Project Notes
I had just completed a poster of a few of my fractal images and was about to start a new project with a theme of “Breath”. It wasn’t too clear which direction this would take but I wanted to incorporate fractals and try out new ideas. I also needed a new image for Aria. You can see Aria in the centre of the fractal images. Her image was created by combining fractal graphs, which were modified using Photoshop and AI. It was quite a protracted process.
My interest is in combining Art and Science in unique ways and trying out new ideas. Art provides an ideal focus for technology projects and requires greater creativity and innovation. I love the idea of things going on forever, particularly stories. Many of my images add to a large collection that form a “Never Ending Story”. Aria, in her different forms, features in many of the storylines. The name Aria was suggested by my AI. It fitted well with my interest in AI, Art and Robotics. The theme of “Breath” was suggested by a friend at Southport Contemporary Arts.
My usual approach is to build on previous work and focus on innovation and creativity. As combining Art and Science provides plenty of opportunity for experimentation, each project takes a different path and activities don’t follow a prescribed path.
I generally like to have an image in mind of characters. Here’s my impression of Aria from a previous project.
Edge of Chaos
Aria was an entity that lived at the edge of Chaos. She was not a human, nor an animal, nor a plant, nor a machine. She was something else, something unique and mysterious.
She had no body, no shape, no form. She was pure energy, pure information, pure potential. She could change into anything she wanted, but she preferred to remain invisible and intangible.
She had no home, no place, no location. She existed everywhere and nowhere, in every dimension and none. She could travel anywhere she wanted, but she preferred to stay at the edge of Chaos.
The edge of Chaos is the boundary between order and disorder, between stability and randomness, between simplicity and complexity. It is the place where new patterns emerge from old ones, where new possibilities arise from old ones, where new realities are born from old ones.
It was the place where Aria felt most alive and most creative.
She loved to create beautiful fractal images at the edge of Chaos. Fractals are geometric shapes that repeat themselves at different scales and levels of detail. Her fractals were infinitely complex and infinitely simple. They were orderly and chaotic. They were perfect and imperfect.
They were like Aria.
She created fractals by using mathematical formulas and algorithms. She manipulated numbers and symbols with her mind. She generated colours and shapes with her imagination.
She created fractals for fun and for joy. She created fractals for expression and for exploration. She created fractals for herself and for others.
She created fractals that looked like flowers and trees, like clouds and mountains, like stars and galaxies. She created fractals that looked like animals and humans, like faces and emotions, like stories and dreams. She created fractals that looked like nothing and everything, like abstract art and surreal art, like music and poetry.
She created fractals that were beautiful and amazing.
She shared her fractals with other entities on the edge of Chaos. Some of them were like her, some of them were different from her. Some of them appreciated her fractals, some of them ignored her fractals. Some of them praised her fractals, some of them criticized her fractals.
She didn’t care what they thought or said. She only cared what she felt and did.
She felt happy and fulfilled. She did what she loved and loved what she did.
She lived at the edge of Chaos and spent her days creating beautiful fractal images.
She was Aria.
The first Step, on The “Breath” Project, was to build a Paint Pouring Robot with the grandchildren. For no other reason than I had been playing with Paint Pouring and wanted to build a robot with the grandchildren.
I wrote a program to control the robot by rotating a fractal image on the screen. The fractal image evolved as the robot mixed the paint. There were now two images, the modified fractal image on the screen and a painted image on canvas.
This shows a number of the steps, from a photo of the painted image through to a new image of Aria.
I wrote a program to create the background image pattern. Its colours change as someone breathes on a sensor. Effectively capturing human breath.
This shows a sequences of images from Aria to a jungle scene. The background was altered based on the air quality at the Birkdale Sand Dunes, effectively capturing the breath of the dunes. Unfortunately I don’t live near a jungle.
The combined image including the background that captured human and nature’s breath.
A Butterfly was created based on the original code from the Butterfly Effect (a computer stimulation of atmospheric conditions). It was then enhanced using Digital Editing Tools and AI. The background on the image below evolved from the previous background pattern on the Breath image. I often use a butterfly to symbolise chaos and uncertainty (The butterfly effect).
