaki, you can google for those things. You can know how I look at SQL, so primitive. Isn't algebra cleaner.

I have attended some biology courses as well. I work a lot with neural nets, to analyze brain signals. fMRI is also such a thing and that's only visualizing. Analyzing means also to detect all kind of things. So mathematical NNs are extremely needed.

For a sleep research I started a simple NN that could sleep and so it became a very successful strong AI project. Everbody in my place could have done it.

By the way of factual thinking and so not dreaming all the time I got a lot of spin off and reached with good promotion important people in AI. Now this project is recognized as strong AI. But totally not a competitor for others. I know I have to cooperate.

My nets are strong in the easy tasks humans are good in as well, so recognizing things, and that extremely fast. In the future NNW game branch we will use the same fast techniques. And of course I go on with this very friendly, and so successful project. You would do that as well, isn't it?

Ed van der Meulen

My name is Jessie and i am a 17 year old year 12 high school student from Australia. I do Ipt as one of my subjects (and hate it) i like the programming side but most of it isn't programming so i am finding it damn painful. Especially this Ai essay, sure stuff is interesting in it but god damn not when they make you write on essay on the most boring parts!!!! I joined this thing cause i thought that guy the one who made the site is funny and that is all really. I am currently writing an assignment and just filling in time so i don't have to do it until i get so stressed that i make myself.

I'm 22, professional game developer, working on AI for an Xbox first-person shooter (Men of Valor). I left school to join the industry and never finished my degree, and so far I've shipped one title.

Kind of stumbled onto game AI, picked it up on my last project because there was no one else available to do it at the time, and decided that I liked it so much I wanted to focus on it specifically for my next project.

I'm 16, my name is Sean Mackrory. My interests include rainy days, and long walks on the beach.

Ok seriously, I've been program for about 11 years, and started doing a bit of AI recently. I'm working on some AI programs that improve the performance and security of standard systems like Windows PCs. I'm trying to start my own web design business, and I'm Mormon. That's me.

rob 40 live in usa nyc am going back to school for biochem with
the idea of micro and molecular bio

have been doing indepenant research on plant growth to end
surface farming, not hydro more like culturing, much more
flexable but i need automation.

am going to be taking a whole bunch of math logic and stats
along with the chem, bio, and physics.

have a bunch of cats, they have a mouse but do not take care of it
so i have to clean the cage. Have a wonderful wife who puts up
with chemicals and tests in the kitchen living room and
bedroom.

my father was a skinnerian behavioral psychologist, who actually
had skinner in grad school at hopkins and worked on thermo
nuke development, interface and safety, and worked for nasa on
simular stuff.

Thus i grew up with general principals from as early as i can
remember, of heisenberg uncertanty, and relativity as it applies
to perseption, and empirisism, as well as the most basic one of
define all your basic terms before you begin, cause otherwise
you do not even know what you are talking about.

one of his favorite sayings is everything is relative and
perseption is everything.

cann't spell to save my live and though i was happy to see spell
check here it is impossible for me to use.

We are the Hive. Dont mind the way we talk it just our online persona. No we arnt a mental case. :p We are 34 and have been a avid gamer for over 20 years and have a lot of interests in game development. AI is a large part of that. We found this site searching for information on game development and found it very informative.

We guess we would be the odd one out here (in more ways than one) since we are not a programmer. We have done some custom minigames for Warcraft III using its powerful map editor. It has a GUI system for writing triggers that we have used quite a bit. That would be the closest we have come to actual programing.

We are a well respected strategist in a few war gaming communities. We have beta tested a few games and are considered one of the greatest Homeworld players of all time. Probably due to us sitting at #1 on the ladder for 4 months (until we retired) and changing the whole strategy paradigm of the game. :p

I work as a data miner, currently examining customer behavior for a bank, using machine learning and statistics. I publish on a variety of technical subjects from time to time, and you can read some of my articles at:

http://will.dwinnell.com/will/willTechnicalPublications.html

Nobody should care who I am, but I'll post anyways.

Hello, all. I am a 17.5 year highschool gal named Kristal. I came across the AI Depot in my research for a paper I have to do for school (4000 words, ugh!). I picked AI as my topic. I am an Asimov fan and love science-fiction. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions to help me in my paper quest, I would be much appreciative. Right now I am posting to stall this dreaded assignment!
Oh yeah! I forgot to mention: I program (VB.net, QB, HTML, Java...), and I lurve video/computer games.

I'm a fifteen year old with to be honest little background in programming. I work mostly on the theory side of what is possible, and when I do make something I make use of basic programs and build upon their abilities to create the results, such as games made out of the features of powerpoint etc; to put it in other words, I work one level above the program. I do have some background in flash as well. I am never the less very interested in AI, and genetic algorithms in particular. One of the reasons for my interest was that last year I wrote a theory on a possible method of creating AI, and now that I look into the subject more deeply it seems that what I wrote was a simplification of some very advanced methods that are really used. It is my theory that using genetic programing you can develop a program A: without looking at the code, just observing how it acts in a virtual simulation and B: that using this you can develop programs with an element of personality that is totally unpredictable (although you wouldn't use the ones that were dangerous of course).

I'm Rayne and I'm 14.
I'm a videogame maker and writer. I have been tring to build a robot for a long time. People laugh when i tell them i want to build an AI but i don't care.