I ran across these images exploring NodeBox, which is a programming environment that can be thought of as Processing for Python (instead of Java), being developed by the Experimental Media group at St. Lucas School of Arts, Antwerp, Belgium. Emphasis is on generating 2D design and AI (instead of 3D graphics and interaction).
Percolator is a program written in NodeBox that generated the images above:
Percolator is a set of algorithms that create an artistic
composition of images, based on what’s in the news today. In short,
three things take place once the code is run:
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Harvest news from the internet: using the Google
library for NodeBox, a number of news sites are visited (CNN, BBC, Fox
News, Google News, ABC News, MSNBC, CBSNews, Yahoo! News, Wired News,
USA TODAY) and summarised with an extension of the Keywords library for NodeBox.
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Harvest corresponding images: a number of images are drawn from the Photobjects library, based on the keyword summary of today’s news.
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Collate the images: a composition is then assembled from these images using the PhotoBot
library for NodeBox. This algorithm knows things about contrast and
harmony, and typically applies rotation, scaling, overlay blends, hue
blends, and gradient masks.
The developer, Tom De Smedt, has a great article about his work with NodeBox and Artificial Creativity.
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processing has several new or updated libraries including:
switchboard is a web services library to pull data from Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Del.icio.us, Flickr, and more
MovieMaker makes movies of sketches
ESS handles sound samples, streams, and live audio that can be changed, analyzed, saved, etc
I now have a working version of Cubist Life that has audio functionality.
It monitors the built in mic and increases the 3d projection of the
image such that different parts of the video respond to different
spectrums of sound. I recommend whistling.
here is ted. i believe he is shouting.
i’m working on another version
that uses circles instead of boxes. see me working. it also reduces the
number of colors displayed. i’m trying to get an interactive particle
system going. but that will take time..
technorati tags:processing
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A visualization of death tolls from September 11, Iraq, Indian Ocean tsunami, and Darfur, Sudan. The visualization uses four particle systems to generate circles for each location, differentiated by size, color. Each circle represents 1000 people killed. The life of particles is the total number of deaths in thousands. The size of each particle is the sum (in millions) of the number of results from five Google searches for
death
dead
casualties
killed
death toll
to represent our collective interest and compassion for each crisis.
Due to the large death count in Darfur, the particles would not fade out before exiting the screen. So, I added methods so the particles would bounce off of the bottom and side of the window. This is accomplished by reversing the acceleration vector of a particle as it hits a point below the window (to give the illusion of compression). The acceleration increases after collision to indicate the souls’ release from their bodies. Representations of Iraq and Sept 11 quickly puff out of the window, so I didn’t give them bouncing abilities.
To engage the viewer and emphasize the concept, the user can interact with the particles using a mouse. This feature proved too disruptive to the larger circles and took away from the effectiveness of the presentation. To play on the visual idea of souls flowing from the location, moving the mouse can disrupt or pause the path of a particle, so the user can speed up release of souls or catch a few so they fade before they can exit the window. To accomplish this, a particle’s acceleration vector is altered by subtracting the current mouse location from the previous frame’s mouse location so moving slowly seems to hold the particle under the mouse and moving quickly seems to collide with it.
NOTE: firefox and camino seem better than safari at rendering the visualization
P.S.:
I received a greenlight today for exhibiting the currently-unnamed 3-d video mapping applet you can find below. It will be modified so that the projection into 3-d space is determined by pixel brightness and sound levels around the installation. It will be shown at TN’s Bonnarroo Music & Arts Festival in various spots so it will respond to live performances. Hopefully a sizeable portion of the 100,000 attendees will experience it. The installation will use a mac, microphone, DV camera, lcd projector, walls, and white bedsheets. I will update with lots of photos, etc, of the video project as well as the sand, bamboo, and rock installation I am working on.
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heres dfhf.
see more examples
or
enter an address for a graph (made with processing)
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Here are some demonstration sketches I put togeather with Processing for a presentation last week. I’ll put up my final project (a data visualization) once its finished. Processing is an open-source language and environment for doing neat stuff easily.
Orthdir demo:
This applet draws a series of boxes with user-manipulable lighting, viewing angle, and orthographic projection.
Move the mouse to change the directional lighting.
Click and hold the mouse to zoom in.
Press ‘1′ and move mouse to change camera position.
Press ‘2′ and move mouse to alter orthographic projection of the boxes.
Cam demo:
This applet takes live video from a camera and translates the pixels into a three dimensional space based on pixel brightness and mouse location along the x axis.
Move the mouse left to right to alter the distance pixels are mapped along the z axis.
Cam uses your computer’s default capture device.
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http://www.noanimalswerehurt.com/view.php
The picture plays too quickly while the sound plays at normal speed, but with each visitor the picture slows. After enough visitors, the sound and picture will play at equal speeds, allowing the story to finish.
Each unique visitor unlocks one frame, out of the total 5000.
short film about alan turing
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http://www.btplc.com/Innovation/News/timeline/index.htm
past presents the future. bt’s predicted innovations for the next fifty years
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4566526.stm
year end list from bbc
http://thaspot.thuglifearmy.com/
hip hop/urban blog host. perfect companion to gmail. why? because g is for gangsta
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4174519.stm
our taxdollars are developing a ‘gay bomb’ for military purposes .. once they stopped working on the “Who? Me?” device that makes folks fart
http://labs.systemone.at/retrievr/
retrievr. drw thngs nd gt flckr pctrs tht rsmbl yr drwng. vwls r fr lsrs
http://www.infowars.com/articles/ps/school_washington_pupils_given_patriotism_test.htm
washington state’s ‘politics, patriotism, and protest opinionnaire’ from english class
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/article334686.ece
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article334684.ece
the nsa tracks everything you write or phone about. next theyll track everywhere you drive or walk like the uk’s license plate tracking plan
http://www.physorg.com/news9273.html
“Perhaps the sexiest part is the solution we put together will make the passenger experience less intrusive”
grammar be sexy too
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10362257
picnic table with wheels. and an engine.
