Surfing Photons is an interactive installation concept designed and built in TouchDesigner. It connects viewers to a visualization of light through a motion tracking interface, recorded and deployed via Python module.

I have long been fascinated by water and its metaphoric relationship to a lot of (at least my) life. Recently, I have begun thinking about light in much the same way. Arbiter of perception, light modulates everything in our conscious world. It allows us to see up close (microscopes), far away (stars), and enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the world at normal zoom as well.

Depending on your point of view, light can be measured like a wave, or like a particle. A particle representation of a unit of light is known as a photon. This duality is a function of the observer and their limitations, or constraints.

Surfing Photons adopts a particle representation of light distorted by waves of a different type: A shallow water simulation, like the ocean surface (or top of a pool). These waves refract rays of light, distorting them and creating caustic patterns on objects beneath the surface.

This concept inspired Surfing Photons, connecting two of my favorite metaphors for life: light and water. Try to get as much of both as you can.