CONCEPT
I explored cellular automata quite a bit, looking at its one-dimensional and two-dimensional aspects. A particular idea came to my mind: What if I create an ocean comprised of grid cells and ripples by mouse press? The result is Cellular Islands.
SKETCH
HOW IT WORKS
Cellular Islands uses two-dimensional cell interactions. The canvas is built on top of grids. These grids then store two values: 0, and 1. Both values are then placed on current and previous states.
The rules of cells are as follows:
1) Each cell state is the average update of its neighbor and previous state
2) Two grids: Current holds current wave height; Previous holds wave from past time
3) When the mouse is pressed, a wave is generated and follows the wave equation.
The wave equation stores a ‘height’ value for each cells affected by the mouse as the epicenter. These values determine the brightness of the cells, mimicking the waves as well.
CHALLENGES
Getting the waves to not look absolutely horrendous was quite difficult. I then figured that by adding a dampening to the force, it would result in a more natural movements.
AOI (AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT)
💡I think visualization and adding more colors would be nice. But because I imagined in the beginning that this would be a simple 0s and 1s program, it is black and white.
Resources Used:
Water Ripple Tutorial – Daniel Shiffman