aparrish@itp

The MicroPoet 200 is a creative tool for transforming texts. The applet, source code, and instructions for use are available here.

MicroPoet 200 Control Panel (Prototype): click for larger image

Example output (click for full-size images):

Instant surrealist poetry

Abstract language poetry

Nonsense and gobbledygook

This video shows the screen-based component MicroPoet 200 in action (512x384 QuickTime, ~2MB).

Overview

What relationships lie hidden in a text? At what point does a text stop being unintelligible and begin being meaningful? Is it possible to create abstract, illegible text that nonetheless have a means of mediation with the reader? The MicroPoet 200 is designed to explore these questions.

The MicroPoet 200 parses a given text into three kinds of units: lines, words, and letters within a word. These units are individually susceptible to three types of transformation:

• visibility: whether a unit appears or not;
• order in sequence, such as the order of letters within a word;
• identity: whether a unit is expressed by itself or by a related stand-in, such as another word or letter with the same width (in pixels)

These transformations are applied randomly across the text. The MicroPoet 200's interface controls the extent to which the transformation applies. For example, if the "letter visibility" control is set to 0, all letters will be visible; at 50%, each letter has 50% chance of appearing; at 100%, all letters are invisible.

Continue reading "MicroPoet 200" »

Posted by Adam Parrish at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's the Processing applet so far. The five gauges along the bottom of the screen represent the applet's current state, and can be controlled using the following keys:

(These five dimensions are only the first of ten to twelve that I plan to implement.)

The program allows the user to make incremental adjustments to the level of randomness applied to certain features of a text. These features include:

• visibility: whether a unit appears or not;
• order in sequence, such as the order of letters within a word;
• identity: whether a unit is expressed by itself or by a related stand-in, such as a synonym or a letter that represents a sound similar to the original.

The units of text susceptible to these changes are letters, words, and lines.

The program is primarily a creative vehicle for uncovering, by random juxtaposition, previously unseen relationships between elements in a text. The use of analog controls facilitates the fine-grained adjustment of randomness, allowing the user to explore the line between meaning and unintelligibility. The program is, in essence, a means of exploring the following question: Is there a "perceptual threshold" for meaning in written texts? At what point does a text stop being unintelligible and start being meaningful?

(It should also be kind of fun to play with.)

In its final form, the program will be controlled not by the keyboard but by a control panel. I believe that this will be a more seamless and intuitive interface for the program. The panel will consist of ten to twelve potentiometers hooked up through a multiplexer and an Arduino, whose values are routed to Processing over a serial connection. My current idea for the panel's interface design is after the jump.

Continue reading "ICM Final Project" »

Posted by Adam Parrish at 01:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)