Fractals and Hand Tracking

My Process
For the past 2-3 weeks I have educating myself on creating Generative Art in Processing. I began doing research into what already exists and I came across a great book called Generative Art, A Practical Guide Using Processing. Many of the exercises in this book went into great detail into some important terms that we will definitely be using in our project. The translate() function is a great way to move the origin point (0,0,0)  for your sketch. This is helpful because you can make fractals that can be easily spaced out without having to calculate the parent fractals location plus the location of where you want the copies. I also learned that classes are the best way to keep organize in these sometimes lengthy sketches.

The Next Step
Once I had a good understanding of how to create fractals I went looking into how to make them interactive with a user on the kinect. I referenced a tutorial sketch that I had programmed that would utilize the kinect's skeletal tracking feature and I tweaked it to draw a red ellipse onto the user's right hand. I then pulled in a branch fractal and adjusted its update location to be connected with the location of the users hand. I ran the sketch and came to the realization that it was taking up a lot of processing power to draw what the kinect was viewing and the consistently changing branch fractal so I turned off the depth image it was drawing and I told Processing to find the pixels that coincided with the user and paint those green. That made the sketch run much more smoothly. Below is a snapshot of what the sketch looked like.

Pd and Generative Music

Here's a taste of what I (Nate) have been up to for the last week.  I have created a patch in Pure Data that randomly generates music.  It utilizes Markov Chains and Random Walk Generators.  I made this first one in Rondo form (ABACABA) using a i - bIII - bVI progression.  I also have Pure Data reading information from my Arduino and am trying to incorporate that and Drum Beats in this week,

Wearable Tech Research

We have been researching wearable technology within the scope of our project.  While RFID seems promising, the big limitation with it is its range.  It seems as though Bluetooth will be the way to go as there are affordable smart bracelets with sensors already embedded within them.  I like the graphic above as it breaks down all the things that are going on within the world of wearable tech these days.

Wearable Tech at Music Festivals

Events have begun using RFID wristbands to enhance the consumer's experience.  Whether it be to trigger lasers, get a cold beverage delivered or even to gauge the activity level of the participant.  Another application is the ability to trade your information with someone via the press of a button.  Mobile devices and their prominence are another factor that we are interested in using to our advantage.

Generative Inspiration

Playing with some generative art sketches in Processing!!  Definite inspiration for future work!