Interactive Cellular Automata Systems for Creative Projects - Cellular Automata in Image Processing and Geometry - page 258

13.5 Multi-user Interaction Techniques

In addition to the single-user interaction techniques described above, recent deploy-
ments of Fluid Automata enable multiple participants to interact with the system
simultaneously. Research investigating interactive flow visualization indicates that
engaging interaction techniques can successfully enable collaboration and encour-
age exploration [37]. In order to investigate these aspects of fluid simulation, a col-
laborative version of the Fluid Automata system was presented at the 2011 IEEE
VisWeek Art Show [22]. In this installation, each user is given an iPad and invited
to interact with a single fluid system projected large-scale on a wall. On each iPad,
users see the current state of the fluid system's underlying vector representation
(represented by rotating and scaling triangles) as well as an indication of the other
user's interaction (represented by colored circles) [24].
The Fluid Automata system has also been ported to a multi-touch table, making
it easier for multiple people to interact with the system at the same time, and to
explore specific gestures that were defined to allow users to alter the intensity of
the turbulence of the system. In this installation, touches on the table are mapped to
inputs that update the fluid vectors. The table uses a perimeter of LED light sources
and light detection sensors to detect touches on the surface of the table. Figure 13.9
shows an image of people interacting with the multi-touch table running an iteration
of the Fluid Automata project.
The Fluid Automata system has also been used as an instrument for controlling
a multimedia composition, Study in Brownian (F*) Motion , in collaboration with
the composer Kiyomitsu Odai. The visual output of the composition is projected

Fig. 13.9 Users gathered around a multi-touch table running a project that uses the Fluid
Automata system