i.document

i am sure that if ben fry and casey reas would start processing today they would use python instead of java. learning the short and efficient python is much easier than the statically typed and lengthy java. no compilation would be necessary anymore, tons of native libraries would be available via c-bindings, etc. nodebox is a nice example of the use of python for computational design. unfortunately it is restricted to os x.

today we are using python for all sorts of automated code generation in wuerzburg. one example is the conversion of fluid simulation data into x3d files for our coperion project. jan and sebastian are using this approach for their simulated cities of their master projects.

i started a short proof of concept of a python based processing. jython is an implementation of python in java. with its help it’s possible to write code with the processing api in python language.

code example (helloProcessing.py):

from processing.core import PApplet

class HelloProcessing(PApplet):

     def setup(self):
          global p
          p = self
          p.size(350, 350)

     def draw(self):
          p.fill(p.random(255))
          p.rect(150, 150, 50, 50)

     if __name__ == ‘__main__’:
          import pawt
          pawt.test(HelloProcessing())

1. just download and install jython:
http://www.jython.org/Project/download.html

2. put you processing libs into java classpath or modify the startup file (jython) in order to do so:

#!/bin/sh

# This file was generated by the Jython installer
# Created on Mon May 19 20:25:40 CEST 2008 by me

CP=”/Users/me/jython2.2.1/jython.jar:/Applications/Processing/lib/core.jar”
if [ ! -z "$CLASSPATH" ]
then
CP=$CP:$CLASSPATH
fi
“/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.5.0/Home/bin/java” -Dpython.home=”/Users/me/jython2.2.1″ -classpath “$CP” org.python.util.jython “$@”

3. start the python file in your shell:

./jython helloProcessing.py

last semester’s topic of my course “experimental interfaces” at fh wuerzurg’s design faculty was reconqr – reconquer urban networks. the results were amazing:

HERBARIUM DIGITAL (georg reil)
an augmented reality visualization of urban network traffic projected on architecture

urbanpulse (silke hilsing)
a minimal installation for feeling the city.

klangstufen (christiane keller)
stairs act as interface for a spacial sound experience of stockholm’s city noise.

denk.mal (claudia wieser)
a large interactive installation about privacy issues at german facebook clone studivz.

urban aura (philipp hartung)
experimental protocol for the communication channel between underground metro and surface: wind and light.

sound of surveillance (dominik hoegn)
creates sound from surveillance cameras

parasite (katharina weier)
an urban parasite communication system

all progress and development was documented in the courses weblog:
http://gestaltung.fh-wuerzburg.de/blogs/reconqr

in accelerando charles stross’ writes about alot of interesting concepts we are just starting to work on and i am covering in my dissertation. it was one of the most important books for me in 2007. it shows how close science fiction and science get in these days.

my favorite feature is superplonk. it remixes the environment and filters annoying persons, objects and sounds. that’s an augmented reality version of what i practice today with special earplugs. but soon that should be possible with modified hearing devices and slim head mounted displays.

one experiment in my ongoing surveillance series simulates superplonk with images of network cameras. via motion detection i am reconstructing a place’s image without people and cars. all moving objects are becoming ghosts. only people and cars who are standing still are becoming visible. movement makes you invisible. jan covers this topic in his master thesis, too.

processing source code: cams_superplonk.pde

image source: earthcam

published in: BoingBoing

i finally got ubuntu gutsy 7.10 working on my playstation 3. the current firmware 2.10 made some problems with the wireless connection. but i found a fixed kernel on psubuntu.com. the only problem now is the poor performance because of the 256 mb ram of the ps3 and the software rendering.

processing itself does not work yet. but with ibm’s java i got my processing applets working by calling them via appletviewer in the shell.

appletviewer index.html (it works with urls, too)

instantplayer and opensg did not compile yet. i tried to build opensg via deb source packages. but johannes will set up a build system for me next week.

“We are extremely pleased to publish the very first release of Fritzing, the 0001 Alpha!

This release gives you a very early glance of what Fritzing will enable you to do, so please give it a spin and let us know what you think. It obviously still has a lot of rough edges and might cause some aesthetical pain, but you can already do the whole process from wiring up a little circuit and exporting it to an Arduino shield PCB.

So enjoy it the way you enjoy meeting a new friend: Please say hello at http://fritzing.org/download.”