Below are the 12 most recent journal entries recorded in se553's LiveJournal:

Sunday, January 22nd, 2006
5:30 pm	Nature of Code, Week 1- Assignment 1 code that runs random values and looks terrible (but i'm pretty sure that was the point of the assignment: ( random is bad... ) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 15th, 2005
12:01 am	Virtual Petrie Dish v 1.0 Concept Virtual Petrie Dish was conceived of as a way to explore cellular automata affected in real time through video input. Starting with the initial parameters of Conway's Game of Life, the program scans video input for red, green, and blue values, and taking the largest average, sets the mode of the automata. If the blue value is highest, then the Game operates as normal. If the red value is the highest, then the game operates in "poison" mode, which makes it more difficult for each cell to survive and all but impossible for it to birth new cells. If the green value is the highest, then the game operates in "superfood" mode, which increases each cells chances of survival and reproduction. Requirements You can interact with version 0.2 using a keyboard-- simply press and hold down the "B" key to operate in blue or normal mode, the "R" key to operate in red or poison mode, and the "G" key to operate in green or superfood mode. Version 1.0 requires an iSight camera and a Macintosh computer. Both versions require Java, and if the applet runs too slowly on your computer it is suggested that you download the Processing application and copy and paste the source code (here for keyboard input and here for video input) into the Processing window. References Conway's Game of Life CellularAutomata1 at the Processing Site Dan O'Sullivan's Video Tracking Example (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 14th, 2005
10:54 pm	virtual petrie dish is DONE! ( the final code ) (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 8th, 2005
5:26 pm	virtual petrie dish 0.2 in answer to tehchoyce: this current incarnation (and the one below) work without video input. pressing the "r" key runs it in red mode, "g" runs it in green mode, and "b" runs it in blue mode. ( virtual petrie dish: NOW IN COLOR! cut and paste into processing ) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
11:16 am	really for my own benefit ( source code for virtual petrie dish 0.1 ) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, December 2nd, 2005
2:07 pm	registered for classes today. we pick our top seven choices, in order of preference, and enter them into a database... then there is some program that dan o'sullivan (one of our profs) wrote that runs it all, and sticks people where they need to be by preference (and if you don't get your first choice, you're first in line for your second choice, etc., etc.). i have to take a design class, which has kind of thrown me off of the original course i wanted to take, but now that i've talked to tom igoe (my advisor), i'm feeling less pissed about it than i was before (as long as i get the design class i want). i'll be taking only three of these, and then i'll have my internship with douglas(!). here's what i ended up registering for, in order: ( the list ) (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 17th, 2005
2:56 pm	PROPOSAL FOR ICM FINAL ( video input and an interactive game of life ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
12:04 pm	PCOMP notes 11/17/05 ( digital potentiometer ) (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 10th, 2005
12:43 pm	class notes i'm not sure if the people on my friends list will want to read these. for now i'm going to make them public but behind a cut tag. please comment as to whether or not you'd like my class notes are of any value to you. if not, i'll just make them private. ( PCOMP notes 11/10/05-- MIDI ) (Comment on this)
Sunday, November 6th, 2005
11:51 pm	BRIGHTNESS CHASER PROGRAM CONCEPT: Brightness Chaser was developed as a means for real time VJing, using a poi interface. Lights would be attached to the end of the poi, and using a video input, the screen picture would trace the outline of the poi as they were used for dancing. It would be best articulated with a dancer standing in front of a large projection screen with the video camera in front of him or her, so that both the poi and the screen based visuals could be seen working together simultaneously. REQUIREMENTS FOR USING BRIGHTNESS CHASER: The interface is not yet totally developed, but currently it is easy to test Brightness Chaser with a simple LED and a coin cell battery, or a flashlight. Brightness Chaser requires real time video input such as an Apple iSight with Mac OSX, which is what was used for development purposes. If you are running a PC, you will need Quicktime for Java, which is a pain in the ass to find these days if you don't already have it. Also, Brightness Chaser will most likely crash your browser, but you can attempt to open the applet here. If you are actually interested in trying it and it crashes your browser, try downloading Processing and pasting the source code (which is listed below) in the window and running it from there. THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRIGHTNESS CHASER: Initially, Brightness Chaser was to have two inputs-- a brightness input and an acceleration input. The brightness would define where the visual was located, while the acceleration would define the size. After realizing that serial input and accelerometers would make it difficult to use the poi interface because of its bulkiness, it was decided to make both size and location dependent on the brightness input. The program detects the brightest pixel in the video input and then draws the Chaser to that pixel x 5. The Chaser is redrawn 50 times, each time becoming larger and fainter, like a ripple on the surface of water. Most of the time, an ellipse is drawn, but every third time, a rectangle is drawn. Several different values were inputted for the modulus before deciding that 3 was the most pleasant. Usually, the Chaser is a light gray, but every fifth time it is violet. The change in color was also tested several different ways before deciding on a modulus of 5. Brightness Chaser was developed on both a PC and a Mac-- PC for coding, and Mac for video testing. POTENTIAL FURTHER DEVELOPMENT: As of this version, Brightness Chaser only chases the brightest pixel, not the 2 brightest, so using the poi while work, though not be as smooth as I hoped. It would be nice to see two trails interacting with one another, as the poi do in physical time. Color changing options could also be added according to a different input, though again, sensors will be difficult to run without some very durable and flexible electronics, and a wireless signal to the computer. SOURCE CODE: ( Brightness Chaser Source Code ) (Comment on this)
Friday, November 4th, 2005
5:42 pm	by the way, there will be friends locked entries on here at some points, as one of the projects i'm working on will most likely be filing for a patent soon... welcome to those who actually added it. :D (Comment on this)
10:20 am	potential courses for spring 2006 advanced technology pros booster class-- not much good on its own, but will send abilities in other classes through the roof. better understanding of all things phys comp and nerdy. cons extremely tech heavy. may actually kill me. electronic art history and context pros everything about it, almost. a great understanding of how what we do at ITP is the natural progression of art history since the renaissance. i already know a shit load of art history, so the class won't be so hard. cons will probably be a LOT of reading. i already know a shit load of art history, so the class won't be so hard. generative art and physical computing pros taught by todd. a really interesting subject to a lot of people and a big topic at ITP... cons ...but not that interesting to me. live image processing and performance pros live image processing is fucking amazing. will get to learn jitter. superstar vjs get lots of chicks. cons will spend all of christmas break attempting to learn max/msp instead of relaxing and working. materials and building strategies pros great for wearable tech, my newest obsession. cons may fill up super fast. post linear narrative lab pros dude, i've wanted to take this class since i first found ITP. dude. seriously, dude. cons already interning with the professor-- do i really want to see him that much, and does he want to see ME that much? sustainable energy pros great topic for wearable applications. cons course description is old and no longer applicable, as we can't go on the roof since all the suicides last year. :( the brain and art pros it says brains!!!!! cons there's no actual course description at all. theoretical perspectives on interactivity pros yet another class i've wanted to take since i found ITP. cons yet another class taught by douglas rushkoff... (2 Comments |Comment on this)