Johnny.Rodgers

Assignments

Assignment 1

A1_01, A1_02, A1_03, A1_04, A1_05, A1_06, A1_07, A1_08, A1_09, A1_10, A1_11, A1_12, A1_13, A1_14, A1_15, A1_16

Assignment 2

A2_01, A2_02, A2_03, A2_04, A2_05, A2_06, A2_07, A2_08, A2_09, A2_10, A2_11, A2_12, A2_13, A2_14

Assignment 3

A3_01, A3_02

Assignment 4

SPIROGRAPHICDESIGN v2

Since a set of UI widgets was initially integrated with my Project 2 submission, I've taken this assignment to expand the feature set of the Spirographicdesign tool:

  * Export features added: user can now export their spirograph to JPG (courtesy of Yonas Sandbaek - http://seltar.wliia.org)
  * Cleaned up HTML page for display of tool, including a small gallery of recent spirographs
  * Set background colour (grayscale, only editable on start or after reset)
  * Set stroke alpha
  * Inner and outer radius values now take effect immediately (during drawing, rather than after reset) - previously only the increments were updated dynamically
  * "Show Dots" relabeled "Show Guides", and now includes a guide circle that indicates the current size of the inner and outer radii of the drawing circle, as well as its motion path
  * Canvas is now much bigger, and in a landscape format (1200 x 700 - this is potentially problematic for small displays.  A multi-format option would be helpful in that regard (ie. launch at 800x600, launch at 1200x700, launch at 1900x1200, etc)
  * Fixed some minor bugs
 

* I've put together a quick ControlP5 Widgets tutorial for anyone who's interested, or having trouble with Assignment 4: ControlP5 Demo

Projects

Project 1: Aclockalypse Now!

Display the progress of time in a non-traditional way.

ACLOCKALYPSE NOW! (Rollover predictions on left to see more information on right)

After reading an article outlining fears about the possible havoc the Large Hadron Collider may have wreaked on the universe when it came online a couple of weeks ago, I got thinking about doomsday scenarios and predictions (and how each one of them to this point has been wrong). So, I decided to visualize some of these predictions (past and present) in a playful 'apocalyptic clock.' The design of the clock is intended to loosely mimic the USA's Department of Homeland Security Threat Level graphics, which I find equally as ill-intentioned as perennial predictions of doom from various interest groups (religious cults chief among them). However, as the LHC fears provided the impetus for the project, I've also tried to include some science-based predictions.

http://www.creativecreature.ca/IAT800/Project1/dhs-threat.jpg   http://www.creativecreature.ca/IAT800/Project1/homer_end.jpg

Project 2: Spirographicdesign

Create your own drawing tool, emphasizing algorithmic generation/modification/manipulation.

Experimental Spirograph Drawing Tool

I chose to develop a Spirograph generator. Users can control the variables of the spirograph during generation, including the radii, offset, increments, and stroke weight and colour. Additionally, the drawing can be played and paused, and can be switched between line and dot mode. When in dot mode, a heavier stroke weight makes the dots easier to see. I'd like to add a feature to export the completed image to PNG, but didn't have time to look into that.

Screenshots

http://www.creativecreature.ca/IAT800/Project2/spiro_screenshot.jpg

http://www.creativecreature.ca/IAT800/Project2/spiro_screenshot2.jpg

http://www.creativecreature.ca/IAT800/Project2/spiro_screenshot3.jpg

Final Project: Hockey Interview Generator

Build Something Cool!

After watching hundreds of post-game hockey interviews, you can't help but notice some...similarities between them. The formulas don't change too much over the years, and common phrases tend to crop up. Based on this, and on an interest in the impressive commentary engines used in current sports video games (specifically, NHL 09), I am going to design a hockey interview generator that uses real game scores to build post-game interviews.

Each day, NHL scores will be pulled in from an RSS feed of NHL results (http://www.totallyscored.com/, as XML or JSON), and a player interview generated for each from a set of stock hockey phrases I've been collecting over the years (see sample below - feel free to add). The questions asked and phrases used for answers would depend on the scores (win/loss, close game/blowout, etc). The UI will allow the user to select which game results/interviews they would like to see (from a drop-down list).

This project will allow me to experiment with web services (feeds) in Processing, which I haven't done before, as well as model a language system within a tightly constrained domain. This aspect loosely ties in with my thesis research into adaptive systems. I'll also be designing a UI that will allow for the display of Team logos, game stats (possibly - not included in the feed I'm planning on using), and interview text. If time allows, I would love to actually record the stock phrases as audio files and use those to put the interviews together. I have some hockey buddies who would be good for this.

Libraries

• ControlP5 UI library to define UI components
• JSON Java library for parsing the score feed (install instructions and discussion in this post)

Development Plan

• Get JSON library up and running and feeds being retrieved
• Retrieve and prepare other assets (logos, phrases)
• Define language model (what gets used when), testing with static data
• Design interface
• Build and test with live data
• If time, record audio and integrate with system

Current Phrases (feel free to add)

Interviewer Questions

• coming soon...

Player Responses

POSITIVES

• We're firing on all cylinders.
• We got a couple lucky bounces.
• We made sure to take our man outta the play.
• We cashed in our chances.
• We won the battles in the corners.
• I think we just wanted it more.
• We came to play tonight.

NEGATIVES

• There's no excuse. We just have to play better.
• The bounces didn't go our way.
• We've gotta keep up the tempo.
• We really just gotta knuckle down in our zone.
• We have to D up on our man.

STRATEGIES

• We've gotta take advantage of our opportunities.
• Keep the pressure on.
• We've gotta give 110%.
• We've gotta win the little battles.
• Battle for the puck.
• We've gotta play physical.
• We've gotta play smart
• We don't wanna get ahead of ourselves, you know, we just want to take things one game at a time.
• We gotta make sure we get to the loose pucks.