Scalable City
Scalable City is a multi-dimensional art and research project developed within the Experimental Game Lab at the Qualcomm Institute, UCSD. The work functions as a provocative critique of urban sprawl and algorithmic logic, utilizing the mechanics of a video game to simulate the relentless expansion and eventual collapse of a hyper-consumerist landscape. By intersecting technologies from the leading edge of visualization research with extended game industry tools, the project creates a hybrid experience that explores how software systems permeate and shape contemporary society.
The artwork is structured around a series of algorithmic "rules" that automate the construction of a sprawling, chaotic city—transforming the serene geometry of a digital landscape into a densely packed environment of roads and suburban architecture. As the simulation progresses, the very tools used for creation become the agents of destruction, leading to a "beautifully entropic" failure of the urban system.
About Todd
My research represents a formal inquiry into the friction between users and data. By architecting novel hardware and algorithms, these projects establish new benchmarks for how we visualize and interact with massive, multi-dimensional datasets.
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