Social network analysis using Boids (flocking)

Really interesting idea from Skip Cole - apply Craig Reynolds ‘boids algorithm to an entirely different problem, in this case decision making within a social network. Cross-pollination at its best. The original algorithm was designed to simulate flocking by applying physical forces of cohesion, seperation and alignment, in order to simulate the position and orientation of the agents. This adaptation applies the same techniques to competing opinions within a social network.

I read “The Tipping Point” on holiday (short review coming soon), and the parallels with the spread of social epidemics described within are striking.

Read the full article on gamasutra. You can also grab the source code here.

Microsoft Photosynth

Oh my. Hello Photosynth, one of the first projects to emerge from Microsoft Live Labs. Effectively allowing you to browse areas of the world by stitching together planes of pictures captured (and presumably geotagged), it creates a navigatable 3D environment from the pooled photos of the globe, the natural next step of flickr’s yahoo maps geotagging functionality. Not sure if the stitching is automatic, or if its quite a manual process of specifying the precise location and orientation. If this does even half of what it promises, this could be the next google earth. Its also worth checking out Seadragon, a related project that offers an interesting solution to browsing heirarchical collections.

Sorry for the lack of posts. Just got back from holiday. Lots and lots to post over the next few days.