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uniVerses

uniVerses is a collection of digital circle visuals that tell a universal story, transcending and transforming language.  They are inspired by the cycles in nature and the sacred rituals of sand painting, mandala and yantra making found in Vedic cultures, Tibet and Navajo Nations.

micro inspiration:
a hummingbirds song slowed down creates a whale song
a whale song sped up creates a hummingbird song
true story told by Martin Prechtel  in his book 
The Disobedience of the Daughter of the Sun

macro inspiration:
nature, science, planetary orbits,  cycles of  growth, fine art, mandalas, yantras, computation, algorithms, fractals

link to FINAL PAPER | link to FINAL PRESENTATION

SynthMonster

SynthMonster is a digital synthesizer / interface exploration. The goal of SynthMonster is to create a musical interface that explores the relationship between musical creation and the physical world in an engaging way. The SynthMonster should be an exciting object of discovery, causing the user to rethink the link between an object's physical movement and sound.

Most of all it is a fun way to make noise.

In-Depth Explanation

The SynthMonster is a digital synthesizer housed in a ball of fur. It uses a gyroscope to detect its x and y tilt. This information is fed into a PIC chip that creates the music. The x-tilt control the speed of the arpeggiated sound being created, and the y-tilt affect the pitch. The SynthMonster plays random notes in the key of C in all 8 octaves.

Future Directions

• Install more sensors. (Photosensors, flex sensors, heat sensors, proximity sensors, motion sensors, and touch sensors could all be used quite effectively in enriching the experience)
• Create more complex and pleasing music. Randomly generated noise is fun for some, but I a more mature and subtle orchestration will truly engage most users.The PIC chip on its own might be a little limited for this
• Allow for user modification, such as uploading their own folder of sounds to the SynthMonster. This could be pre-recorded mp3s perhaps or maybe the midi data used to outline more sophisticated instrumentation.
• Introduce a more compelling characterization? Cross between UglyDolls and Theremin?

       
Motivations |Prior Art | Early Protoypes | Final Paper | 

Red Sky at Morning (Shephard's Warning)

Red Sky at Morning (Shepherd’s Warning) tests the underlying expectations of fine art, new media, and the contradictions therein, by attempting to surprise the viewer. Through a projected photo-composite of a pastoral landscape, Red Sky grabs the attention of a passerby in three ways:

   1. It is a projected work clearly delineated as “art” by the use of a frame around the photo and by being projected onto a canvas.
   2. The canvas suggests that there is permanence to the piece, but the projection suggests transience.
   3.  The purpose of the projection is unclear, and viewers aren’t sure if they are users of a game or participants in a motion-detection piece

I intended the content of the scene to surprise the viewer, because the sheep in the scene change over time according to a software application written in Processing. One of the sheep wears a party hat, one sheep is attacked by wolves, and another is caught fornicating. Each transition between scenes happens quickly, in a matter of seconds, but the change can stay for as long as a half an hour. Red Sky creates the illusion of permanence using a transient medium.

Paper | Video

 

The SynthMonster Gets Loose

SynthMonster User Testing from Mouse & the Billionaire on Vimeo.

Final Prototype - Live Performance

Abstract Video of D.C. Madam from dj pimptress on Vimeo.

Things I learned for a live performance:
1. Triple check your equipment list
2. Allow myself 30+ minutes to setup for a performance
3. Make myself a list (and diagram) of step of audio signal flow for set up
4. Make myself a list of step (and digram)  for visual signal flow for set up

Conclusion: It feels great to perform audio and visual through a turntable and MAX.

Download carols_essay.doc

Paper, Presentation, Related files

Mapping Architecture

Paper: Download mappingArchitectureDoc.pdf
Presentation: Download mappingArchitecture.pdf
Kml files: Download final_kml_files.zip
csv file with all addresses: Download alladdresses.csv

Most recent prototypes:

Thesis and Final Prototype

Final Thesis Statement: To Simulate an Ecosystem

An exploration in the potential to create a simulated ecosystem as the basis for a game.

I am interested in creating games that have value beyond entertainment.  The knowledge gained in this exploration is applicable to a game I have been designing.  The purpose of the game is to model the complexities of resource management and building in a dynamic environment where all components are interconnected.   

My final prototype integrates an interactive brush tool.  When the user clicks and drags the mouse the will remove resources.  Immediately, the resources begin to flood into the empty space.  With this tool users can subtly change the layout of the map similar in the way the players of the game would remove resources.  It is an early interactive prototype.  I would like to add a variety of brushes as well as other additional functionality.

Link to: Final Paper and Final Presentation.

