Molecules Update

I have been working to clean up the Molecules program and add some new interactions and controls. Some of it was just rewriting the Processing code in a more elegant way using classes and PVectors instead the brute force method I used when starting out. Incorporating the different interactions is an interesting exercise because I really have to think about what motions make intuitive sense for a certain control. For example, I went back and forth between using a closed hand or open hand for freezing the molecules before finally deciding to use two hands to freeze. It also requires a bit of playing around with the controls to see which motions get picked up or how the motions blend. 

New Drawings

Still playing with this program. Creating a symmetrical setup of attractors gives some nice symmetrical patterns. Also played around with white on black. I'm going to rewrite this to easily be able to have attractors and repellers, be able to change the strength of attraction/repulsion for individual attractors/repellers (will be basically modeling electrostatic forces), be able to combine different sets of attractors/repellers without them interacting, and maybe give it some 3D functionality. 

More Generative Drawings

Using some fairly simple attractor/repeller simulations to generate really cool drawings using a program adapted from Tom Carden. Tweaking parameters leads to a lot of variation and some cool shapes. 

This program generates 'attractors' and 'repellers' (4 or 5 in these drawings) as well as a thousands of 'particles'. The particles start at random locations and the attractors/repellers are set by the user or can be randomly generated. The program essentially calculates the net acceleration on each particle by the attractors/repellers and moves it accordingly, drawing a very feint dot each frame for each particle. As the program runs particles fly all over the place, and lines/shapes/patterns emerge where many particles have gone. 

Up next, I want to write a different version of this program to formalize the physics a little bit, add more adaptability, and add some user input via the LEAP. 

Tether: Circle

Today I also worked on what I'm calling the Tether drawing program (first version here). I cut it down to one tether, but I have that tether rotating in a circle. This is all controlled with the Leap: vertical and horizontal finger position determines where the line is drawn to, finger depth (towards the screen) determines stroke weight, and the more fingers you draw with, the faster the tether rotates. 

Here's a video and some images:

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