Scientists Discover Non-Living Hydrogel Can Play And Improve At Pong

Researchers discovered that the polymer material hydrogel can play and improve its gameplay experience by playing the prolific video game Pong.

As reported in the findings from the Cell Press journal, scientists were able to hook up non-living hydrogels with electrical stimulation in a virtual video game environment. This then allowed the non-living hydrogel to improve its gameplay by up to 10% with practice and was even able to create longer rallies between the paddles alongside an increased hit rate. It took 20 minutes for the hydrogel to reach its maximum “Pong potential,” the journal states.

“We showed that hydrogels are not only able to play Pong; they can actually get better at it over time,” said first author and robotics engineer Vincent Strong from the University of Reading.

More research is still needed, but the researchers said that this showcases the ability of non-living materials–hydrogel in this case–to use memory to update the hydrogel’s understanding of its immediate environment.

This latest study and research were inspired by the testing from a few years ago on a dish of brain cells that were taught to play Pong.