Welcome to the world of Biotica

A 3-D projection of a virtual world in which neural net creatures continuously multiply has been filmed by ITN for the Discovery Channel in the shell of the Music and Art Centre.

Top picture "You may think this is a huge windsock" says presenter Nick Clark, "but it is a new experience for engaging with the laws of nature of an artificial life in a virtual world". Bottom picture Richard Brown of the RCA seen 'flying' through the world of neural creatures in Biotica.

Visitors to Biotica interact with this unique world by moving their arms about and 'flying'. The project is the result of an award made by the Wellcome Sci-Art project to Professor Igor Aleksander of Imperial College and Richard Brown of the Royal College of Art.

The same system has been used to produce the Neural Net Starfish currently exhibited in the 'Mind Zone' of the Millennium Dome at Greenwich. One national newspaper described it as: "the best bit of the entire dome... a larger-than-life, gold, 3-D starfish which is incredibly lifelike and responds to human contact by retracting disdainfully or stretching out a tentacle in friendship when a hand approaches."

The programme will be broadcast on 14 March.