From the Poesy of Programming to Research as Art Form

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From the Poesy of Programming to Research as Art
Form
Adaptive Interactive Computer Systems

• Ricardo Campos
• William Kasper
• Adam Kell
• Camilo Wartenberg

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Overview

• Research Environment Design
• The Nature of Complex Systems
• Example Works
• Transcending the Code
• Critique
• Additional Resources

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Research Environment Design

• Artist/Researcher
• Beyond end-user art
• New artistic concepts, new technology
• Available products lag behind
• Invention/discovery à new questions

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Research Environment Design

• Custom technology two metaphors
• Painters self-mixed colors
• Novelists personal style, full control over
  language

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Complex / Natural Systems

• Definition of Complex Systems
• Eight Requirements
• Complex System Examples
• Emergence
• Interactivity
• Aesthetic Value
• Aesthetic Examples

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Complex Systems Defined

• Composed of a large number of simpler,
  interacting components or elements
• The activity of the system cannot be derived by
  the activity of the individual components
• Components typically exhibit self-organization

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The 8 Necessary Behaviors

• Couple to each other
• Learn, adapt, and organize
• Mutate and evolve
• Expand their diversity
• React to their neighbors and to external control
• Explore their options
• Replicate
• Organize a hierarchy of higher-order structures

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Complex System Examples

• Weather
• Ecosystem
• The Brain
• Insect Colonies

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Emergence

• For a system to truly be complex it must exhibit
  emergence
• Emergence is one of the reasons complex systems
  are studied
• Non-linear behavior makes predicting emergence
  impossible

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Interactivity

• Individual elements must interact for the system
  to be complex
• It is the interactivity that causes emergence to
  occur
• Like emergence, interactivity cannot be
  predicted, it must be calculated

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Aesthetic Value

• Complex systems are not just for scientific
  research
• People study complex systems solely for their
  aesthetic value
• Their dynamic nature makes them perfect for
  generating art

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Aesthetic Example 1

• The Game of Life -- John Horton Conway

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Aesthetic Example 2

• The Senster -- Edward Ihnatowicz

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The Senster (continued)
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Aesthetic Example 3

• The work of John F. Simon Jr.

Thick and Thin
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Grass And Water
Fabric
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Swarms The software shows the formation and
dissolution of symmetric patterns The process of
gathering and dispersing patterns is continually
reenacted by up to nine swarms forming a
mesmerizing variety of compositions and color
combinations that will never repeat.
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Transcending the Code

• Knowledge is the Key
• Flexibility
• Evaluate/Estimate Technical Abilities
• Challenging Ideas

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Examples

• Interactive Plant Growing
• Life Spacies II
• Pico Scan
• The Living Room
• The Living Web

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Interactive Plant Growing (1992)
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Interactive Plant Growing (Setup)
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Life Spacies II (1999)
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Life Spacies II (Setup)
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Riding The Net (2000)
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Pico Scan (2000)
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Pico Scan
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The Living Room (2001)
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The Living Web (2002)
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The Living Web
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Summary

• Mastery of material
• Quality
• Transcend time
• Explore New Ideas
• Fusion of Code Design

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Critique

• Some works do not hold up well to the passage of
  time. What may have seemed a novel use of new
  Internet technology in 2000, is today, much less
  impressive.
• The writing can be overly academic and seems
  self-important.
• General agreement on the big ideas of
  transcendence and importance of custom system
  development

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Additional Resources

• Laurent Mignonneau Christa Somerer
• http//www.interface.ufg.ac.at/christa-laurent/in
  dex.html
• Emergent Aesthetics
• http//www.paul-brown.com/WORDS/EMERGENT.HTM
• Senster
• http//www.senster.com/ihnatowicz/index.htm
• Complex Systems
• http//informatics.indiana.edu/rocha/complex/csm.h
  tml
• John Simon Jr.
• http//www.numeral.com/