Sea Monkeys is an interactive video installation using Pure Data, Sensors, arduino and Boids Algorithm. Sea Monkeys features images of people swimming underwater. Each swimmer is filmed against a green screen, in order to isolate the figure. There is a separate video for each swimmer loaded into Pure Data. Pure Data (aka PD) is a real-time graphical programming environment for audio, video, and graphical processing, made for an open-source community. Each swimmer’s position on screen is manipulated using PD programming and Boids algorithm. The Boids algorithm, developed by Craig Reynolds in 1986, is an artificial life program, simulating the flocking behavior of fish.
Sea Monkeys is part of a larger series of work Video Terrariums, which is a collection of panoramic video landscapes using multiple screens and integrating various animation/compositing techniques to reference scenic dioramas as one might find in a natural history museum illustrating a variety of habitats.