Experimental software for live interactive installations using ILDA lasers and xy-mode cathode ray tube oscilloscopes.

"more of a brat than a punk"

If you don't know why you want to play with lasers and vector graphics and what's the big deal anyway, start with background info.

Information I've collected about lasers.

During this alpha stage, the audio device is configured in jackstart and the operating system with its audio driver specifics are assumed to be macos. The goal is to make this cross-platform. If you get it working on Linux or Windows, please let me know and/or make a pull-request with the necessary changes. These should only affect how jack is started. If it's already running, communication with the jack server should be cross-platform. The audio device and channels are defined in the com.chromosundrift.vectorbrat.Config class.

See GitHub issues for outstanding items.

• laser driver (WIP, see laser issues)
  • text rendering
  • linear, quintic easing functions for line interpolation
  • dwell time for bright points
  • colour
  • debug output - shows interconnected paths
  • render arbitrary streaming geometry on laser
• spike: ensure es8 or es9 DC coupling
• define deployment setup
  • laptop
  • modular rig
• audio device detection
• colour
• off/on
• dwell points
• review and collect prior art
• attempt to build best existing
• compare existing to rebuild option
• audio visualisations via ad hoc modular patches
• practice laser shape jamming
• dev setup and workflow

Text-based games are unrealistic with the lasers I've tried. They may be feasible on CROs.

• asteroids
• pong
• gravity wars
• star wars ?
• lunar lander
• pinball
• future racing
• gyruss
• night driving
• missile command

• console (Q: maximum rows/cols? optimal font?)
• boids
• chaos stuff
  • lorenz attractor
  • hilbert curve
  • fractal trees
• vector synth
• demoscene stuff
  • cubes
  • metablobs
  • tunnels
  • scrolltext
• star wars text

The Interpolator needs to be configurable with time delta functions. The coefficients of these functions must be experimentally approximated. This creates an opportunity for a much-needed test method for vector display performance characteristics.

We need a simulator and integrated a test harness for calibration of the physical hardware limitations as a search for coefficients by empirical approximation. A simulator view should attempt to render the expected visual appearance and tweaking the configuration parameters for the hardware driver should enable the user to make the simulator match the real visual. Once the simulator shows the same distortions as the real device, at least for that point in the signal space, the hardware limitations can be known. By taking successive measurements of the distortions, even nonlinear performance characteristics can be compensated for.

Scanning lasers deflect the beam with galvanometers, cathode ray oscilloscopes use electrostatic deflection and Vecrex, like cathode ray TVs, use electromagnetic deflection. Each of these methods constrains the acceleration of these deflection angles differently.

Additionally, DPSS lasers have a beam intensity change profile which is slower than "pure diode" lasers and the rate is possibly different for increase and decrease.

In order to create signals that optimally produce a desired geometry, each of these (probably polynomial) time functions must be approximated. Lasers are the slowest and have rotational momentum in the optics.

Each hardware model may need its own profile.

The process can be semi-automated with a camera trained on the output, subject to camera performance and so long as the characteristics of the camera are known or can be reasonably approximated. By doing camera calibration at very low speeds, the chicken-and-egg problem may be avoided. The potential for on-board optimisers and intervening analog circuits for scaling and offsetting voltages must be accommodated, perhaps by adding notes to an experimental run and allowing for additional parameters to the measurement space.

The results of such tests could be saved to a known format and shared in an online database between users and manufacturers.

Finally, while the quality of the output signal is of primary interest, if the hardware is pushed too hard, it can be damaged, regardless of the output quality. In the case of lasers, the advised method to avoid this kind of trouble is to listen for excess audible strain in the scanners. Attempting to autocalibrate even this by adding a contact microphone is alluring but this whole thing feels like a bridge too far and such monumenal automation efforts must stop somewhere.

• virtual raster: render horizontal stripes like old IBM logo
• joy division mountains - made from sound input
• star wars text scroller
• arbitrary text scroller
• 3d rotations with hidden line treatment (e.g. blue making object translucent)
• soft-body physics demos, box 2d demos
• stripes with perturbations
• starfield
• music visualisation
• iphone control app?
• game controller inputs?
• post-processing video to produce registered vectorised derivatives (e.g. edge detection, non-photoreal renderers)

• image input from artist's instagrams
• welcome to country
• laser overlay on video

Visual effects suitable for mixing in on the modular

• warps / lens distortion (nonlinear proportional adder)
• screen shake (linear precision adder)

Modular synthesisers can also be used to control ILDA lasers using such modules as the LZX Industries Cyclops (discontinued) which has an ILDA DB25 and optionally add a 1010 Toolbox (discontinued) running the alternative 1010 LaserBox Firmware.

• cyclops - ILDA integration, interlock, attenuation of outbound analog laser control signals.
  • has lowpass filter on the output at various kpps values
• laserbox - pattern generation, load/store of files: wav, ilda, patterns
• es-9 - computer integration, headphone monitoring, line in, balanced line out
  • alternative: es-8 (optional es-6 expansion)
• dasiypatch - beat detection, orchestration,
• muxlicer - arbitrary sequencing, switching
• vca matrix - mixing two geometry sources, routing to data
• rampage - slew, laser functions
• distingEX - modulation, sample playback
• Pams + pexp2 - clocks, lfo
• data - signal analysis, waveform generator
• zoia - everything
• mult - sharing clock
• poly hector (general duties)

• Faderbank 16n
• Beat Step Pro
• USB Gamepads