Casey Reas  

Artist Casey Reas uses software code to express his thoughts—starting with a sketch, composing it in code, and witnessing the imagery that it ultimately creates. Using the software he helped to create, Reas uses color to convey emotion and movement.

F or Casey Reas, software is the most natural medium to work with. He uses code to express his thoughts—starting with a sketch, composing it in code, and witnessing the imagery that it ultimately creates.

In the video above, Reas is at work his studio where he uses color to convey emotion with his programming language Processing. —

Together with Ben Fry, he created the software while at MIT, and it is now used by thousands of artists and designers worldwide.

A former student of John Maeda, Reas is an artist whose conceptual and minimal works explore ideas through the contemporary lens of software. Reas’s software and images derive from short text instructions explaining processes that define networks.

Reas attributes his involvement in the creation of the programming language Processing to Maeda’s book, Design by Numbers however while Maeda tends to be considered a “digital” designer, he has consistently explored the boundaries—and possibilities—of varying expressive modes, from pencils to computers, and his reputation, until recently, was built on his penchant for innovative thinking and an insistence on making computation accessible to all.

  Augmented Reality  

Recently, Jinha Lee, posted a video showing a potential augmented reality retail application for the set-up: Called WYCIWYW, for "What You Click is What You Wear," the interface would allow the user to virtually try on wristwatches and jewelry. —

J inha Lee is an interaction designer, engineer, and researcher working at the boundary of physical and digital world. He is currently on leave from his Ph.D. studies at MIT Media Lab's Tangible Media Group, and working on next generation TV interfaces at Samsung Electronics as an alternative service for the national military duty of Korea.

Last week Lee, posted a video showing a potential augmented reality retail application for the set-up: Called WYCIWYW, for "What You Click is What You Wear," the interface would allow the user to virtually try on wristwatches and jewelry. —



The applications for Lee's interface extend beyond watches. While the current thinking is that augmented reality will consist of roaming users wearing devices, as with Google Project Glass, tethered systems like Lee's, limited though their functionality may be, will also have their place.

Having a hardwired WYCIWYW monitor will simplify power and connectivity, for instance, and provide retail outlets with a measure of control they will want.