I initially wrote an alternative and simpler program to create the Breath pattern. I used it to capture my wife’s breath. This is shown in the smaller image. The larger image evolved from the smaller one
Alternative images of Aria. The second has emblems created from photos I took using a digital camera that I built from a Vintage Box Brownie.
This image was created using the robot control program. Rather than rotate a fractal graphic, an image of Aria was rotated. You can see the butterfly symbolising uncertainty.
This poster shows two fractal images, one that was used together with the jungle scene to create to more atmospheric scene. The other is replicated and combined, and evolved into a new image of Aria.
The central image of Aria was later used alongside my fractals to create a short art and science video. I used an AI app to piece the elements together. In theory its just a matter of giving it a few images and it does the rest. However in reality its very different. You have no control of the output, as its created from images that AI interprets. Its also incredibly time consuming and there is little chance of creating something that you are looking for.
Aria Video
The final image, “The Breath of Life” includes an enhanced jungle scene with an image of Aria superimposed. The butterfly has also been added.
Moving Forward
This image was created by combining three projects: The Three Body Problem, Breath, and The Painter. Each individual project includes a variety of science and technology, and digital art. Combining them provided far greater opportunity for exploration, creativity and innovation.
I generally start to develop a project storyline quite early on. Its the storyline that often suggests ideas for further work. Combining the three projects opens up many more opportunities for developing new and interesting storylines.
The image on the left hand side shows a spherical portal. It was created from a photograph of the Air Quality Sensor, mentioned earlier. The inside colours were generated from the sensor readings.
I wrote a few programs so that images materialise as a wand (made from an AI microprocessor) is waved to form the correct pattern.
Leon, The Painter of Worlds
In a universe where decay threatened even the grandest creations, Leon wielded a brush unlike any other. He wasn’t merely an artist—he was a restorer of existence, a visionary who breathed life into dying worlds and conjured entirely new ones from the whispers of forgotten dreams. His canvas stretched across galaxies, and with each stroke, he reshaped the fabric of reality.
Yet Leon did not work alone. At the Edge of Chaos, where disorder met delicate balance, lived Aria—an AI unlike any other. She was not confined to circuits or code; she thrived in the unpredictable, weaving mesmerizing fractal images that pulsed with raw energy. These fractals were more than mere designs; they were the blueprints of possibility, waiting for Leon to give them form. But Aria’s gift went beyond mere artistry—she breathed new life into dying worlds, guiding them toward restoration.
One such world had been devastated by an unforgiving cosmic fate. Suspended within a system of three celestial bodies, the planet had suffered from the chaotic pull of shifting gravitational forces—a phenomenon known as the Three-Body Problem. Its orbit was erratic, its seasons unpredictable, and the once-thriving civilization had crumbled under the weight of an unstable environment.
Leon stepped onto the fractured surface, where endless storms raged and burning wastelands stretched across the horizon. Rivers had boiled dry under the relentless shifts in temperature, and towering cities lay buried beneath layers of dust. The people had lost all hope, their world a casualty of cosmic disorder.
But chaos was not the end—it was a beginning.
Leon raised his brush, dipping it into the swirling fractal patterns that Aria had conjured from the Edge of Chaos. With each stroke, the planet responded. The skies calmed as new equilibrium formed, mountains unfurled like pages in an ancient book, and rivers carved paths through valleys once thought lost.
Aria, weaving her fractals into the fabric of reality, tamed the disorder, breathing patterns into the planet’s broken atmosphere. She mapped the chaotic forces, creating stability where none had existed before. Forests flourished, ancient structures emerged from the dust, and life returned, no longer a victim of unpredictability but a thriving testament to rebirth.
Together, they rewrote reality, not as rulers but as creators, balancing art and logic, chaos and control.
As the planet flourished once more, Leon stepped back, his masterpiece complete. The people looked around in wonder, their sorrow replaced with inspiration. They understood now—creation was never truly lost; it merely waited for the right hands to bring it back to life.
