Using Minecraft to build more intelligent technology

AI researchers are always keen to have new playgrounds to develop their ideas in. To this end, Microsoft has announced Project Malmo "a platform developed by Katja Hofmann and her colleagues in Microsoft’s Cambridge, UK, lab ... Project Malmo allows computer scientists to use the world of Minecraft as a testing ground for conducting research designed to improve artificial intelligence." The Microsoft blog recently reported on the aims of the project and it looks interesting.