Chromoplasm #136

Second protocell collection features chromoplasms, semi-fluidic, artificial living substance connecting pigmented organelles into a membrane-like cell. They resemble unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms found on Earth. Structure and dynamics of each chromoplasm is guided by behavioral features like reconfiguration (affecting topology), modulation (affecting geometry) and degeneration (affecting both). Organelles or nodes evolved dithered 3-bit color, rendered in hundreds of color palettes and featuring luminescence. Chromoplasm creatures are found both in dark as well as light-abundant environments. They are rendered in real-time in your browser and can be interacted with.

Chromoplasms have 10 features which approximately describe their configuration, behavior and appearance. Like their predecessors monocells, they start from a basic primitive shape and develop in several stages through application of growth rules. Highest stage observed for a chromoplasm is 4, which is also GPU intensive to display and interact with. Each chromoplasm has both structural as well as behavioral features. Structural ones include starting primitive, stage (1-4) and order (symmetric / irregular), with many growth-related features remaining hidden. Behavioral features include reconfiguration of node connections, modulation of node distances and degeneration type. Occasionally, nodes change size in oscillating patterns. Around 300 color palettes are grouped in 8 categories.

Press o_o for recording an animation clip (available only in fullscreen / live mode). Press >< for recentering once, double click it to trigger automatic recentering. Coded in Javascript and GLSL using Three.js and D3 frameworks.