Would you love me if I was a worm? (2026)

Luc Palombo

An interactive sculpture in the form of a digital pet. A small monochrome LCD, the 84 × 48 pixel screen from the Nokia 5110 phone, shows a simulation of Caenorhabditis elegans, the microscopic roundworm whose nervous system was the first to be mapped in its entirety. The simulation runs in real time on an ESP32 microcontroller housed inside a custom 3D-printed resin case.

The worm’s movement is not drawn frame by frame. It comes from a network of 280 simulated neurons, wired according to the published C. elegans connectome, driving the muscles of a simulated body. The neuron model, the body physics and the wiring all come from published research, listed in full below. Like any model, it simplifies. A steady rhythmic signal helps drive the crawling wave, the neurons that switch between forward and backward movement are held at fixed values rather than simulated, and where the research leaves gaps some values were tuned by hand. The result is a close approximation of a worm, grounded in the science, rather than a copy of one.

Pressing the button drops food onto the screen. The worm senses it through a simulated chemical gradient and seeks it out. When its head meets the edge of the screen, a model of the touch circuit that makes a real worm recoil sends it backing up and turning away.

Feeding is the foundational gesture of the Tamagotchi, the original digital pet. Here it becomes a way into questions of consciousness, artificial intelligence and the bonds we form with the things we keep alive. The simulation is grounded in research, the frame is familiar, and the question is sincere: if a worm’s brain were running on a chip inside a toy you could hold, would you still love it?

Details

Year
2026
Medium
Interactive sculpture
Materials
Custom 3D-printed resin case, ESP32-S3 microcontroller, Nokia 5110 LCD, push button, accessories
Display
84 × 48 pixel monochrome LCD with backlight
Simulation
280 neurons, 3,510 chemical synapses and 1,058 gap junctions driving a 20-segment body model, at about 10 frames per second
Software
Custom firmware written in C
Interaction
Short press to drop food. Long press to toggle the backlight.

Development simulator

A desktop build of the same simulation, used during development. Top left is the 84 × 48 display. Below it, two kymographs trace motor neuron activity and body curvature along the worm over time. On the right are live neuron activity and the tuning controls.

Exhibitions

Credits

Luc Palombo
Concept, software, electronics, case design and 3D printing
Sherlotte Kwan @sherlotte.kwan
Accessories, and early design consultation on the case, including its apple shape

Sources

The simulation is built on the research below, grouped by the part of the software each work informed.

Neural model

  1. Chung, T., & Kim, S. (2026). Optimization of connectome weights for a neural network model generating both forward and backward locomotion in C. elegans. Research Square, preprint. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-8869234/v1
  2. Chen, Z., Yu, Y., & Xue, X. (2023). A connectome-based digital twin Caenorhabditis elegans capable of intelligent sensorimotor behavior. Mathematics, 11(11), 2442. doi:10.3390/math11112442
  3. Kunert, J., Shlizerman, E., & Kutz, J. N. (2014). Low-dimensional functionality of complex network dynamics: Neurosensory integration in the Caenorhabditis elegans connectome. Physical Review E, 89(5), 052805. doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.89.052805
  4. Liu, Q., Kidd, P. B., Dobosiewicz, M., & Bargmann, C. I. (2018). C. elegans AWA olfactory neurons fire calcium-mediated all-or-none action potentials. Cell, 175(1), 57–70.e17. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2018.08.018
  5. Goodman, M. B., Hall, D. H., Avery, L., & Lockery, S. R. (1998). Active currents regulate sensitivity and dynamic range in C. elegans neurons. Neuron, 20(4), 763–772. doi:10.1016/S0896-6273(00)81014-4
  6. Raizen, D. M., & Avery, L. (1994). Electrical activity and behavior in the pharynx of Caenorhabditis elegans. Neuron, 12(3), 483–495. doi:10.1016/0896-6273(94)90207-0

Body and locomotion

  1. Chung, T., Chang, I., & Kim, S. (2024). Development of equation of motion deciphering locomotion including omega turns of Caenorhabditis elegans. eLife, 12, RP92562. doi:10.7554/eLife.92562.3
  2. Boyle, J. H., Berri, S., & Cohen, N. (2012). Gait modulation in C. elegans: An integrated neuromechanical model. Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience, 6, 10. doi:10.3389/fncom.2012.00010
  3. Wen, Q., et al. (2012). Proprioceptive coupling within motor neurons drives C. elegans forward locomotion. Neuron, 76(4), 750–761. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2012.08.039

