R.

Random Face Maker

Carl made me smile! The Russian Art Collective Faceheads.ru and Carl, their talking piece of cardboard, explain in this little video tutorial how to use random shapes to create an Instant Face Maker. The effect is quite stunning when you move two points wich represent the eyes over your piece of paper: you’ll see more and more faces appear from your random lines. A creative and fun way to play and draw for kids and grown-ups alike.

V.

Video: Sonification of search algorithms

Bubble sort algorithm - Visualization and sonification / audification

This sonification of search algorithms by Andrzej Rutkowski made my day. And it helped me to better understand what is going on when a computer does bubble sort, merge sort, etc. Here is what Andrzej says about sonification and I would totally agree that this technique hasn’t been explored to its full potential yet: “I know this work is not novel but I feel it isn’t explored enough. I see future uses of similar techniques in monitoring and debugging, teaching and gaining insight of more complicated algorithms, science and arts.” Thank you CS50x for pointing us to this sonification of search algorithms. A Happy New Year to everybody! And now enjoy the sound!

Merge sort algorithm - Visualization and sonification / audification

L.

Leap Motion takes the touch screen gestures to the third dimension

Leap motion - 3D gesture control for computers

With the Leap Motion controller, 3D gesture control is on its way to your desktop in the very near future. You can already pre-order one now ($69.99), sales should start this winter.

Leap motion - 3D gesture control for computers

From 2D to 3D finger control
While touchscreens have brought the ability to directly and intuitively control devices with nuanced finger movements in 2 dimensions, Leap Motion takes this fine-tuned gesture control ability to the next dimension. It will most likely change the way people control their laptops and desktop computers in the near future. You can think of the Leap as a kind of Microsoft’s Kinect controller, but way more accurate. According to the developers the Leap is 200 times more sensitive than existing technologies at a fraction of the price. Watch this stunning video to see the Leap Motion controller in action working smoothly with some well-known applications. I will pre-order my Leap right now.