Narrowing in

In the last round of prototypes I spent time fleshing out some of my old ideas.  These projects were represented by topics that arose out of the original semantic games posted in earlier entries.  With those ideas addressed I began this week with a fresh ideation session.  Created a new list of interests and topics and fed it into the Semantic game.  See below:

Game
Community
interface
interaction
Players
Actors
Actions
meaning
syntax
language
ecosystem
Cellular Automata
Langton's loop
Game of life
synthetic
simulated
interdependent
software
hardware
organisms
Environment
Sustainability
Charity

The idea of creating the complexity of an ecosystem in a simple computer program is compelling to me.  It came from a game I had design a while back.  I wanted to create a game that went beyond simple entertainment.  I came up with the Masses at the games heart is a simulated ecosystem. 

Imagined cycles for ecosystem.

The game takes the form of a massively multiplayer game.  The central goal of the game is to build a civilization with other players in a collaborative environment.  Each player is reliant on the ecosystem for success while at the same time everything a player does effects the ecosystem on some level.  This is where the games conflict and tension exist.

game concept art.

  The players want to use resources to build and expand their community however if resources are used to aggressively it could take a negative toll on the environment.  The Masses seeks to advocate: sustainable development, collaboration, and creativity. click here to see a full explanation of the game

I found that even though I was making interesting headway with the Semantic game, my true interests were in "the Masses[UP LOAD THE MASSES LINK HERE]" Particularly with the ecosystem the game is built on.  I have always seen this as the crucial component; one that would make or break the game.  At the time of creating the documentation I did not have the skills necessary to explore it (I had never even considered learning how to code).  I wanted the ecosystem to be simple, so the users could grasp what was happening.  I began with three materials, red, green, and blue.  These three materials would exist in an interdependent constantly shifting dance.  After playing with combinations and rule sets I decided to add a fourth and fifth element: the sun and gas (atmosphere).  These would change in direct correlation to one another, if the amount of gas in the atmosphere went up, the amount of sun that hits the ground goes down.  Changes in the gas level is determined by changes in the material cycles, and so we have an interconnected system with dynamic elements.  I planed all this without the ability to test my thoughts.  Though the system looks like it might work on paper there is really no way to know without building it.  I am at the point now where I can write code without the syntax getting in the way of my creativity. Now I am able to tackle this topic.

The Processing book has a chapter title "Simulate: Biology" and I began playing with the examples.   Though I didn't fully understand the code at first, I made small changes and tried to figure out what was going on.  I started with Wolframs Cellular Automata model as it is the simplest. 

Stephen Wolfram's Cellular Automata from "Processing"

It grows in one dimension, each line of pixels drawn to the screen is determined by the pixel states in the previous row.  I did some rule set planning with an image editor to get an idea of how I should set up the rules of my game:

I tried to make my own with the interdependencies of the three materials and struggled with it for a while.  I couldn't get the dynamic results I was seeing from the Wolfram example.  The best I could do was this example:

John Conway's Game of Life from "Processing"

it only repeats the same pattern in a straight line, not very complex, however it is based on the programing techniques of the Wolfram model, each row printed is determined by the row above.

I spent a lot of time scribbling rules down in my note book.  The two dimensional examples were still a bit daunting.  When I first started the pursuit I didn't understand the code well enough to dive in.  Once I had a rule set that I thought might work I decided the best way to get comfortable with the code was to tinker with it.  I started by building a grid of rectangles.  I used Perlin Noise to simulate the sun and gas interaction.  My goal is to layer this rectangle grid over another grid that reacts to rules.  This grid would simulate the atmosphere and the rules grid would react to it.  I set out to add the second grid but still didn't really know what I was doing. 

My first attempt at implementing a grid system.  This acts as a simulation of a simple weather system.

I again turned to the processing book's biology chapter, and this time began working with the code from Conway's Game of Life:

John Conway's game of life.  from "processing."

In this program each pixel is either on (pixel = 1) or off (pixel = 0).  It begins by randomly populating the grid with on pixels and then executes the rule set on those initial random pixels.  The rule applied is determined by the state of the current pixel and the state of it's neighboring pixels.  Conway's game of life has three rules, two turning pixels off and one turning pixels on and a default that leaves the pixels as they are.   I started playing with the conditions that determined the rule applied and was pleasantly surprised.  I was able to get interesting effects by merely changing the conditions.  I was still having trouble understanding exactly what was happening but I was getting some interesting results. 

life v. 2

life v. 3

life v. 4

life v. 5

I was excited to see the results of these experiments,  they were behaving much like I was imagining the materials to behave.  I composited a few screen shots to communicate how I thought a final result may look.

In my next round of prototypes I would like to get a rule set for each material working

TourIna Box

TourIna Box from julia vallera on Vimeo.

