Processing, Firmata and Arduino for interactive visualisation and interfaces
Duration: 5 Days
Processing is a language and Integrated Development Environment (IDE) developed for artists working in areas such as the electronic arts, new media art and visual design. It was based on simplified Java syntax and provided the means for non programmers to develop graphics rich user interfaces. More recently Processing applications can be deployed in web browsers by use of Java Script and WebGL for providing rich browser based experiences. Firmata is a protocol which can be used to communicate between graphics applications developed using Processing and electronic systems controlling servos and motors and collecting sensor data e.g. user gesture data via accelerometers. This opens up many rich, from the point of view of “interactive electronic arts”, possibilities. This is the area that will be explored in this workshop.
The richness of the course will not come from the technical details of the topics covered but from the side effects generated by the course, namely the opening up of concepts and ideas and the glimpsing of potential pathways in which to develop these concepts and ideas further. In a way this course represents the initial steps on a journey that may take some down a rewarding, if demanding, “path less travelled”.
Ideally we would hope to attract not only sixth formers interested in the interface between art, computing and technology but also young creative artists keen to gain an exposure to a “variety of techniques and possibilities”.