Crystalyx #3

Crystalyxes are crystalline-like artificial organisms with transparent, iridescent and faceted membrane which forms their main body. They are first protocells to have evolved a triangulated mesh capable of rendering simple material properties like translucency, specular shine, color variation and luminescence. Not resembling any organism found on Earth, their compositions are named after precious stones, with the most common one being lapis lazuli. Rare ruby and emerald compositions are also occasionally observed. Crystalyxes come in 3-bit as well as monochrome variants, with latter being rarer. Structure and dynamics of each crystalyx is guided by behavioral features like reconfiguration (affecting topology) and modulation (affecting geometry). They inhabit both darker and light-abundant environments. Some mimic the color of their environment for camouflage, while others create contrasting shades to intimidate competitors. They are rendered in real-time in your browser and can be interacted with by pulling the tips of their facets.

Crystalyxes have seven features which approximately describe their configuration, behavior and appearance. Similar to their predecessors, monocells and chromoplasms, they start from one of four basic primitive shapes and develop in several stages through application of growth rules. Symmetrical crystalyxes can evolve up to stage 4, while irregular ones are known to go even higher. Note that higher stage crystalyxes are GPU intensive to display and interact with. Each crystalyx has both structural as well as behavioral features. Structural ones include starting primitive (tetrahedron, hexahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron), stage (1-6) and order (symmetric, irregular), with many growth-related features remaining hidden. Behavioral features include reconfiguration of node connections and modulation of node distances. Finally, crystalyxes are distinguished by their mineral composition (lapis lazuli, emerald, ruby) and color mode (3-bit, monochrome).

Press o_o for recording an animation clip in GIF format (available only in fullscreen / live mode). Note: this function uses CCapture.js module which can take significant time to generate and download. Press >< for recentering once, double click it to trigger automatic recentering. Coded in JavaScript and GLSL using Three.js and D3 frameworks.