TourIna Box is a multimedia, interactive tool used to map a series of destinations that narrate a personal experience.

Using audio recording, maps and artifacts the user tells a story that can be passed on and experienced by another user. Packaged in a box the personalized experience is easily passed on through mail or in person. What the user chooses to map and whom they choose to share it with is entirely subjective. As a blank canvas, TourIna Box offers an insight to times and places that might never be shared otherwise.

Thesis paper: Download tourina_box.pdf

TourIna Box Books:

The "For Justin" Tour: Download the_for_justin_tour.pdf

The "B-Rock" Tour: Download the_brock_box_tour.pdf

Pigeon Final Prototype, Paper, Presentation

In an attempt to facilitate communication between people with limited technological access through the creation of an experimental phone-based social network, Pigeon was created.  Pigeon is a voice message exchange system for friends and family.  The idea of this project began with a desire to connect loved ones who live far away and are unable to communicate as often as they might desire, such as a young girl who lives in Belize and her father who lives in Los Angeles, working several jobs to send money back home to their family, who can only communicate with an international call once a month.  The Pigeon concept provides an interesting idea for asynchronous phone-based message exchange, which has the potential to bridge communication barriers by employing accessible and affordable communication technology as a means for individual to tell their personal story, or what is currently happening in their life.

You can call in and interact with the current version of Pigeon: (713) 987-3001.  Use member number 999-999-999 and PIN 9999.  After logging on, options 1 (listen to message), 2 (record a message), and 6 (record Pigeon name, which is the system identifier, like a Facebook picture) are active.

Print materials, which in a comic/storyboard form explain Pigeon and it's features.  They are designed to be folded up and attached to "phone cards":

For more information, see the paper: pigeon.pdf and the presentation, an interactive quicktime: pigeon.mov

Last Prototype

Here is my last prototype:

Abstract Video of D.C. Madam from dj pimptress on Vimeo.

"Red Sky at Night, Shepherd's Delight. Red Sky at Morning, Shepherd's Warning."

Red Sky at Morning (Shepherd's Warning) is an exploration of new media, fine art, and surprises. The title implies that there is something unexpected coming, and relates to the rhyme, "Red Sky at Night, Shepherd's Delight. Red Sky at Morning, Shepherd's Warning."

My intention was to surprise anyone looking at the projection with the actual content of the image. Would the sheep copulating get their attention? Would the party hat make them look twice? I ended up getting the same amount of attention when I projected still sheep than when I switched the images every five minutes. Turns out that simply projecting the picture onto canvas is enough to get attention. The surprise came when the image did not appear to react to motion or any other outside stimulus.

I did another test run in the lobby at 2. west 13th, and got similar reactions to the 10th floor lab. I'd still like to take the picture outside to test it in public, outside of the school environment. Anyway, here is the movie from yesterday's test.

Experiements with the game of life

Last week I created a variety of rule sets for the game of life.  I began this weeks work with the aim to combine several rule sets into one program.  I began by attempting to create my own rule set from scratch. I was getting a better handle on how the code worked and was having more success with controlling the programs outcome.  This was due in large part to the use of the 'print' statement.  The rules are dictated by a series of if statements: if there are 3 neighbors than die etc.  I put a print statement in each if statement and had it spit out a number (the first rule spit out one the second spit out two etc.).  By doing this I was able to see which rules where firing and how often.  In the process I found some interesting results. 

Traditionally, Cellular Automata programs work by looking at each pixel individually every frame and comparing them with the surrounding pixels.  I was working with a canvas size of 400 by 400 pixels and the program was set to run  at 8 frames a second.  That's 1,280,000 calculations per second.  This is nearing the limit of Processing's power.  When trying to understand code I like to use print statements to get a handle on what and when things are happening.  With this program many calculations happen every frame Processing was not able to run with both the pixels being drawn and the print statements being displayed.  I could do one or the other but not both.  This made it very difficult to get a handle on what was happening.  However the print results were interesting.

Click to view the printout as HTML.  Your browser can zoom the text in and out. on mac: use "cmd & +/-"  on pc "cntrl & +/-".  Try it out.
  Note: the white space is the number 1.  At the zoom level the images was captured at the 1s don't show up.

This is the program used to make the printout. 

These print outs are interesting to look at, but they also could act as blueprints for the game environment  if it were to ever be developed further. 

