Snapse: A Visual Tool for Spiking Neural P Systems

Abstract

Spiking neural P (SN P) systems are models of computation inspired by spiking neurons and part of the third generation of neuron models. SN P systems are equivalent to Turing machines and are able to solve computationally hard problems using a space-time trade-off. Research in SN P systems theory is especially active, more so in recent years as more efforts are directed towards their real-world applications. Usually, SN P systems are represented visually as a directed graph and simulated through mainly text-based simulations or tables. Thus, there is a need for tools that can simulate and create SN P Systems in a visual and easy-to-use manner. Snapse is such a tool which aims to hasten the speed and ease at which researchers may create and experiment with SN P systems. Furthermore, visual tools such as Snapse can help further bring SN P systems outside of theoretical computer science.