Topics for this week include:
Hello! Welcome to week 1 of The Nature of Code. Here is an introductory video you can watch (if you are taking the class at ITP you could skip this as I’m going to do the same content in class on the first day.)
Assignment: Sign up for the class mailing list class mailing list
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Read along in the Nature of Code Introduction
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Read along in the Nature of Code I.4
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Read along in the Nature of Code I.5
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Read along in the Nature of Code I.6
For this week’s homework, develop a Processing sketch (or program in the environment of your choosing) that experiments with motion.You should feel free to design your own assignment. If you are stuck for an idea here are some suggestions.
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Create a random walker with dynamic probabilities. For example, can you give it a 50% chance of moving in the direction of the mouse?
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Gaussian random walk is defined as one in which the step size (how far the object moves in a given direction) is generated with a normal distribution. Implement this variation of our random walk.
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Try implementing the "self-avoiding walk": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-avoiding_walk
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Try implement the random walk known as a Levy Flight: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9vy_flight
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Try a walk in 3D: See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Cloud
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Use the random walker as a template to simulate some real-world "natural" motion. Can you develop a set of rules for simulating that behavior? Ideas: nervous fly, hopping bunny, slithering snake, etc. (Consider the challenge of using minimal visual design, i.e. b&w primitive shapes. Can you give your "being" a personality? Can it express emotions — happiness, sadness, fear, etc.?
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There are also more exercises in The Nature of Code Introduction
You’ll need to create a web page to document your homework. It could be as simple as the auto-generated page created by Processing’s JavaScript mode. It could also be a blog post or something custom you design.
After completing and documenting your homework add a link to it below using "add comment." (Note you need to be logged into Chimera in order for this to work. If you have trouble, don’t worry, just e-mail me and we’ll sort it out in class.)
Homework links go here:
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Mathematics and Physics for Programmers, Chapter 5 — Vectors, Danny Kodicek
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Computational Beauty of Nature, Introduction, Gary William Flake (you must be logged in through NYU to access the online version.)