DRIMA: A Minimal System for Probing the Dynamics of Change in a Reactive Multi- Agent Setting

Abstract

DRIMA is a simple cellular model for the multi-agent setting in which reactive agents have their behavior changed by the behavior of others, as the outcome of their interactions; it is also the system that implements the model in Mathematica. It was conceived as a metaphor for the high-level issue of how agents “attract” others toward them, be it in the form of a change in any behavioral or conceptual orientation, habit, thinking, etc. This is modeled through a single behavior of the agents, which is their movement on a two-dimensional grid; as they move, they undergo interactions with each other that modify the way they move before and after the interaction. The focus of the model is on addressing issues related to the emergent dynamics of a particular setting, much in tune with an artificial life or complex systems perspective. DRIMA is purposefully meant to be simple and non-general, a minimal system for the kind of question it is designed to help address. The article is a presentation of the model and of key aspects of its implementation, not a discussion on its use to address any particular question.