Today I carried out a simple experiment to demonstrate behaviours that emerge in a social environment when a simple set of rules are followed. The tech. platform I chose to demonstrate this is mobile phones, as they are a readily saturated technology, and is the focus throughout my project for applying the swarm paradigm to a social environment (as the technology already exists).

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We recently found out that we have been invited to showcase our game at MCMExpo in London, it is a trade show for comics, manga, video games, films and all-round geekery (would recommend checking out the role-players on YouTube for a laugh)! Our stand is right next to those of the video-game giants Capcom and Eidos, which is absolutely crazy, considering that our game took 3 students 4-5 months to create in Flash!

Anyway, in preperation for the show, we decided to print up some business cards for our company, we went with an informal and playful illustrative style for the design, as we hope it will stand out and reflect our relaxed nature. Enjoy!

The Back:

The Front:

Having considered the opportunity to expand on my Pirate Jacket idea from the sound module, I have deemed it not suitable and decided to pursue a slightly different take on my original idea of swarming using mobile phones. I present..

Swarm Sandbox

Having spent many months researching Swarm Intelligence, I have come up with a number of findings and conclusions that have contributed to my dissertation on the subject (download here). It is these findings and knowledge that I would like to explore further in this project.

Keywords

Emergent Behavior, De-centralized Organization, Swarm Intelligence, Mobile Experiences, Social Behavior, Swarm Art

Background

The key principle of any Swarm Intelligence based system is that a number of independent “agents” follow simple rules that dictate their actions. The interactions between these agents and their environment may individually be un-intelligent, however when a swarm of many “agents” follow these given rules the behavior that emerges from this is very interesting to study, and can provide a number of elegant solutions to current problems in computer science and other areas.

Bonabeau, Dorigo and Theraulazn (1999) describe Swarm Intelligence as “any attempt to design algorithms or distributed problem-solving devices inspired by the collective behavior of social insect colonies and other animal societies”. Meaning that everything we artificially create that is inspired by natural swarms is Swarm Intelligence. (Reynhart, 2009)

I have identified that a significant part of these systems that has vastly unknown levels of impact on the emergent properties of the entire swarm is the local ruleset that each “agent” follows. For example small changes in the local ruleset of each “agent” can greatly differ the emergent behaviour of the swarm. Many of these complex processes at work in a swarm system are still not fully understood, and my intention is to produce a platform that enables anyone to explore these processes without any specific hardware or training. In fact it is the goal of this project to situate this experiment of local processes within a swarm to an everyday social environment. The underlying technology that enables me to create this platform is bluetooth-enabled mobile phones, which I will cover in more technical detail at a later date.

Innovation & Differenciating this project

Technical Implementation

Predicted Uses and Findings

I have been recently looking into the possibility of building upon my Sampler Jacket (as documented here) for my final project, replacing my previous idea of a mobile-phone based orchestra. A couple of thoughts and improvements have come to mind, namely the ability to broadcast over local FM frequencies (guerrilla radio style) which adds some new depth to the idea, broadening the potential reach of my 1-man-music machine Here is a quick concept drawing.

I really like the idea of hijacking established radio setups, e.g. bars/clubs, supermarket tannoy, etc. Embracing and abusing existing infrastructure to aid spreading an individual message. A system such as this bares similarities to other anti-establishment gadgets and tools developed such as the TV-B-Gone which allows you to turn off TV’s in shop windows and bars. An interesting practical joke carried out by some American students was modifying a CB radio to hijack the drive-through ordering system of a fast-food restaurant, allowing them to talk directly with the customers. The video and howto guide can be found here.

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After a lot of research and thought, I have finally completed my dissertation. The title and abstract are included below. You can download a copy of it here.

Evaluating the current applications of Swarm Intelligence with regard to domestic usage.

by Ben Reynhart

Ants are extremely simple animals, if left alone most would struggle to survive. However a colony of ants is capable of achieving incredible feats such as finding the shortest route to food sources and keeping the nest temperature constant to within a degree. It is not just ants that work together for mutual benefit; many birds, fish and other animals flock together as a defense against predators. The study of this phenomenon and of systems sharing these properties is known as Swarm Intelligence.

