In a groundbreaking scientific experiment, Loren Ren Ramlan, a graduate student from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), successfully simulated the famous DOOM video game on a unique screen made of Escherichia coli bacteria (E. coli).
Ramlan’s experiment marks a significant step forward in the field of biological screens. They developed a system where bacteria act as 1-bit pixels, capable of switching between light and dark conditions. The bio-screen consists of a 32×48-size tablet, with each cell containing genetically modified E. coli bacteria that can be made fluorescent to create a pixel grid (source).
The process involves the following steps: a) the original frame of DOOM; b) frame compression using shades of gray in a 32×48 size; c) a threshold array of 32×48 to determine which pixels are “turned on” or “turned off,” with the threshold set to gray shades above 70.
Despite this remarkable achievement, it is important to note that using this bacterial monitor for gaming is not practical due to the slow update speed. Simulating one frame takes approximately 70 minutes, and resetting the bacteria to their initial state requires 8 hours and 20 minutes. Based on these timeframes, it would take an estimated 600 years to complete a game of DOOM (
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Although the current limitations make E. coli more suitable for slow artistic projects than interactive entertainment, Ramlan remains optimistic about future improvements that could potentially speed up the process. In the meantime, traditional screens are still the better option for gaming, unless you have hundreds of years to spare for a single game session.
In 2014, a group of Australian hackers showcased a video on YouTube, demonstrating their ability to play the first-person shooter game DOOM on an ATOM device running Windows XP Embedded. This achievement required hardware modifications and button reassignments using the i-PAC2 device, typically used for simulating a USB keyboard for arcade machines.
In 2020, a programmer from California named Fun Turing even managed to run DOOM and Skyrim on a pregnancy test.