June 2015

Serengeti

by May-Li Khoe, Bret Victor, everyone

A HyperCard-like dynamic diorama. Laser an animal to hear its sound.

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Because this was created in a shared physical space, it naturally attracted collaborators, who worked together side-by-side.

Over time, everyone in the group put at least one object into the scene, some simple and some with advanced behavior.

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Explanation excerpted from the annotated video Hypercard in the World (2016).

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See also Laser painting (2015).


Drawing the animals.

Making the diorama.

Adding the backdrop.

Blessing the dog. This is how the animals are brought to life.

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The sun dances.

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The raincloud toggles on and off.

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The frog catches the laser pointer with its tongue.

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The unicorn sparkles.

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You can put your face on the bunny.

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The wall audio player contains the program that plays the sounds.

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The email thread.

Nagle and May-Li were accustomed to "write code on the computer, then run it", and I had to make them do the opposite -- put the unicorn/anglerfish into the scene, bless it, and then write code on the animal itself.

More photos.

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