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate Swarm Intelligence (SI), paying particular attention to its current and future applications. To inform this goal, a description of Swarm Intelligence has been established, situating it within the larger field of Artificial Intelligence. Following this, it was necessary to analyze the useful methods and principles that can be extracted from natural swarms. It is then demonstrated how these underlying principles have been developed into two optimization algorithms; Ant Colony Optimization and Particle Swarm Optimization, which are utilized in a number of real-world applications. It was also important to look at the field of Swarm Robotics, which applies similar swarm principles to the field of robotics, allowing the swarm model to be realized in hardware as well as software.

Using case studies of current swarm applications not only indicates the current state of this technology, but also provide a useful source of inspiration for discussing the implementation of a swarm model in different environments, specifically domestic. These findings made it evident that a swarm-based hardware application in a domestic environment has had considerably less discussion and speculation than, for example, a military environment. My concluding argument is that a domestic environment could potentially benefit from a swarm-based hardware application, and it is not unreasonable to initiate discussion thereof.

Here is my final video for my narrative module; a playful look at how syntax of language can influence the presented narrative style.

I have pasted the main as3 class below, however some other files are needed for it to compile:  Click here to download (zip)

For my narrative project, I have been exploring storytelling through unusual mediums. My main inspiration for the project is a series of Photoshop tutorials called “You Suck At Photoshop“, which besides informing the viewer of different techniques and skills in Photoshop, also combines some interesting narrative from the teacher.

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 The other day I presented my Sampler Jacket to the rest of the class, and although it didn’t go too badly, I forgot to demonstrate some key features of my jacket (notably the physical metaphor sound manipulation interfaces of the zipper and the hood).

Since then I have conducted considerable testing on the jacket, and come up with some interesting findings and conclusions.

Testing

To properly document how effective the interface was, and what extent it met its original goals, I decided to video a couple of friends and myself jamming with the jacket. After informing them of the controls, functions and suggesting that they prepare a sample of a song they would like to use on an MP3 player, I gave them free reign to do experiment for as long as they wanted. A couple of samples of what we came up with are below.

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I have recently been trying to come up with some sound loops and samples that I can use with my Jacket remixer interface, and after some consideration as to what I want to achieve out of the project, I have come up with a few options;

• Firstly find some drum and synth loops that are the same tempo and would fit together well without too much trouble using my interface (Garageband is good for preparing samples like this, however is common and sounds a bit “samey”).
• Secondly, use multitracks from the Radiohead Remixed competition that was held last year, where all layers of some songs from the new Radiohead album “In Rainbows” where released to DJ’s to see who could come up with the best mix. I really like this idea because instead of putting my DJ-prowess to the test, I can purely demonstrate the abilities and features of my jacket interface.  The argument to this is that it is constraining the freedom that the interface allows, and limiting the sounds to that of one song.
• A third option, is taking some very old samples of swing/jazz style fills and solos, cutting them with electronica style beats, playing my own homage to the mashup nature of this project!

I will add more to this later…

This week I have been mostly working in the labs every day, trying to manufacture the hardware to complete my sound project. The concept is fairly simple; a jacket which provides an interface for basic music sampling and layering functionality using gesture metaphors.

To achieve this goal, I needed a way of interfacing with a computer (prefferably wireless) so that I could remotely control my Max/MSP patch. I started with a wireless PS2 controller, which I would remove the analog stick sensors and route a number of light sensors and variable pots to.

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For the games module, our company Mutant Studio has been working on producing a demo of our game idea “Super Sound Jam”, which is an innovative voice-controlled trajectory game. It has taken many sleepless nights, but I feel its finally ready to set free in the world!

Here is a video of the playtest in Uni the other day, I think it captures the games’ slippery essence perfectly…

Password for video is “mutant”

 

Check out MutantStudio.com for more info

I have been thinking about the musical and performance context of where my Zipper Remixer should sit, questions such as; how is the interface played? Is it used as an instrument to create original souds, or is it more like a DJ tool? What musical aesthetic do I want to be demonstrating it with?