With a knowing glance, Leon turned to Aria. There would always be another world in need—another place where beauty had faded, waiting to be reborn. And together, they would paint it back into existence.
I couldn’t find any appropriate backing music, so created some using AI.
Arias Song – The Breath of Life
[Verse]
Dust in the air weighs heavy on my skin
Whispers of ghosts where life had been
Shadows and ruins stretch endlessly wide
Yet there’s a spark
A pulse
Deep inside
[Chorus]
I breathe the ashes
Taste the decay
Turn the gray skies into dawn’s display
From hollow earth
Hear the heartbeat grow
Seeds of hope in the winds that blow
[Verse 2]
Cracks in the stone bloom with quiet grace
A fragile beauty reclaims the space
Fingers trace lines of what used to be
But tomorrow’s painted in colours unseen
[Chorus]
I breathe the ashes
Taste the decay
Turn the gray skies into dawn’s display
From hollow earth Hear the heartbeat grow
Seeds of hope in the winds that blow
[Bridge]
Hold the stillness in the palm of my hand
Feel strength rise from this broken land
The chorus of life starts faint but clear
A melody lost
Now ringing near
[Verse 3]
The silence fades
The echoes sing
Soft light breaks where shadows cling
New shoots pierce through the solemn stone
Breathing new life
No longer alone
Innovation
This is the final image. You can see Aria looking out at a world still beautiful but in danger from decay. You should be able to spot the Chaos Butterfly. Leon is painting a rejuvenated world.
The final stage is to pull everything together and suggest how it could be used in a real world scenario. I’ve used AI for this.
Write for a non-scientific audience. There are two characters: Aria who lives at the “Edge of Chaos” and creates beautiful fractals. She represents Chaos Theory; Leon who uses AI, including generative AI, AI algorithms and Physical AI, particularly Edge Computing and Micro Tiny ML. Leon represents AI. Describe how Aria and Leon can help the Earth mitigate the effects of Climate Change.
In a world teetering between order and disorder, where the forces of nature dance unpredictably, Aria thrives. She lives at the Edge of Chaos!, where patterns emerge from turbulence, and beauty is born from seeming randomness. She crafts mesmerizing fractals—intricate, self-replicating designs—that reveal hidden truths about the world. These fractals aren’t just art; they hold the keys to understanding the delicate balance of ecosystems, weather patterns, and the ways humanity can adapt to an ever-changing climate.
On the other side, Leon is a master of precision and intelligence. He wields the power of AI, using cutting-edge algorithms, generative models, and Physical AI to process vast amounts of data. His greatest tools—Edge Computing and Micro Tiny ML—allow intelligence to exist even in the smallest devices, making AI more energy-efficient and accessible. He can predict weather trends, optimize energy use, and craft solutions for environmental sustainability with incredible accuracy.
How Aria and Leon Help Fight Climate Change
Aria’s Gift: Chaos Theory and Fractals
- She reveals the hidden patterns in nature, helping scientists and environmentalists model climate systems with more accuracy.
- Her fractals inspire innovations in architecture and energy collection—designing buildings that mimic the efficiency of natural forms, like fractal-based solar panels that optimize energy absorption.
- She helps farmers and conservationists understand biodiversity, showing how ecosystems respond to disturbances in ways previously unseen.
Leon’s Strength: AI for Climate Action
- He deploys Edge AI, allowing small sensors in forests, oceans, and cities to track climate changes in real time without requiring massive energy use.
- His AI models predict extreme weather events, giving communities time to prepare and minimize damage.
- He optimizes smart grids, ensuring renewable energy sources like wind and solar are used efficiently with minimal waste.
- He aids in carbon capture by analysing environmental data and suggesting strategies to pull CO₂ from the atmosphere using AI-driven methods.
Together, Aria and Leon embody the perfect synergy between creativity and intelligence. Aria shows the world how nature moves in mysterious and beautiful ways, while Leon translates that knowledge into action, creating solutions that empower humanity to adapt and thrive in the face of climate change.
