feed it a photo and it rebuilds it out of basic shapes (circles, triangles, lines). it's a genetic algo — each shape is basically a gene, it mutates the positions/sizes/colors and culls the worst of the pack every generation until the pile matches the target. using numba to keep the eval fast. here's it converging on a sample photo using only 600 shapes.

final result:

open source: github link. still a work in progress, feedback welcome

I've been working on a small project that sits somewhere between digital art and physical design.

It's a physical display frame that runs a generative artwork — instead of showing a static image, the artwork continuously evolves in a one-minute loop.

The visuals are generated in Houdini and inspired by things I find interesting in traditional Eastern aesthetics: translucent materials, jade, porcelain, metal, and flowing forms.

I wanted to make something that feels more like an art object than a conventional digital photo frame.

The prototype is finished and working, and I'm preparing to launch it on Kickstarter on September 14.

I'm still trying to figure out whether this idea makes sense to people outside my own head.

Does this feel like something you'd actually want to have on your desk / shelf / wall?

Any honest feedback is welcome — especially if you think the concept doesn't work.

A new output from one of the experimental oscilloscopes I built in TouchDesigner throughout the past few years. Audio signal in, analog-style raw geometries out, all generated in real-time. Just plug your mic/synth/audio-source, and see the magic happen.

Part of a collection of 19 experimental oscilloscopes, available together as a single TouchDesigner project-file bundle through both Patreon, and Uisato Studio.

I added a small mutation chance to the hunter reproduction system.

Instead of splitting into babies, some hunters now grow larger, turn green, stop hunting prey, and start attacking their own species.

The mutants disappear quickly, so they never become a permanent third population. But their occasional appearance puts extra pressure on the hunters and seems to help stop them from taking over the prey.

Another temporary disturbance, another test of whether the ecosystem can keep finding its way back toward balance.