Flocks, Herds and Schools

Plotted generative works as homage to Craig Reynold's Boids algorithm

Unique generative works paying homage to Craig W. Reynold's 1987 flocking algorithm presented in the paper Flocks, Herds, and Schools: A Distributed Behavioral Model

The aggregate motion of a flock of birds, a herd of land animals, or a school of fish is a beautiful and familiar part of the natural world. But this type of complex motion is rarely seen in computer animation. This paper explores an approach based on simulation as an alternative to scripting the paths of each bird individually. The simulated flock is an elaboration of a particle system, with the simulated birds being the particles. The aggregate motion of the simulated flock is created by a distributed behavioral model much like that at work in a natural flock; the birds choose their own course. Each simulated bird is implemented as an independent actor that navigates according to its local perception of the dynamic environment, the laws of simulated physics that rule its motion, and a set of behaviors programmed into it by the "animator." The aggregate motion of the simulated flock is the result of the dense interaction of the relatively simple behaviors of the individual simulated birds.
– Craig W. Reynolds

Plotted in pen on a 2016 AxiDraw, each work features a unique flocking motion, using avoidance to avoid the title letter forms. I get a William Blake feeling from this work who is very much one of my heroes — someone who printed and published his own work. His book Songs of Innocence and Experience watches over me as I write this.

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