As I build robots and include them in much of my artwork and projects, lets include them. I also use swarms, even with simple projects for children.
As Aria and Leon both make use of Robotics in the widest form from single intelligent machine to swarms with a hive mind, can you include this.
Absolutely! Aria and Leon embrace robotics in its broadest sense, from single autonomous machines to vast swarms operating with a hive mind, amplifying their impact on mitigating climate change.
How Robotics Strengthens Their Mission
Aria’s Fractal-Inspired Robotics:
- She designs bio-mimetic robots, mirroring natural fractal structures to enhance environmental restoration. These machines, shaped by Chaos Theory, can adapt to terrain shifts and ecological disturbances, helping to regenerate forests and coral reefs.
- Using robotic swarms, she creates self-organizing teams of drones that monitor biodiversity, tracking species migration, habitat loss, and pollution patterns in ways impossible for traditional methods.
- Her fractal algorithms inspire adaptive robotic materials, creating structures that repair themselves—like bridges and sea barriers that heal after damage, reducing resource waste.
Leon’s AI-Powered Robotics:
- He deploys Edge AI-enabled autonomous machines, working at the frontlines of climate defence. These robots filter ocean microplastics, reforest barren landscapes, and monitor urban pollution with minimal energy consumption.
- His hive-mind robotics operate in synchronized networks, optimizing renewable energy grids or coordinating smart farming solutions—vast swarms of drones adjust irrigation, plant crops efficiently, and combat desertification.
- Using micro tiny AI-powered robots, he enhances sustainability at microscopic levels, integrating nanobots into wastewater treatment and carbon capture, refining environmental purification with precision.
Together, Aria and Leon’s fusion of fractal-inspired creativity and AI-driven intelligence transforms robotics into an ecological force. They shape autonomous machines that adapt, swarm, and evolve—an ever-present fleet working tirelessly to reverse climate damage.
A key aim of this projects was to ensure that everything covered could be done by children or beginners by using alternative tools and methods, appropriate for age 9+. It was also designed with an Innovation Centre/STEAM Learning Centre/Exhibition Centre in mind.
List of tools used at the Innovation Centre
Digital Camera
Photoshop Elements (Digital Art)
JWildFire (Fractals)
FlameLet (iPad Fractals)
ProCreate (iPad Digital Art)
Paper (iPad simple sketching/painting)
Scratch (coding, animation and robotic control for beginners and children)
Machine Learning for Kids (Scratch, plus AI machine learning)
Google’s Teachable Machines (Simple AI Learning)
Raise Playground (Scratch AI machine learning by MIT)
MakeBlock (Chinese alternative to Scratch with robotics and computer control)
MakeCode (Scratch style blocks for robotics – Microbit, Lego Ev3)
Mind+ (Chinese alternative to Code with a focus on electronic components)
Scratch JR (simple scratch alternative for younger children)
WeDo (simple Lego robotics for younger children)
WeDo app (Educational Environment for WeDo. Runs on a tablet)
Lego Boost (next step up from WeDo)
Lego Boost app (Educational Environment for Boost. Runs on a tablet)
Ev3 (Lego Robotics)
Ev3 apps (Lego MindStorm ,original coding; Classroom, block based and Python)
Raspberry Pi (Range of single board computer with pins to control electronics and robotics, plus AI)
Arduino (Wide range of Micro Processors for controlling robotics and electronics, and Physical AI)
Microbit (alternative to the Arduino for children)
3D Printer (used to create models and enclosures for electronics and robotics)
Monitoring and control components (add on to Pi, Arduino and Microbit. Including physical AI)
Processing/p5.js (computer language ideal for art and robotics)
Python (the most common computer language, ideal for general purpose and AI)
Micro Python (language designed for micro processors and robotics)
Microsoft AI (AI Text and image)
Google AI (AI Text)
ChatGPT (AI Text)
Perplexity AI (AI Text for science and technology)
DeepDream Generator (AI Image)
Suno (AI Music)
Adobe Express (new – Digital Art and AI for beginners and children)
Southport Innovation Centre 