TangoChen

This is like a Try-Not-To-Type-In-A-Normal-Way challenge for myself, with a backlit keyboard.

As always, things are done early but it took me a lot of unpredictable procrastinating(waiting and not doing anything more) time before videos are made to publish.

The video clips are in a super bad quality. *facepalm*
Also, I’ve compromised on inconsistent unstable recorded voices.
Enough(time spent) is enough.

Every video is made like an experiment without being in a consistent style and quality. Some are put more effort with new editing ideas, some are simpler. After all, I hope I’ve done more (than nothing) while in a balance between time consumption and trying more for skills expansion.

I had never been a fan of mechanical keyboard until I thought, there is something programmable with it…

Specifically with a backlit keyboard. Every key has its individual RGB lighting. Just like a LED matrix panel with interactable pixels.

And I want to program these pixels…

10 effects included in this video. I’ve done more actually, will publish in other videos.

You may have experienced seeing things from something unrelated. like.. a human face-alike cloud in the sky. (Oops I can not give another example for a “such as”.)

This is called Pareidolia. “The tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern.” (- Definition on merriam-webster)

When I was young, I used to see human faces out of dense leaves on the tree. Actually I still can, but without a normal vision to see things far away clearly and I’m yet too busy to feel it.
It’s not something bad to me and I don’t feel suffering from it. Instead, I just feel interested of seeking out something from normal stuff.
(Being busy is bad.)

This video is also about Pareidolia without exception. I have prepared the included captured clips since 2015, but hadn’t made one compilation out of them until just now. Time to share!

I tried to make a 2D game with Toy-Con garage and this is what I have come up with. Though it’s not a complete “game” experience. It’s fun to build something seems to be simple but with even “simpler” graphics nodes.

-It doesn’t feel easy. Especially with the simple editor, which doesn’t support multi-select on objects.. space is a bit limited.. and difficult to get one object selected when there’re several ones overlaying together…

But I kind of feel and understand it is mainly designed for simple-yet-fun graphics programming. Otherwise it doesn’t feel fun if users are not making complex enough projects. However you can try building one but take responsibility for your choice while it can be quite inconvenient. And anyway… it’s been quite good to have as something on a game console.

There’s something not covered to explain in the video. If you have a question, you can leave a comment below.

I have intriguing dreams sometimes. I consider them as some random creative moments. I want to note down some of them here. Simply because they are interesting.

There may be terminologies for what I’m describing. If you know anything more about these or just have any ideas, free feel to leave a comment.

Half-sleeping..

More oftenly, dreams appear when I get tired, and am already on bed for sleep. My brain would somewhat still be rolling inside, it does not fully rest. I feel half-sleeping-and-half-awake.

The dream contents can be anything I’m not familiar with but yet new and impressive. I wouldn’t expect to see these good things I don’t work on daily, but it all comes to my brain.

– Symphony

In the dream, I hear good symphony, with different musical instruments playing together. I can feel it sound good and professional. But I can’t tell what all musical instruments they were due to my lack of knowledge on symphony. Even now in reality I can’t tell or have some more understandings on real symphonies. There could be cello, organ, and something I don’t know.

I would wonder, was that really a good piece of melody or I just have had a lower standard on what a good piece of music is in dreams(the aesthetic judgment shuts off), and felt enjoyable for poor quality sounds.

I don’t have skills to create/arrange these sounds, how do they come?
Was I somehow casually creating them in the dream? Or was I repeating/rehearing some pieces of music I heard before, which were unexpectedly stored in my memories?

– Potentially a new song

This is similar to hearing symphony. It’s more lyrical style with singing voice(s), like hearing a pop song.

I could feel a bit of regret sometimes, as if I would’ve noted down the melody and make a new song if I’m a professional song writer. I’m not but I did dream about trying to wake up, take my phone, sing out and record what I still could remember.

Also, was that just a copy of an existing song or a new melody never heard with few similarities with other songs?

– Nice visual content

This is like watching an artistic video, yet with impressive visuals. It’s random and unpredictable. I’m at the same time hoping/enjoying it to be just unpredictable. I cannot memorize and remake the visuals, but it was surely impressive.

– Clear zooming-in vision

How do you feel about the image quality in a dream? Is it clear or blurred like in some film scenes?

I can see a really clear view in dreams sometimes. That is, I know I’m in a dream, seeing astonishing clear images just like in real life. And furthermore, the content zooms in and still looks clear. Like watching an infinitely zooming image with always clear pixels, for 1 second. (The zooming lasts for short and not like it’s going infinite.)

I guess.. You may not remember any images of a dream, but it doesn’t mean you saw blurred things.

When in these content generating dreams, I’m in the mood of ① getting unpredictable good quality of art works from nowhere, ② enjoying, ③ hoping to enjoy more and get surprised.

– Gotten-up illusion

For many times when I tried to wake up in a sleep, whether because I hear the alarm, or for any reasons I intent to get up.

I may had the illusion that I was getting up – and stopping the alarm eventually. Then after a moment, I heard the alarm again, realizing the getting up process was in a dream and I was still in bed.

This can happen for a few times – a few rounds of thinking I have gotten up but I’m not, till I really wake up.

So I don’t regard them as good or bad things though medically or psychologically there can be different signs. If you know anything related, feel free to let me know and possibly help me dig into it.