OFFCUTROBO

The research here will help develop my following year at the AADRL in London to build and form a sensing and information recording device to understand a little bit more in how physical matter is dependent on its information.

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Hubble's Little Sombrero Galaxies can take many shapes and be oriented any way relative to us in the sky. This can make it hard to figure out their actual morphology, as a galaxy can look very different from different viewpoints. A special case is when we are lucky enough to observe a spiral galaxy directly from its edge, providing us with a spectacular view

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Time-Series

The multiple time-series enforce not only comparisons within each series over time (as do all time-series plots) but also comparisons between the three different sampled radio bands. Rich multivariate display.

This distinguished graphic successfully organizes a large collection of numbers, makes comparisons between different parts of the data, and tells a story.

J.H Lambert, 1728

William Playfair, 1750 Infographics: Graphics were preferable to tables because graphics showed the shape of the data in a comparative perspective

An especially effective divide for enhancing the explanatory power of time-series displays is to add spatial dimensions to the design of the graphic: so that the data is moving over space Eg. Napoleons Russian Campaign of 1812.

Multivariate arrangement forces comparisons.

Graphics as design in themselves e.g pie charts.

All variables have relationships. Any variable quantity can be put into a relationship to another.

Graphical excellence is that which give the viewer the greatest number of ideas in the shortest time with the least ink in the smallest space.

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Data Maps

Graphics reveal data.

Only a picture can carry a large volume of data in such a small space

Graphical Maps started in the seventeenth century; first combination of cartography and statistical skills required to construct the data map.  Eg. 11th c. A.D. in China The Yu Chi Thu.

1786 First economic time-series was plotted 

1686 First data map, chart showing trade winds and monsoons on a world map, Edmond Halley

1854 Worthy chart plotting location of cholera deaths in central London, Dr. John Snow. Water pumps also located. Graphical analysis testifies about the data far more efficiently than calculation.

"The most extensive maps place millions of bits of information on a single page before our eyes. No other method of display of statistical information is so powerful"

Edward Tufte 'Graphical Excellence'and 'Graphical Integrity' in Envisioning Information and The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (New Haven, 1983) p 13-77

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Coarse Graining

But down to what level do detail count?

When defining complexity it is always necessary to specify a level of detail up to which the system is described, with finer details being ignored.

Movie: Antonioni, Blow-Up - an enlargement of the pixel.

As to level of detail (coarse graining), suppose all the people are treated alike, having no individual characteristics, and are represented in a diagram simply as dots, in such a way that the positions of the dots do not matter and all the dots are interchangeable. Communication between any two people is either allowed or not allowed, with no graduation in between, and each two-way communication link is represented as a line (with no directionality) connected between two dots.

When the probabilities of a yes and no answer are equal, each question will elicit one bit of information

Murray Gell-Mann (1994), 'Information and Crude Complexity', In: The Quark and the Jaguar. London: 1994. p 23-41

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Postscript Adaptation

The whole is constituted by parts. Reductionism reveal layers of complexities.

Catalogue of existing objects do not reveal its behavioural organization in its environment

Layers of understandings scientist study, 1/ Agents 2/Interaction of agents

Mutual adaptation: Fitness Landscapes - taking a step deforms the terrain> allows co-adaptation > fitness landscapes become one

Gary William Flake. (1998). Postscript Adaptation. In: Computational Beauty of Nature. Mass.: Cambridge. Introduction p1-2/p 422 

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Bodies and trajectories. Coded in Processing. 80 frames. _Related: Circle.

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Flow field. Coded in Processing. 40 frames. _Related: Sine.

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Excellent graphics for communicating responsiveness and document waves.

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This is the Drone Helicopter NASA Scientists Want to Send to Mars

The big idea behind the Mars Helicopter is that a rover mission would carry the small helo to Mars, where it could fly out ahead of the rover, scouting out areas for near-future exploration. Once it runs out of juice, the autonomous helo would make a slow descent back to the soil, absorbing solar energy via a top-mounted solar panel as it recharges over the next days activities.

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The bottom-up approach can help us understand smaller processes much more efficiently. It is important that this is explored further with simple requirements in more difficult terrains. We must seek to understand the geology outside our planet and record the information efficiently.

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Source. Coded in Processing. 14 frames. _Related: Virtual Lands,Octahedron.

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The graphics of our future sensing machines? 

[postvideo]

This bug robot can move each of his six legs independently - and soon, he’ll be able to see and feel. Hear what researchers have to say about him here.

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Perhaps the next addition to the Architectural Association DRL program's drones here in London 

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Nayral Ro

Tech Art project from vtol is a robotic orchestra that lets you conduct an algorithmic symphony with hand gestures - video embedded below:

The orchestra consists of 12 robotic manipulators of various designs, each of which is equipped with a sound-transmitting speaker. The manipulators, combined together, form a single multi-channel electronic sound orchestra. Due to constant displacement speakers in space, changing direction of the sound and the algorithms for generating compositions, the orchestra creates a dynamic soundscape. In order to interact with the orchestra, controller Leap Motion is used, that allows to control robots and sound by simple hands gestures in the air - similarly to conducting an orchestra.

More Here

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Perhaps we can start extracting information from our own movements and the things around us and make them as accessible to the public as our phones today. Maybe we can literally start shaking hands over longer distances.