Charles Doomany- InfoViz: Project Update
Currently I have a Processing sketch that can accommodate multiple realtime data feeds from Pachube and use the datastreams from those feeds to drive the recursive growth of a virtual tree.
The growth of the tree is dependent on two parameters; ambient light intensity and temperature. The recursive stages of growth consist of 5 divisions ( the first division is represented by a single line (or sapling) and the fifth (last) division represents a fully matured tree. When the optimal environmental conditions are are met for plant growth IRL (roughly 7000 lumens for the light reading and 65 degrees Fahrenheit for temperature), the tree is represented in its mature form (5th division).
My final version of the program will have three distinct geographic locations with their own corresponding tree. The stage of growth will serve as a rough representation of the ambient environmental data from that geographic location.
Here is a rough mock-up of what the final realtime animation will look like:
* The code for the tree itself is based on a project by Stefan Boeykens since I do not have prior experience with simulating recursive growth. The final version of the program will also include additional modification to the source code.
Hi Charles,
great start.
The recursive tree is a good starting point for a simulation/display like this. I’m a little concerned that you may not have fine-grained enough control over the growth of the tree if you’re just switching the overall recursive depth on and off (e.g., 3 levels, 4 levels 5 levels). Having fine-grained control of your display is important if you want to use this tree for “information metabolism” (wherein the visualization is a kind of organism that consumes data, and its “health” is a visualization of the data’s properties). Can your tree look sick? Can it look droopy when it’s dehydrated, or lose its leaves when it gets cold? How many expressive dimensions can you implement in the display?