I made print outs of some of my other life programs to see the results.  I continued tinkering with my code and gaining a better understanding of how the CAs worked.  It became clear that I would need some kind of system to keep track of which rule set was being applied.  The different rule sets would also need to be recognized by each other in order for the system to act as an integrated ecosystem.  There are many ways to do this, however because of the sheer number of calculations being preformed each frame already I needed a way that was fast.  Integers are the fastest data type so I decided to base the system around them.  The way game of life program that I am working with works, is by looking at each pixel and adding up the value of it's neighbors.  This total represents the number of neighboring pixels that are turned on.  If you have multiple rules working together and iterating with one another this won't work because the system will have no idea which rule is on.  I developed a system that would encapsulate all of the rules into one three digit integer. The "blue" count would be held in the 'ones' place the "red" count would be held in the 'tens' place and the green count would be held in the 'hundreds' place.  I than wrote a function that could parse the three digit number and return which ever place was being checked.  The function follows:

int nb(int N, int num) {
  for(int i =100; i >= 1; i=i/10) {
    int x;
    x = num/i;
    num = num - i*x;
    if(N==100) {
      if( i == 100) { //green
        return x;
      }
    }
    if(N==10) {
      if( i == 10) {//red
        return x;
      }
    }
    if(N==1) {
      if( i == 1) { //blue
        return x;
      }
    }
  }
  return 0;
}

The function returns an integer.  The first parameter is place that you want returned ('1', '10', '100') and the second is the number of neighboring pixels that are turned on (1-8 for blue, 10-80 for red, 100-800 for green).  so num might be 232.  That is 2 green 3 reds and two blues.  The function uses a for loop.  Each loop variable x is set to num and divided by i than it checks what value was entered and which step the loop is on.  If they match it spits out the number of neighboring pixels of the specified rule set.

With this function I set out to combine the three rule sets starting with ones that I had conceived of in my note book.

visual sketches of rules:

I tried to implement these rules.  The results were mixed, I was able to get interesting results but as the program runs the output gets more and more chaotic. 

rule combination 1

I made several iterations of this rule set and had trouble gaining control.  I than had the idea of applying my multiple rules method to some of the life rule sets I had made previously and was successful.  Below are the results.

 

Ruleset 1

and
Ruleset 2

The result:

Combination of life 2 and life 3.

3 rule set combination

The atmosphere is the last component to add.  Below is a composite of how the gas might look once it is added.

I found several cellular automata machines here is a good one if you want to experiment with them http://www.fourmilab.ch/cellab/manual/chap5.html

Using techniques of mathematical logic, von Neumann was then able to deduce that such self-reproduction should in fact be possible. His proof hinged on the idea that an automaton could have a blueprint for building itself, and that in self reproduction, two steps would be necessary: 1) make an exact copy of the blueprint, and 2) use the blueprint as instructions for making a copy of the automaton. The role of the blueprint is entirely analogous to the way DNA is used in biological self-reproduction, for here the DNA is both copied and used as instructions for building new proteins.

The complexity of a reservoir full of floating machine parts hindered von Neumann from making his proof convincing. The next step came from Stanislaw Ulam, who was working with von Neumann at Los Alamos during those years. Ulam's suggestion was that instead of talking about machine parts in a reservoir, von Neumann should think in terms of an idealized space of cells that could hold finite state-numbers representing different sorts of parts.

Below are von Neumann's theories put into practice as software:

Wikipedia article here

Day 7: On-route speculation and prototypes

A re-visit  to motivations and  what became of them:

1. I wanted to visualize data - any kind
2. Tried at coming up with a correlation to determine/ some question
3. Finally dwelt on: architecture and its influence on tourist/ general experience of city space
    Hoped to it to generate visualization for a travel book.

4. Parameters dwelt with age/style of architecture and demographics of the space
5. Process became a little confused conceptually as mapping data was not looking at style but at age
    Demographic data was more of use to perhaps historical conservation agencies than a tourist.
6. A future comparison of architecture in various cities may yield information of similar spatial experiences.

An illustration of the process:

The Present form (?):
Mapping New York's architecture by age

Who can use the visualization?
1. A Tourist:
>>Guage style and density of the style of architecture by area
>>Plan tour accordingly
>>Get a sense of scale of architecture to visualize how it would feel being in that space

2. A conservationist/ urban planning department/ historian
>>Guage style and density of the style of architecture by area
>>Guage age of buildings and spread of NY buildings over time
>>Guage relationships between architecture vs rent
>>Guage relationships between architecture vs ethnicity/ownership
>>Guage relationships between architecture vs land use
etc.

Download nyBuildings.html
Download nyBuildings.jar
Download nyBuildings.pde

Pros and Cons + Where from here?

1. Cons: The 'need' for the visualization has to be more fleshed out to determine what data needs to be correlated. Perhaps requires interviews with conservationists and tourists to determine that.
2. Pros: Got a hand at data collection techniques.
3. Where from here?: (a)Refine ways in which the visualization of building and styles can be shown (b)use the prototype to query conservationists and tourists to figure whether this tool is of any help.