reaction lamp #1

more pieces for our show are arriving! here’s a peak at one of the lamps we designed. we’ll do a real post on the ideas and code behind the creation of the reaction pieces sometime soon….I promise. The short of it is we created the lamp in Processing and it was 3dprinted using Selective Laser Sintering in nylon plastic. We varied the material thickness to create an intricate effect when illuminated.

The form is generated through a simulation of reaction-diffusion, a natural process that is theorized to be involved in everything from animal skin patterns to cell differentiation. For this lamp, we control the reaction through anisotropic diffusion. Anisotropic means that we varying the rate and direction of diffusion through space. This allows us to create a form that is at once controlled and organic.

This video shows a 2D reaction where the primary direction of diffusion is being varied by a noise function. The reaction is based on the Gray-Scott model , where one of the chemical concentration is being represented by the black color. The difficult part of this project was developing a controlled way to use reaction diffusion in 3D. Our aim was to create a pattern that would complement the spherical form and provide intruige in lit and unlit states of the lamp. Our solution involved crafting a spiraling reaction that terminates at the base of the sphere.

This lamp as well as more explorations of reaction-diffusion will be exhibited at Rare Device in San Francisco from September 2 to October 10.