Visualizing Space and Time

InformationSpace is a causal set exploration tool whose visualizations have been rendered using Croquet. A causal set is basically a set of simple rules that define the relationship between bits in space and time. This is very much like Mathematician John Conway's Game of Life (not actally a game - but instead a rules-based cellular automata) which consists of a collection of cells which, based on a few mathematical rules, can live, die or multiply. Depending on the initial conditions, the cells form various patterns over time. InformatinSpace allows you to set some initial conditions, attach a set of causal rules, and render a cellular automaton into a log file which is then viewed using Croquet. The above screenshot shows a Croquet-rendered space time visualization of a classic r_Pentomino using Game of Life's causal rules. Height represents the dimension of time. This is a nice example of how Croquet can be used to visualize processes that take place over time.



Click here for more on the InformationSpace project.