Spacebrew @ SFPC

Spacebrew at SFPC - Brett Renfer
Spacebrew @ SFPC
10/28/2014

Spacebrew Basics

Spacebrew at SFPC - Brett Renfer Obligatory hype video!

Spacebrew…
• is a service and toolkit for
choreographing interactive spaces
• makes it easy to connect interactive
things to one another over networks
• was developed to support prototyping-driven
design efforts

Spacebrew is supported by a
group of amazing people.

Whispering Stairs,
Shu Yang Lin
Remote Presence Experiments
Havas Madsci Lab
Arduino Day - NYU ITP - Brett Renfer & Julio Terra
Next Round
Gustavo Faria, Bernardo Schorr and Stephanie Burgess
Forget Me Not Remote Flower Watering,
Lucy Matchett, Joselyn McDonald, Nicole Messier

client
app
client
app
client
app
client
app
Client-Server Model
Each client can feature one or
more publishers and subscribers.
The server can be hosted online
or run on a local network.

client
app
client
app
client
app
client
app
Client-Server Model
Clients communicate with the
server via WebSockets. All data
is formatted as JSON

Client-Server Model
The server routes all publishers
and subscribers. Routes can be
edited in real time via a
switchboard-like interface

Data Types
Three standard types allow for
quick and easy routing.
Custom types are also supported
= true or false
= 0-1023
= “some text”

Data Types
Each publisher and subscriber
announces its type, allowing for
automatic routing between
different apps
= true or false
= 0-1023
= “some text”

Libraries
Spacebrew aims to be
implementation agnostic.
We want to use the right tools
at the right time!
JS

Why?
• Create a glue between our favorite
toolkits and languages
• Focus on real-time communication
• Wanted to build a toolkit with a low floor
and a high ceiling

Using Spacebrew

Thinking About Apps
• We try to silo apps whenever possible
• Create specialized apps that are easy to re-use
• Allows for multiple languages for each need
• Quickly and easily move between machines/
networks when necessary
• Allows for easy prototypes in the future!

Thinking About Prototypes
• What’s the quickest path to a prototype?
• Can you use one of the existing examples?
Or multiple examples?
• Phone can become a “jump sensor”,
string example can stand-in for Twitter
or text messaging

Spacebrew Libraries
Each Spacebrew library:
• Connects to a Spacebrew server
(via WebSockets)
• Has an API to declare its publisher(s)
and subscriber(s)
• Can send + receive messages to/from Spacebrew

Spacebrew Libraries
Connecting to Spacebrew
1. Create a Spacebrew Object
2. Tell your object where Spacebrew server is
3. Declare any publishers and subscribers
4. Connect!

Spacebrew + Processing
• install the library at
~/Documents/Processing/libraries
(make the folder if it doesn’t exist!)
• restart Processing if it was open
• open the spacebrew_base example to get started!

Spacebrew + Arduino
• Two routes:
• the easy road: use Processing + Serial
• the road less travelled: Spacebrew Arduino lib
http://github.com/labatrockwell/spacebrew-arduino-library
• requires Arduino Ethernet shield
• notoriously difficult to debug!

Spacebrew + Javascript
• spacebrew.js is a stand-alone script that can run in any
browser that supports WebSockets
• this includes: Chrome (OS X, Windows, Android, iOS),
Safari (OS X, iOS), Firefox, Opera, IE 10
• open the spacebrew slider example in your text editor
• open http://bit.ly/sbslide on your smartphone
• also try http://bit.ly/sbaccel

Spacebrew + openFrameworks
• ofxSpacebrew connects to Spacebrew via
ofxLibwebsockets
• once you have both installed, you can create
ofxSpacebrew projects via the OF project generator
• let’s look at example_button

Custom Types

Custom Types
• Spacebrew supports arbitrary type names and data
(anything that reads as valid JSON will work)
• Similar to built-in types, you can only route to
matching names (e.g. we might know that “float”
could probably route to “int”, but to Spacebrew
they’re wholly different)

Example: Ultrabook Tree
• Each input station sent a custom “bloom” object:
• Which image (id)
• Number of laptops
• Radius
• Relative position (x,y)
• Velocity
• Rotation

Custom Type Demo
• https://github.com/robotconscience/spacebrew-JSON-examples
• JSON in spacebrew.js, ofxSpacebrew, and spacebrewP5
• Why JSON?
• It’s a simple way to send arbitrary objects
• Spacebrew uses it, so all libs have some sort of
JSON library included (if there isn’t one built
in)

You Got Served

Running Your Own Server
• Why?
• sandbox.spacebrew.cc is on the slowest AWS tier
• Running over the internet introduces some level
of latency
• Running a local server OR a remote server allows
a level of control: only people you choose can
route/reroute, break your routes, etc
• Allows you to customize the server code if
you choose!

• How?
• Setup! Only needs to be done once
• Download and install nodejs: www.nodejs.org
• Install node dependencies:
• npm install ws
• npm install forever-monitor

• How?
• Run! What you’ll do every time:
• In terminal, cd to the spacebrew directory
• Run: node node_server_forever.js

Keep in touch!
@robotconscience
brett@robotconscience.com
@spacebrewcc
spacebrew.cc

Bonus stuff

More on WebSockets
• What?
• Full-duplex (simultaneous input + output) TCP protocol
• Fast, simple to use, (relatively) simple to implement
• Allows both simple messages (strings, JSON, etc) and
binary data steams
• http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6455
• Why?
• Works in many languages across many platforms
• Works over the internet and on local networks
• Super easy to debug!

Persistent Admin

Persistence
• Another advantage of running your own server is you
can use the persistent admin
• The persistent admin is a separate service that
lets you edit, save, load, and persist routes
• It allows you to specify specific app routings:
coolApp -> coolPub to lameApp -> lameSub
• It also allows for powerful wild card routings:
.* -> coolPub to .* -> lameSub
• This routes any app that publishes “coolPub” to
any other app that subscribes to “lameSub”

Persistence
• You can run the persistent admin from the spacebrew directory:
node node_persistent_admin.js
• Run it in parallel with your server!
• From the command line, you can list, add, remove, load, and
save routes:
• list: ls
• add: add client1Name,pub,client2Name,sub
• use .* to create a wildcard
• remove: remove [index]
• you can find an index after add or by listing
• save / load (just that!)
• load is called on start automatically

Admin API

The Admin API
• You don’t just have to use our web interface!
• Javascript, openFrameworks and Cinder (Processing
soon) support the Admin API
• The Admin API subscribes to Spacebrew similar to a
client, firing events each time a client connects/
disconnects or changes its pub/sub map
• It allows you to view, edit, and add any and all
routes in real time!
• This allows for apps like the Admin Randomizer
from the Zip! Zap! Zow! exercise

The Admin API
• Try it out: http://bit.ly/sbslider-admin
• Let’s look at the Admin API in Javascript

Spacebrew @ SFPC

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