Dynamicland intro

Bret Victor — August 2024 — overview, download

ChaptersIntroReal world, Communal computer, AuthoringRealtalk, Dynamicland, Communal scienceAgency, Literacy

6-minute introduction to communal computing. For more, see the front shelf or FAQ.

×

Intro

I'm Bret. This is the Dynamicland website.

Dynamicland is a nonprofit research lab creating a humane dynamic medium.

What that means is a way for real people in the real world to explore ideas together, not just with words and pictures, but with computation.

Real world

But, for us, computation doesn't mean scrolling around in screens.

It means working out in the real world with physical materials. Putting computational programs onto ordinary physical objects.

It means computation integrated into real-world activities, from timbers to test tubes.

It means using our hands. Like playing a card game. Or like a board game. [1] [2]

Or arranging scale models. Or building scale models. [1] [2] [3]

It means making use of physical effects. Using physical tools. Crafting physical tools. [1] [2] [3]

It means making use of space. Spreading out, getting everything onto the table. [1] [2]

Or the kitchen counter. Or the walls. Or the floor. [1] [2] [3]

Or the middle of the room. [more]

So, it's computation like electric lighting. Wherever people need to be, whatever stuff they need to work with. [more]

This typically makes use of projectors and cameras up above, although you're free to use any means of sensing and affecting the physical world. [1] [2]

Communal computer

One reason to be out in the real world is that's where the people are.

Because, for us, computation doesn't mean everyone inside their own computer.

It means people coming together in the same space. Getting their hands on the same thing.

Looking each other in the eye. Being present in the same reality. [more]

It means everyone's work is out in the open, where everyone can see it. So, everyone's learning from everyone else all the time, and collaborations happen spontaneously.

It's like working in a woodshop or a communal kitchen.

It means having discussions where facts and data are on the table, so the discussion can be grounded in reality. [more]

And computational models are on the table. Everyone can use the full power of computation to see what they're talking about. [more]

So, instead of a personal computer, this is a communal computer, designed for entire communities to work together in person. [more]

Authoring

And here's the most important part of all this.

For us, computation doesn't mean apps, and it doesn't mean software developers. [more]

It means everyone making all this for themselves, for their own needs, and their own situations. [more]

Because a program is also just a thing on the table. [more]

Or on the wall. [more]

Everyone can see every program, and can see what the program is doing. [more]

Anyone can change any program at any time, and see the changes immediately.

A program can be in language, or it could be an arrangement of components. Or it could be a hand-drawn diagram. [more]

Anything you can make an interpreter for is a program. [more]

Programs tend to be very simple and small, because a lot of the work happens out in the real world. [1] [2]

Through physical means. Or social practices. [more]

You don't have to simulate a virtual world when the real world simulates itself. [more]

So not much complexity is actually necessary. [more]

And that means that people can learn this by immersion. [more]

Because, in this environment, people are surrounded by programs. They're constantly handling them and remixing them. [more]

And they're surrounded by other people, working out in the open with everything visible, everyone learning from everyone else all the time.

Realtalk

This includes all of the programs that make up the operating system. [more]

Everything I've shown is taking place in our communal computing system, called Realtalk. [more]

And this is it. Realtalk is not a codebase. It's a poster gallery. [more]

Or a bulletin board. Or a binder. [1] [2]

Whatever it is, everyone can see the whole thing, and anyone can change anything at any time. It's just part of the space. [1] [2]

Realtalk is built entirely in Realtalk itself, out in the open with real materials. [more]

We don't use laptops to work on Realtalk.

For years, we've done all of our day-to-day work in Realtalk. It's a complete self-hosted computing system. [1] [2]

Even this website is made entirely in Realtalk, and is actually a physical place where people can learn together. [1] [2]

Dynamicland

Of course, you can't invent communal computing without a community.

So, the creation of Realtalk took place, not in some isolated lab, but within a public community space we started called Dynamicland, where large groups of people could come together to work in Realtalk and contribute back to it. [1] [2]

Thousands of visitors got to experience Dynamicland, through public events, residencies, workshops, field trips, and other community activities. [1] [2] [3]

And the core community was drawn from local artists, scientists, teachers, students, organizers, all kinds of people, who filled the space with a library of dynamic media on topics that they cared about.

Such as...

maps and demographics, [more]

ecologies, [more]

rhythm, [more]

harmony, [more]

color, [more]

painting, [more]

animation, [more]

history, [more]

politics, [more]

Afrofuturism, [more]

poetry, [more]

weaving, [more]

family histories, [more]

signal processing, [more]

molecular cloning, [more]

optics, [more]

planets, [more]

statistics, [more]

symmetry, [more]

group theory, [more]

thermodynamics, [more]

quantum computing, and so on. [more]

This was a community we formed around Realtalk itself.

After the space was shut down for COVID, we moved into integrating communal computing into an existing community of bioscientists. [more]

Communal science

We're now starting to build out our vision of communal science, which, for us, means: [more]

people from different fields working together in the same space. [more]

Building models together on the same table. Learning each other's expertise. [1] [2]

It means computational tools that are real things that everyone can build for themselves and all use together. [more]

And it means computation integrated into the world of physical experiments. Molecules and computation live in the same world. [more]

We're looking forward to transforming how science is done, both for scientists and for all people. [more]

Agency

Dynamicland is nonprofit, and Realtalk is not a product. You don't buy communal computing. You don't download communal computing. [more]

Our goal is to invent a form of computation which local communities of non-specialists can make for themselves. From the ground up, for their own needs, which they fully understand and control. [more]

A form of computation which is learned and taught, not downloaded and used. Like reading and writing, or mathematics, or the arts. [more]

Not a product, but a practice. [more]

Literacy

Here's the big picture. Democracy requires universal literacy.

And democracy in the 21st century is going to require a new kind of literacy, for understanding and discussing systems that can't be captured in words and pictures.

Things like the environment, equity, health, global economies. We're not going to solve these things in here. Or in here.

We're going to solve these things out here. Where we can gather around, as real people, and use computation to explore ideas together.