Make Your Own Animations for the Vertigo Dance Floor!

The WU IEEE has released our first VDF dev-kit to make your own animations for the floor.

You can get the zip file here.

While the server still requires Linux to run, the client-side is Java and can be developed and run on nearly any platform.

These animations are written in java and use simple 2-dimensional arrays of Java's built-in Color class. The interface is simple to use and
nearly anything is possible!

The developer kit contains some rough sample code, the code necesary to connect to a dance floor server, and the VirtualFloor server (also contained in the original software release) that will allow you to test and display your animations on your computer.

These do not have to be simple animations, either. They can be interactive programs that use any sort of input as its basis. The sample code demonstrates using your computer's microphone or keyboard for input.

Our goal is to see what people can make and send to us at ieee@cec.wustl.edu and we'll show them at our two upcoming events:

Washington University's Dance Marathon - November 4th 2006 - The Athletic Complex

Vertigo 2006 - November 28th 2006 - Lopata Gallery

Burnin' down the House

The dance floor was recently featured at the Homecoming Dance for Chaminade, a college prep school in St. Louis. The evening included a fire-breather, beatboxing performance, and music to get the kids movin'. This time, the floor ended up strewn with rose petals and bow ties, much classier than the usual spilled beer.

This event marks the full realization of the dance floor dream. The floor was commissioned, transported, and used in an awesome event, and the proceeds will fund new, cool, large-scale projects for Wash U engineering students.

Look for the VDF later this year at Dance Marathon on Nov. 4 and Vertigo on Nov 18!