Abstract

As a programmer in industry, academia, and for personal exploration, I have always felt a fascination with the possibilities of code. Computers are exponentially growing in their computational capacities, and yet the way we program has seen little evolution. Creative Coding derived from my desire to better understand what the experience of programming is, and what it could be. On a personal level the project is also about healing from many years of using a medium that seemingly demands disconnection between mind, body, and environment. Can programming take a form that ameliorates these effects, even counteracts them? Through a practice called live coding, I have found that it can - to some degree. Live coding is the process of editing software as it is running, often in entertainment contexts (yes - coding music at the club!). This practice and community in New York City, inspired me to develop a full body movement interface to live code. Through self-observation and research, I investigate  programming as playful, embodied, intuitive, and everything in between.

Research

Books and papers that inspired this project:   Spaces to Fail In, Negotiating Gender, Community, and Technology in Algorave - Joanne Armitage Live Coding: a User's Manual -  by Alan Blackwell, Emma Cocker, Geoff Cox, Alex McLean and Thor Magnusson Glitch Feminism - Legacy Russell Life in Code, a Personal History of Technology - Ellen Ullman How to Speak Machine - John Maeda  

Technical Details

hardware: raspberry pi 3b, 3.5 inch display, arduino nano 33 iot, and 5v battery pack software: sonic pi, python, and arduino C++ The raspberry pi  is programmed and configured for on go live coding with the sonic pi programming language that outputs sound as you move. The pipeline of information is outlined below input (body movement) -> processing (sonic pi code) -> output (sound)