http://www.oase.udk-berlin.de/%7earam/rscreen.mov
‘random screen’ by aram bartholl. made with candles and beer cans
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.01/fraud.html?pg=1&topic=fraud&topic_set=
click fraud clogs, splogs, and zombie networks
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.01/interior.html
coolest rooms according to wired
http://www.ctrl.org/essay2/JFKHIT1.html
while reading about the nsa and seeing that stabilized jfk video, i ran across this anonymous conspiracy theory allegedly researched for ten years before being published ten years ago. other than being a few years off schedule and sounding like a crazy at times, this guys predictions are frighteningly on point.
What the Group wanted by the time of the “incubation
period” [1995-2000] was a society that was uneducated, amoral,
uncommitted to democratic institutions, living in fear, with a
sudden and very drastic reduction in spendable income
simultaneous with societal chaos.
…
dramatically increased media [TV] portrayal of violence and
joblessness [role models have no jobs, bad guys live in big
houses, etc.; begin your reading with The Early Window,
by Liebert & Sprafkin], reduced the standards of education and
early training for rational thought [see Endangered Minds for a
partial account] and fostered every possible dislocation in family
structure they could engineer
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Some film shiznit:
Indiewire’s Top 10 Undistributed Movies for 2005: Even though it is hard to miss movies anymore (thanks to the internets), I haven’t seen any of these.
Thinking Outside the Box Office: Soderbergh talks about how film distribution is going to completely change, and about how an upcoming film will be released in all formats to fight piracy.
And since I’m growing more depressed about the apparent demise of Arrested Development, here is some info as to why the show is so great:
A.V. Club Interview with Mitchell Hurwitz (Show’s creator)
Wikipedia’s Entry on AD: I would say this is a pretty good explanation on the depth of the show.
Finally, music:
Findmycover: A search engine for finding the cover of any album ever.
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I’ve updated the look of the WBOR Playlist thing that we’re working on.
Same as before, but now with “talking on air” button (Henry and Nutz’s suggestion) - here
And also this panel for the music directors.
And we have a widget mockup! David Israel from Bowdoin is working on some widgets, including one for WBOR, so this is what I came up with for that.
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Some stuff:
Balldroppings Play with space and sound in this little app
Processing.org Information visualization and art. Evan, are we going to do this class?
Animated diagram of bike couriers through London (video) from Gravestmor.com
1970s Czechoslavakian paper camera (PDF) “Print out this pdf to create your own 70’s Czech pinhole camera. It even takes 35mm film.” from Gravestmor.com
And some other stuff:
MooFlex Impressive new web app, lots of ajax
Script.aculo.us Another silly url, but this stuff is amazing. It is built right into Ruby on Rails
Slawesome A great way to send voicemail with e-mails
Fluxiom This web app will be amazing. Like iPhoto in a browser.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/30/AR2005113002109.html
isps want to charge websites for faster loading times than their competitors. thats just dirty. ‘pay-per-click’ advertisement seems the most acceptable way to capitalize, if its goal is to make information easier to share and does not impede the end users experience (speedwise or finacially). although there are shortcomings to googles strategy that allows inflated search ranking. but thats another story.
‘pay-for-performance’ is not an ethical way to monetize the internet. innovations should make dissemination of information as quickly and useful as possible and not run contrary to the intentions of its inventors.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8403&feedId=online-news_rss20
artificial immune system for computer networks
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=14758
give me a bucket of joe. damn right it improves memory
http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.php/archive/apple_patent_references_a_digital_camera_will_apple_surprise_us_at_macworld/
icamera?
http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/22/Autos/funonwheels/celebrity_nav/index.htm
mr. t will help you find your way
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4489792.stm
i didnt even know there were black squirrels. let alone ones that attack and dismember dogs.
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http://uncanny1.blogspot.com/2005/11/mikes-case-of-sour-grapes-additional.html
mike love’s accusations
Violation of Statutory and Common Law Rights of Publicity; Breach of Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing; Action for Indemnity Under Written Indemnity Agreement; Declaratory Relief; Breach of Fiduciary Duty; Copyright Infringement for Unlawful Reproduction, Unlawful Preparation of Derivative Work, and Unlawful Distribution; Federal Trademark Infringement; Federal Unfair Competition – False Representation; Federal Trademark Dilution; State of California Unlawful Business Practices; Interference with Contractual Relations; Intentional Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage; Negligent Interference with Prospective Economic Advantages; and Civil Conspiracy
http://www.harmlog.nl/harm/harmlog/main.asp?id=83
residue of usability
http://labs.google.com/papers/sawzall-20030814.gif
geographic distribution visualization of google searches over time
http://sensoryimpact.com/2005/11/material-furniture#more-470
creative and useful furniture with limited hand to hand combat
http://www.bentfabrication.com/suitcase.html
suitcase chair
http://www.sternform.de/set_product.html
rubberhelix cable id
off to nc for thanksgiving/doing homework. have a good one and eat plenty.
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There are two great posts at Plasticbag.org about the ways we will recieve media in the future. One is about tagging - specifically the new tagging feature added to Amazon.com. Tom Coates says that once you have a something that you want to display or sell, you then need to start getting all the metadata you can find and “glomming it onto the first order objects.” He talks about the ways last.fm accomplishes a wealth of meta data information. He also writes about the ways in which podcasting will seriously challenge broadcast in the future. It’s an interesting read.
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