Kazu

A short introduction to my generative art works.

I create real-time systems with code, sound, and computation.

In a cellular automaton, the same update rule is usually applied repeatedly. But what if we change the rule while a spaceship is moving?

I wondered whether I could treat sequences of rules like a program, using them as “commands” for a spaceship: repeat a sequence that keeps it moving straight, insert a sequence that makes it turn, and then continue moving in the new direction.

For example, one spaceship moves straight when rule 1 is repeated. Insert the sequence 2323232111, and it turns 90°. Repeat rule 1 again, and it continues in the new direction.

This approach can control more than turns: spaceships can oscillate in place, stop, and start moving again. The spaceship is never directly moved or rotated during the computation, only the sequence of rules changes.

クッキーモンスターが地面から生えていた

0xe40fc5e69c1aa5e14cba05944974fc3da4461285a154d521e01cd6672feadbc1

Conway’s Game of Life has gliders that travel at 45° and spaceships that move horizontally or vertically. Patterns that travel at other angles are called “oblique spaceships.”

By extending rule-switching cellular automata, I’ve discovered a large number of new oblique spaceship structures - with diverse shapes and directions, from nearly horizontal to almost 45°.

The nine examples in this video are just a small selection. Explore the discoveries, including motions that may not have been reported before, through interactive demos: