In this free two-day hands-on Unity workshop given by Amir B Jahanbin, participants design interactive ecosystems powered by simple rules that lead to complex and surprising behavior. Instead of scripting a traditional game, you’ll guide the emergence of life-like systems: swarms that flock, agents that avoid and seek, patterns that shift and grow over time. 

Using visual experimentation and light scripting, participants create autonomous digital organisms — part simulation, part kinetic sculpture. As you adjust parameters and layer behaviors, your world begins to change on its own, revealing patterns you didn’t plan.

No prior Unity experience is required. This workshop emphasizes creative play, curiosity, and systems thinking over technical complexity.

What you’ll learn:

1. How emergent behavior (flocking, crowds, cellular automata) works
2. Assigning “ecological rules” like follow, avoid, align, wander
3. How small changes in parameters dramatically change system behavior
4. Use randomness and constraints to shape behavior

What you’ll make:

1. A unique, self-running digital ecosystem
2. Output options: WebGL build or projection for gallery showing

Who it’s for:

18+ artists, designers, technologists, and anyone curious about digital life, complexity, and creative coding.

How to sign up:

To attend, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/YBR3m7qL7Hy4GAFNA by December 22, 2025

MAD’s Art & Tech Studio Program is supported by a catalyst grant from Wayne and Lucretia Weiner.