David Hussein Brunton
Monday, January 28, 2008
Brownian Motion Mash Up
So, after reading dchud's post about the last applet, I got thinking about various mash-ups I could, well, mash.
I'm still playing around with some variations on clustering and obstacles (something he mentioned in conversation), but realized I needed to make the original a little bit dumber before making it any smarter. Thus, I have replaced the previous applet's behavior of moving cells that are over the threshold to a random location. Now, instead, they move Brownian style. Any cell over its threshold simply swaps with a random pick of the eight cells adjacent to it.
Interestingly, it results in a whole new class of pictures.
Actually, I adjusted the ratio of green/magenta cells to be exactly equal, and removed the "empty" cells, since theres no need of them in the Brownian motion context.
The results are here.
The applet works the same as the other- click to randomize, space to start. It takes a lot longer to settle into a fully stable state, but there are obvious structures only a few generations in. I think it looks kind of like an ant farm.
I'm still playing around with some variations on clustering and obstacles (something he mentioned in conversation), but realized I needed to make the original a little bit dumber before making it any smarter. Thus, I have replaced the previous applet's behavior of moving cells that are over the threshold to a random location. Now, instead, they move Brownian style. Any cell over its threshold simply swaps with a random pick of the eight cells adjacent to it.
Interestingly, it results in a whole new class of pictures.
Actually, I adjusted the ratio of green/magenta cells to be exactly equal, and removed the "empty" cells, since theres no need of them in the Brownian motion context.
The results are here.
The applet works the same as the other- click to randomize, space to start. It takes a lot longer to settle into a fully stable state, but there are obvious structures only a few generations in. I think it looks kind of like an ant farm.
Labels: brownian motion, cellular automata, pretty, processing, programming, schelling
¶ 10:15 PM Links to this post
Friday, January 25, 2008
Fun With Processing Language
I've been getting asked a lot (at least twice) about why this site isn't updated more frequently. There are three reasons, really. The first is that I've been doing a lot of writing with a pencil, on paper. I know, shocking. The second is that I've been doing some work on physical things (e.g. soldering iron, circuits, and wood. Yes, the kind of wood that's made from trees). And the last is that it took me a while to figure out how to put Processing Applets on the site. I know, I'm supposed to be good with computers.
The applet I'm about to show you is inspired by a paper written in 1971 by Thomas Schelling, called Dynamic Models of Segregation. It turns out that Schelling's model is a great example of sociology (in which I have a degree) and cellular automata (about which I have an obsession) working together. I'm hardly the first person to notice this.
The basic gist of the program is: there are green cells, magenta cells, and "vacant" cells (white). Each of the green and magenta cells have what I deemed a "socially acceptable" preference for living nearby one another. Specifically, each green cell wants to be in a neighborhood (defined as the cells within three pixels radius) that is at least 1/3 green. Same goes for magenta. If any cell finds this preference violated, it moves to a random empty cell.
The behavior of the system is totally different than the (expected) behavior of an individual. The system segregates quite nicely into green and magenta regions, with a vacant white border in-between. This phenomenon is called emergence. A system displays emergence if its behavior differs from the behavior of its components. Equally as important as the philosophical lesson this applet can teach, is that it makes pretty pictures.
Click the mouse to randomize the picture, and press the space bar to get it going again. It will run on its own the first time through. If you're running Internet Explorer, you may need to click through a few dire warnings to get Java to run.
Without further ado, the Schelling Applet.
The applet I'm about to show you is inspired by a paper written in 1971 by Thomas Schelling, called Dynamic Models of Segregation. It turns out that Schelling's model is a great example of sociology (in which I have a degree) and cellular automata (about which I have an obsession) working together. I'm hardly the first person to notice this.
The basic gist of the program is: there are green cells, magenta cells, and "vacant" cells (white). Each of the green and magenta cells have what I deemed a "socially acceptable" preference for living nearby one another. Specifically, each green cell wants to be in a neighborhood (defined as the cells within three pixels radius) that is at least 1/3 green. Same goes for magenta. If any cell finds this preference violated, it moves to a random empty cell.
The behavior of the system is totally different than the (expected) behavior of an individual. The system segregates quite nicely into green and magenta regions, with a vacant white border in-between. This phenomenon is called emergence. A system displays emergence if its behavior differs from the behavior of its components. Equally as important as the philosophical lesson this applet can teach, is that it makes pretty pictures.
Click the mouse to randomize the picture, and press the space bar to get it going again. It will run on its own the first time through. If you're running Internet Explorer, you may need to click through a few dire warnings to get Java to run.
Without further ado, the Schelling Applet.
Labels: cellular automata, pretty, processing, programming, schelling, sociology
¶ 7:00 PM Links to this post