Connectome and neuron types

  1. Cook, S. J., et al. (2019). Whole-animal connectomes of both Caenorhabditis elegans sexes. Nature, 571(7763), 63–71. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1352-7
  2. Varshney, L. R., Chen, B. L., Paniagua, E., Hall, D. H., & Chklovskii, D. B. (2011). Structural properties of the Caenorhabditis elegans neuronal network. PLoS Computational Biology, 7(2), e1001066. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1001066
  3. White, J. G., Southgate, E., Thomson, J. N., & Brenner, S. (1986). The structure of the nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, 314(1165), 1–340. doi:10.1098/rstb.1986.0056
  4. McIntire, S. L., Jorgensen, E., Kaplan, J., & Horvitz, H. R. (1993). The GABAergic nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans. Nature, 364(6435), 337–341. doi:10.1038/364337a0
  5. Schuske, K., Beg, A. A., & Jorgensen, E. M. (2004). The GABA nervous system in C. elegans. Trends in Neurosciences, 27(7), 407–414. doi:10.1016/j.tins.2004.05.005
  6. Turek, M., Lewandrowski, I., & Bringmann, H. (2013). An AP2 transcription factor is required for a sleep-active neuron to induce sleep-like quiescence in C. elegans. Current Biology, 23(22), 2215–2223. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2013.09.028
  7. Fenyves, B. G., Szilágyi, G. S., Vassy, Z., Sőti, C., & Csermely, P. (2020). Synaptic polarity and sign-balance prediction using gene expression data in the Caenorhabditis elegans chemical synapse neuronal connectome network. PLOS Computational Biology, 16(12), e1007974. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007974

Touch, walls and steering

  1. Chalfie, M., Sulston, J. E., White, J. G., Southgate, E., Thomson, J. N., & Brenner, S. (1985). The neural circuit for touch sensitivity in Caenorhabditis elegans. The Journal of Neuroscience, 5(4), 956–964. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.05-04-00956.1985
  2. Hart, A. C., Sims, S., & Kaplan, J. M. (1995). Synaptic code for sensory modalities revealed by C. elegans GLR-1 glutamate receptor. Nature, 378(6552), 82–85. doi:10.1038/378082a0
  3. Suzuki, H., et al. (2003). In vivo imaging of C. elegans mechanosensory neurons demonstrates a specific role for the MEC-4 channel in the process of gentle touch sensation. Neuron, 39(6), 1005–1017. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2003.08.015
  4. Li, W., Kang, L., Piggott, B. J., Feng, Z., & Xu, X. Z. S. (2011). The neural circuits and sensory channels mediating harsh touch sensation in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nature Communications, 2, 315. doi:10.1038/ncomms1308
  5. Nam, S.-W., Qian, C., Kim, S. H., van Noort, D., Chiam, K.-H., & Park, S. (2013). C. elegans sensing of and entrainment along obstacles require different neurons at different body locations. Scientific Reports, 3, 3247. doi:10.1038/srep03247
  6. Yeon, J., et al. (2018). A sensory-motor neuron type mediates proprioceptive coordination of steering in C. elegans via two TRPC channels. PLOS Biology, 16(6), e2004929. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2004929
  7. Kaplan, H. S., Salazar Thula, O., Khoss, N., & Zimmer, M. (2020). Nested neuronal dynamics orchestrate a behavioral hierarchy across timescales. Neuron, 105(3), 562–576.e9. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2019.10.037

Food seeking

  1. Iino, Y., & Yoshida, K. (2009). Parallel use of two behavioral mechanisms for chemotaxis in Caenorhabditis elegans. The Journal of Neuroscience, 29(17), 5370–5380. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3633-08.2009
  2. Bargmann, C. I. (2006). Chemosensation in C. elegans. WormBook. doi:10.1895/wormbook.1.123.1
  3. Bargmann, C. I., & Horvitz, H. R. (1991). Chemosensory neurons with overlapping functions direct chemotaxis to multiple chemicals in C. elegans. Neuron, 7(5), 729–742. doi:10.1016/0896-6273(91)90276-6

Sensory neuron reference

Consulted while documenting how physical sensors could feed the worm’s sensory neurons. Not used in this version of the work.

  1. Kaplan, J. M., & Horvitz, H. R. (1993). A dual mechanosensory and chemosensory neuron in Caenorhabditis elegans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 90(6), 2227–2231. doi:10.1073/pnas.90.6.2227
  2. Bargmann, C. I., Hartwieg, E., & Horvitz, H. R. (1993). Odorant-selective genes and neurons mediate olfaction in C. elegans. Cell, 74(3), 515–527. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(93)80053-H
  3. Mori, I., & Ohshima, Y. (1995). Neural regulation of thermotaxis in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nature, 376(6538), 344–348. doi:10.1038/376344a0
  4. Sawin, E. R., Ranganathan, R., & Horvitz, H. R. (2000). C. elegans locomotory rate is modulated by the environment through a dopaminergic pathway and by experience through a serotonergic pathway. Neuron, 26(3), 619–631. doi:10.1016/S0896-6273(00)81199-X
  5. Hilliard, M. A., Bargmann, C. I., & Bazzicalupo, P. (2002). C. elegans responds to chemical repellents by integrating sensory inputs from the head and the tail. Current Biology, 12(9), 730–734. doi:10.1016/S0960-9822(02)00813-8
  6. Chang, A. J., Chronis, N., Karow, D. S., Marletta, M. A., & Bargmann, C. I. (2006). A distributed chemosensory circuit for oxygen preference in C. elegans. PLoS Biology, 4(9), e274. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0040274
  7. Hallem, E. A., & Sternberg, P. W. (2008). Acute carbon dioxide avoidance in Caenorhabditis elegans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(23), 8038–8043. doi:10.1073/pnas.0707469105

Code and data