Today I stumbled across this video of an artist called “Tim Exile” who has released a number of albums of his electronic “sample” glitch style music using his custom built patches and software based on Reaktor. As a fun experiment he decided to mash-up the inauguration of Barack Obama using his tools, live as it was broadcast

I realy admire Exile’s work, and his mentality of live performance, prefering total improvisation as opposed to scripted and similar sets. To quote an interview with him by his part-time employer (Native Instruments) discussing his hardware and software setup;

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For my final project, I have been researching some existing installations and projects that sit in similar fields to where my project lies. My dissertation research is heavily based on swarm intelligence, and there is significant crossover between the two modules. Swarm intelligence research is the basis for much of my context in my project, so I will start by taking a look at these first.

Notable swarm intelligence based installations

AtomSwarm by Daniel Jones

This is an interesting software experiment that explores the interaction between a flock of simple agents that follow a set of rules that allows them to create audio textures. Interesting and pleasant audio and visual aesthetic created. Performance mode allows a “conductor” to affect the swarm’s behaviour by modifying variables such as population size and interactions. - I like that each agent can have different genomes and hormones that effects behaviour (inc audio).
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In an effort to keep my final project turning over, I decided to begin work on a prototype that provides some basic functionality of the finished product. Hopefully doing this and experimenting with settings and scenario’s I shall be able to refine my idea and let it evolve into something better!

I was originally going to create a Flash application in Flash Lite and run that from the phone, however I have since learned that for the mobile operating system S60 (which my development handset runs) the simplest, most integrated and supported language to write scripts for is Python.

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My main project for the Sound module involves creating a zipper interface for my music sampler software. While doing research for the project I have stumbled upon a very relative piece of work entitled “Zipper Orchestra” by New York artist JooYoun Paek.

I really admire what JooYoun has created; taking an everyday gesture of zipping and used it to create a exploration in video interaction. This project also raises issues surrounding the actual gestures and movements, are they erotic/intimate? Comical?

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Now that I have built a working version of my sampler/effects patch in Max/MSP, I need to create the physical hardware for which the patch was intended.

My 
proposed 
idea
 for
 stage
 3
 of 
my 
sound 
project 
is
 to
 fabricate 
a
 tangible 
music 
sampling
 interface 
from
 clothing, 
primarily 
focused
 around 
the 
zipper
 on 
a 
jacket.

Download the proposal: reynhart_sound_proposal.pdf

Over the Christmas break I had time to think more about my project and bounce some ideas off family and friends getting some “fresh” feedback.

I have managed to refine my idea slightly, and my prototype can be summarized in the following;

I intend to create a platform which promotes an ad-hoc network of compatible mobile devices to be formed, which can occur anywhere, provided they are within a short distance of each other. The software on each user’s mobile device allows them to “conduct” or play a unique instrument, which when played with others creates a “mobile orchestra”.

Each musician can control their instrument by way of movement and gestures, much the way that orchestra conductors behave. This is achieved by using tilt sensors and accelerometers on the mobile device, the data is then transmitted via Bluetooth to the others.

My initial prototype will only achieve some basic functionality, and will not resemble the finished project. I plan to write a basic Flash Lite app for the phone, which retrieves values from the accelerometer sensor and transmits them to my Macbook via Bluetooth. I will then write a patch in Max/MSP that can pickup the values recieved via Bluetooth and create a basic instrument synth based on them.

The latest project I have been working on is for the Sound module, the brief was delightfully vague and allowed us to create a patcher for Max/MSP that does anything we want (as confirmed with our tutor).

My final sound project (as described in upcoming blog posts!) plays with the idea of using a jacket zipper as a tangible musical interface, allowing users to remix and cut up music.

To support this final project I decided to create a Max patcher that is capable of applying “glitch” style sampling and looping effects to songs, using a USB game controller to simulate the analogue nature of the inputs to max.

I am very pleased with the end result, and no-doubt I will spend some more time improving it and adding features in the future.

Download: Zipper Patch Documentation (PDF)

Max/MSP patch: Zipper_MaxPat (ZIP)

For the games module, we have got some awesome little stickers printed out by the great guys at MOO.COM to support the viral campaign of our flagship game; Super Soundjam.

More info on our games company and game can be found here: http://www.mutantstudio.com

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My critique for the games module has been completed, and is entitled:

“A 
study 
into 
techniques
 used 
to 
aid 
interaction 
and
 playability in
 games - A 
critique 
of 
Electroplankton
 for 
Nintendo 
DS”

Download: Games Critique (PDF)