DesktopFly

DesktopFly is a macOS experiment that places a 3D fruit fly on the desktop and drives its behavior with a live neural simulation based on the FlyWire connectome. A 668-neuron circuit with roughly 19,000 biological synaptic connections runs as a spiking simulation that influences walking, steering, grooming, and escape behavior. Cursor movement, windows, clicks, temperature, and time of day become environmental inputs. The fly can walk along window edges, fly between locations, sleep, groom itself, and react to threats. An interactive brain view displays thousands of neuron positions and lets users stimulate regions directly. The transparent overlay remains click-through so the fly can inhabit the desktop without intercepting normal input.