Creative Coding: Talk to Fish

There is a classic personality test that asks if you had a super power, would you rather be able to fly or be invisible. The established consensus is that those who pick flying are show-offs and those who pick invisibility are creeps.

But in today’s polarized world, we need more communication. So whenever I’m asked that question (which should be any day now), I’ll select a third option: telepathic communication with fish.

Yes, I’m talking about Aquaman. Often ridiculed as silly, (at least until he was Momoa-sized) I always got a kick out of those circles emanating from his head.

As a webcam creative coding project, I used the ML5.js library’s FaceMesh and HandPose models to let me talk to fish (or at least look like I am). The program detects when I touch my temple with my index finger to generate the cool circles.

You can try it out with your own webcam here: https://editor.p5js.org/bcnr/full/QXjsfY1kb

(And you don’t have to wear an orange shirt.)