Hhmi Janelia - GoKawiil

Google's Fruit Fly Brain Map Used to Make Simulated Insect Play Doom

Software engineer Alex Wormuth built a simulated fruit fly brain using Google and HHMI Janelia's newly released connectome data, then wired it to control Doom frame by frame. Each frame generates thousands of brightness and color inputs that feed into the simulated brain's 25.6 million connections, translating neural activity into in-game controls, including a pain response modeled on real dopamine receptors.

cnet.com · 2026-09-13

Google's fruit fly brain map gets repurposed to play Doom, Mario 64

Google Research and HHMI Janelia released MaleCNS v1.0, a dataset mapping over 166,000 neurons from a male fruit fly's brain and nervous system, built by converting millions of 2D images into 3D neural reconstructions. Developers quickly began using the model outside its intended scientific purpose, wiring its simulated neurons to control games like Doom and Super Mario 64, where sensory input from game frames drives neural activity that translates into player actions.

techspot.com · 2026-09-09

Google's full fruit fly brain map gets put to work playing Doom and Mario 64

Google Research, working with HHMI Janelia Research Campus, published the first complete map of an adult male fruit fly's brain and central nervous system, called MaleCNS v1.0. The AI-assisted project stitched together millions of 2D images into a 3D model reconstructing more than 166,000 neurons. Within days, software engineers used the connectome data to train a simulated version of the fly's neural circuitry to play Doom and Super Mario 64.

tomshardware.com · 2026-09-08