Ben Fry Thesis

Summary

Ben Fry imitates the behaviour and systems of simple lifeforms as a method to dynamically display data, following general rules (valence) as well as imitating specific biological growth structures (anemone).

Data Visualization

There is much existing work with the Visual Display of Quantitative Information (see Tufte), but these methods were created for static data. There is an emerging need for methods to display data that is continually changing, and with dynamic tools we now have additional methods for the display of incredibly complex data.

"Organic Information Design. This process was devel-oped through the study and analysis of decentralized and adaptive systems,in particular, the traits of simple organisms. The traits: structure, appearance, adaptation, metabolism, homeostasis, growth, responsiveness, movement and reproduction, all relate to a set of features that enable an organism to survive and respond to a complex and changing environment. By examining how these features make an organic system effective, insight is gained into how to design a visualization that responds to and synthesizes data in a similar manner. The result of the design process is an Organic Information Visualization, a system that augments the perception of qualitative features of dynamic data. "-Ben Fry Thesis

Decentralized Evolutionary Systems

Self-propelled units act like individuals with their own rules and behaviours, self-modifying to portray relationships between data

"Emergence is an essential strength of decentralized systems. It means that a meaningful whole can be developed from the interactions of many elements acting on very simple rules" -Ben Fry Thesis

"Evolving Virtual Creatures from Karl Sims where he bred simple creatures in software using adaptation, mutation and evolution. The creatures slowly learned how to move themselves, because the mutations started a few creatures moving, and the criteria for breeding was chosen based on ability for self- locomotion-the fastest piece was able to reproduce and continue. The creatures even 'learned' loopholes in the constraint rules set in the software that simu- lated them-allowing them to achieve artificially high scores until these rules were adjusted." -Sims, Karl. Evolving Virtual Creatures. Computer Graphics, Annual Conference Series, (SIGGRAPH '94 Proceedings), July 1994, pp.15-22. , in Ben Fry Thesis

Valence

portrays relationships between words based on a decentralized, organic system

"When two words are found adjacent to one another in the text, a line is drawn between them in the visualization. Each time these words are found adjacent to each other, the connecting line shortens, pulling the two words closer together in space... when relationships between data points can be established, and these relationships are expressed through movement and structural changes in the on-screen visuals, a more useful perspective is established.

"Related parts of the composition will group together in clusters, which is not explicitly stated in the movement rules, rather it is implied through the way the nodes interact with one another as they execute the interaction rules."-Ben Fry Thesis

Anemone

Visualizes web site usage by imitating the structure and development of an anemone. "Sea Anemones reproduce by lateral fission (in which an identical animal sprouts out of the anemone's side) and by sexual reproduction (in which anemones release eggs and sperm, producing free-swimming larvae)." Again, a decentralized structure allows parts to self-modify to display the relationships within the greater whole.

"Rules for growth can govern the creation of new branches of structure within the site. Atrophy rules decay unused areas, eventually removing them. Individual web pages can call attention to themselves as they are visited more rapidly than others."-Ben Fry Thesis

Properties of Organic Systems

• Structure-aggregation of elements to form more complex structures
• Appearance-visual expression of internal state
• Metabolism-synthesis of nutrients for raw materials and fuel
• Growth-an increase in either scale or amount of structure
• Homeostasis-the maintenance of a balanced internal state
• Responsiveness-reaction to stimuli and awareness of the environment
• Adaptation-adjustments to survive in a changing environment
• Movement-behavioral expression of internal state
• Reproduction-the ability of entities to create others like itself

Decentralized Rules

• Set-Explicitly set the current value of the Integrator. Normally, this is only used to set an initial value for the Integrator.
• Impulse-Adds a specified amount of force to the Integrator. Equivalent to incrementing a Numeric value, but executed in the continuous domain, i.e. the amount added attenuates over time.
• Decay-The opposite of an impulse. This is a decrease in the continuous domain. Often used to atrophy values over time.
• Attract-Apply a force to move the Integrator towards a particular value. Instead of setting the Integrator to a particular value, a target value is set for the Integrator that it will reach over time. Enables smooth transitions if the target is changing.
• Repel- The opposite of attract, moves the value of the Integrator away from a particular numeric value. If the value being avoided is greater, the Integrator is decreased further. If less, the Integrator is increased.
• Update-This is used internally to update the Integrator's current value on each time step, after calculating a new velocity based on the forces that have been applied to the Integrator by the rules that affect it.
• Reset-After each the current value is updated, the forces are cleared. New forces are added on each time step by re-applying the rules.