During the past year, Viktor Tóth, a former neuroscientist at the Feinstein Institute (USA), has performed a utopian experiment: Teaching mice to play the classic game Doom II to learn more. about the computer interface in their brains and offloading the costs of future virtual reality experiments.
Viktor Tóth once caused a stir in both the research world and the gaming community for his experiment in teaching mice to play Doom II.
To do that, Viktor invented a specialized control system himself, consisting of a large ball made of polystyrene, mounted on several ball bearings and able to roll in all directions. The mice participating in the experiment will be attached to a fixed frame and then run on this ball. In any direction the ball rolls, the character on the screen will move in that direction.
Just like training other pets, Viktor always rewards his “gamers” with the most attractive food and drinks (mainly soft drinks, sugar water) every time they get it right. act upon request. Viktor said he spent about 2000 USD to prepare the necessary equipment and tools for this project. You can learn more about how to conduct an experiment to teach mice to play Doom here.
The process of preparing the machine, setting up the system to teach the mice to play games by Vikor Tóth.
In an interview with Futurism, Viktor said he was also considering opening a separate stream on Twitch for his mice, Romero, Carmack and Tom. Viktor considers this an interesting and legitimate way to make money from the experiment he is conducting. The only problem now is how long such a stream can last and attract enough viewers.
Viktor said: “Romero can run continuously for 15 minutes, a pretty amazing result. It’s amazing how it can work for such a long time without getting tired or wanting to give up. So, if we know how to adjust so that the mice “play” in the right parts of the game, it will be curious and interesting for viewers. For me, it only takes about 10-20 minutes continuously for 1 stream on Twitch“.
However, at the moment, Viktor’s 3 mice are still unable to complete a complete level in Doom. Romero is probably the best “gamer” when in addition to moving, it has begun to practice shooting functions. As long as it raises its front paw and jerks back, the harness that ties it to the fixed frame will act on a key on the top to help the character in the game shoot at the enemy.
Viktor aims to be able to train at least 1 out of 3 mice by the end of July this year to master this new skill. But up to now, even Romero is quite confused and can’t always perform the shooting function in the game.
The mouse Romero was quite confused because he did not understand why he was rewarded with fresh water even though he did not move.
However, Viktor has come a very long way and achieved many positive results with his experiments anyway. He shared that when he first started the project, it took him about 2 weeks to get used to the 3 mice and help them not panic every time he appeared. During those two weeks, Viktor “plowed” through YouTube videos related to mouse care, how to pet or play with them. It’s a fun experience, but it’s time-consuming and requires a lot of patience.
After that, Viktor took a long time to teach Romero, Carmack and Tom to run on polystyrene balls. At first, they were quite confused and ready to jump when frightened by the sound of the engine. Only when applying the soft drink reward mechanism, they obediently cooperated and began to get used to “playing games” with this ball.
The choice of Doom II and not any other game was also in Viktor’s original calculations. He said the first screen of this game is quite perfect with all kinds of different environments, very easy to play, few obstacles, few twisty turns. In addition, Doom II also allows gamers to edit the map in a fairly simple way, making it easier for Viktor to arrange experiments and achieve the desired results faster.
Viktor spent a lot of time getting to know and befriending these 3 mice before he could start conducting his experiments.
In addition to the plan to open a Twitch channel for his 3 mice, Viktor also plans to upgrade the experimental system, with a bit more professional equipment. He said: “The initial machinery that I used was quite rudimentary and messy. You also see in the video, there are wires everywhere, there are wires everywhere. That’s one of the things I’ll have to change first in the next phase of my experiment“.
“In addition, some people also suggested to me a few games that the mice might be able to play, including 3D Pac-Man. I really like this game, because it’s quite simple, the rats won’t have to attack anything but just run – the action they do every day in the natural environment. However, this is still just an idea, because in 3D Pac-Man, sometimes players will have to turn their heads and move in reverse, something that mice cannot do with polystyrene balls.“.
According to Futurism
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