Adding vegetation scene complexity to TechnoSphere

  Now back from my summer vacation I can resume work on an area I outlined in an earlier blog. That is the improvement to the near distant detail of our 3D terrain by adding vegetation detail. Fortunately for me it looks like the OpenSceneGraph (OSG) community has come up trumps again and announced osgVegetation. To quote Johan Hedstrom who is leading this effort, “osgVegetation is my ongoing attempt to create an open source library for vegetation generation.” Over the next few weeks I hope to get a chance to download the code https://github.com/leadcoder/osgVegetation and test drive it and see …

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He could have been talking about TechnoSphere

Whilst doing some “housekeeping” of my development environment I came a across an old link to a Ted Talk by Nicolas Perony. His talk “studies how individual animals — be they Scottish Terriers, bats or meerkats — follow simple rules that, collectively, create larger patterns of behavior. And how this complexity born of simplicity can help them adapt to new circumstances, as they arise.” It was certainly worth another viewing, and reminds me of how the TechnoSphere ALife engine is built with some simple rules which allow the creatures at times to exhibit what seems like complex behavior.

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Updates to the PC Standalone Version of TechnoSphere

We are currently updating the 3D look of TechnoSphere, with new terrain built from Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED) and high resolution satellite imagery of the Ngorongoro crater in Tanzania. This gives us fantastic middle and far distance vistas of the crater. (see above image) We have also added cloud systems, sun, moon and stars thanks to SilverLining SDK by Sundog software. Our next step we will be to experiment with vegetation including, trees, bushes and grass for closer in detail. In addition we will be synchronising our efforts with the TechnoSphere Android apps to allow the creatures to “Jump …

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Our next (hooved? wheeled? pod-like? electro-magnetic?) steps

The new creatures of TechnoSphere 2.0 are going away to gather under the shade of a virtual acacia tree and rethink their next (hooved? wheeled? pod-like? electro-magnetic?) steps. We think that the AR and ALife development program broken into smaller steps with a fully functioning and tested Create app to begin with, may allow for more funding success in the near future. It would also seem that there might just be a groundswell for 3D print and the physical to sit alongside the virtual, sooner rather than later. These fun, magical and playful creatures want to exist! In our world …

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One of my beasties got Tom Jones pregnant!

1990s TechnoSphere was about more than sex and death. Honest… But from the comments of our users you’d never know it! G: “Maladict has turned into a lean mean killer sex machine.  So far he’s killed 5, fathered 2 and is currently pregnant as well *beams proudly.*  One of his kiddies is doing well too, killed 3 already.” M: “well, Thingummy is preggers by smokie, who is a rather impressive daddy… 4 kids and 8 kills. 😀 my little girl(?) is growing up…~snif~” B: “Erg!  One of my beasties got Tom Jones pregnant!” C: “Tom Jones? That is evil … …

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Love? Sex? Alife.

  When the TechnoSphere creatures you’ve made on our app meet in real life, us humans never know quite what will happen…Will they pass each other by? Will one eat the other? Or might they mate? The outcome depends on the artificial life code that they live by. Sometimes it’s what we call love…

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Ron Broglio: being in the world of these alien creatures

TechnoSphere offered us the chance to think about nonhuman worlds and nonhuman worlding. What are the affordances, sensations, ways of being in the world of these alien creatures? Or more personally as a player: how will my little creature get along in this world? “Creating a creature meant that every so often throughout my work day I would get an email message from that other, ethereal world—a status update. How is my other worldly creature doing, what mischief has it found, what pastoral lands has it explored? I was not gaming in the traditional sense. I was not manipulating the …

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Kitchen table safari: sponsor this friendly wild creature

This wee beastie is looking for a human companion. He’s wandering around looking for YOU! Come to our Kickstarter page and feed him a donation. Help get him on the right track so that as he wanders around your kitchen table he can discover printed images that will cause 3D trees to pop up right there in front of him. BOOM! A tree to give him shelter. SWOOSH! A watering hole to drink from. A real image on a table will cause these and other virtual 3D objects to be added to his world. And you can watch this mini safari …

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Drumroll…#BringTSBack is LIVE on Kickstarter!

After months of preparation and teamwork, our Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign went live a little over 12 hours ago and we are thrilled to share #BringTSBack with you! Our goal is USD 90,000 in pledged donations and we have 34 days to go. Will you help us reach our goal? Check out the perks of being a TechnoSphere supporter on Kickstarter and back us at http://kck.st/1BMmcTN today!  

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Press: Revamped Tech-World Favourite TechnoSphere Crowdfunds for its Return

  REVAMPED TECH-WORLD FAVOURITE TECHNOSPHERE CROWDFUNDS FOR ITS RETURN KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES ON 19 NOVEMBER, SEEKS SUPPORT FOR GROUNDBREAKING TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 19 November, 2014   Media Only: press@technosphe.re; images available upon request. Kickstarter Campaign (http://ow.ly/Ex4mj): 19 November, 2014 – 24 December, 2014 Online: https://technosphe.re/ | Twitter.com/TechnoSphere |  #BringTSBack Facebook.com/TechnoSphere2.0 | info@technosphe.re     Originally launched in 1995, TechnoSphere was an artificial life environment online populated by thousands of user-created digital creatures. The creators are revamping the experience by merging real and artificial life for the first time on an Android app using augmented reality. When relaunched …

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