Liu Hao / Works / Computational Processes
← Back to Works
Creative coding · Procedural visuals · Real-time computation · Mapping

Computational Processes

A continuing line of visual and audiovisual experiments in which code, rules, mappings and real-time computation become part of how the work is formed.

Triangle Structure / Spatial Field visual from Computational Processes by Liu Hao
Triangle Structure / Spatial Field · Unreal Engine 5 · 2025
FocusProcedural visuals, real-time transformation and audiovisual mapping
MethodsCustom code, existing libraries, rules, mappings and real-time systems
Current documented toolsUnreal Engine 4/5 · Blender · OpenFrameworks · Max/MSP/Jitter · C++
Process Archive
01

Light Sensor / Audiovisual Field

c. 2022 · Unreal Engine 4 · Light sensor / photoresistor · Real-time particle system

A short archival fragment from a sensor-driven audiovisual experiment. A photoresistor supplies real-time input to a particle system in Unreal Engine 4, linking changes in ambient light to the behaviour of the real-time field.

03

Triangle Structure / Spatial Field

2025 · Unreal Engine 5 · Blender / JSON workflow · Real-time 3D

Developed in 2025, Triangle Structure / Spatial Field begins with a family of triangle-based structures modeled in Blender. Spatial and transform data were extracted and stored as JSON, then used in Unreal Engine 5 to reconstruct and organise the structures as a real-time field. The experiment focuses on repetition, scale, density, viewpoint and movement; sound was tested alongside the visual system as part of the audiovisual process.

04

Triangle Structure / Radial Formation

2025 · Unreal Engine 5 · Procedural generation · Real-time 3D

Triangle Structure / Radial Formation is an algorithmically generated variation of the same structural vocabulary. Rather than reconstructing the Blender-exported spatial dataset used in Spatial Field, this version arranges repeated triangle structures procedurally inside Unreal Engine 5, forming radial and concentric configurations through changes in orientation, scale, repetition and layered transformation.

Triangle Structure Radial Formation generated in Unreal Engine 5
Triangle Structure / Radial Formation — procedural radial configuration in Unreal Engine 5, 2025.
Process Notes

Working structure

Selected development views from the Triangle Structure experiments. These images document parts of the working environment and camera workflow rather than the full generative logic of the system.

Unreal Engine 5 editor showing Triangle Structure meshes and a running spatial field
Unreal Engine 5 project view showing Triangle Structure meshes and the running spatial field.
Camera shot transform data stored as JSON
Recorded camera-shot transform data stored as JSON.
Unreal Engine camera and shot-recording Blueprint
Camera / shot-recording Blueprint used alongside the stored shot data.

Geometric Forms

Geometric Forms brings together a set of real-time graphics experiments developed in OpenFrameworks and C++. Simple geometric elements are generated, repeated and transformed through code, with the emphasis on changing form, density, movement and spatial organisation.

Process Archive 02

Particle System Study

c. 2016 · OpenFrameworks · C++ · Particle system

An archival OpenFrameworks particle-system study showing generated forms distributed and transformed in real time. The clip documents one visual configuration within a broader set of graphics experiments.

MultiScene

MultiScene is an early audiovisual coding experiment developed with OpenFrameworks. Multiple visual scenes, transformations and time-based behaviour are organised inside a real-time program. Among its components, the project uses the openFrameworks addon ofxLSystem by Davide Prati (edap) for L-system structures, alongside the project's own scene, transformation and audiovisual logic.

Procedural Fields

Procedural Fields is a set of C++ externals for Max/MSP/Jitter developed within the same computational practice documented on this page. The objects expose reusable processes for procedural geometry, noise, harmonic motion, event-driven control and real-time audio analysis, allowing them to be recombined inside Max as part of larger visual and audiovisual systems.

Procedural Fields system showcase combining multiple Max/MSP/Jitter externals
Procedural Fields — multiple externals combined inside a Max/MSP/Jitter system.
Harmonic Field procedural motion showcase in Max
Harmonic FieldProcedural line structures shaped by harmonic motion.
Radial Distort shockwave deformation showcase in Max
Radial DistortReal-time radial deformation applied to a regular point field.
Value Watcher event-driven visual showcase in Max
Value WatcherEvent-driven visual response to changes, thresholds and spikes.

Rules, Mapping and Real-time Form

Across these experiments, computation is used less as a subject in itself than as a working process for organising images, sound relationships and behaviour.

Some systems are purely visual; others connect image and sound through mapping. Some use established libraries or existing algorithms, while others depend more heavily on custom code. What connects them is not a single technique, but the use of computational processes as a practical material within the work.

This can include procedural graphics, parameter mapping, real-time transformation, rule-based movement and software structures that connect multiple media.

A Continuing Line

Computational Processes is intended as an expandable project line rather than a closed pair of works. MultiScene and Geometric Forms establish the first documented points, while later experiments can be added as they are prepared for publication.

The category allows visual, audiovisual and software-based experiments to remain connected through method without requiring each small test to become a separate project page.

Development Line

2017

MultiScene

Real-time audiovisual organisation and scene-based coding in OpenFrameworks.

2019

Geometric Forms

Real-time geometric forms, transformation and C++ graphics experiments.

Ongoing

Further Processes

Additional visual, audiovisual and real-time computational experiments can be added to the same line.

Work Archive

Title
Computational Processes
Artist
Liu Hao / 刘昊
Project type
Code-based visual and audiovisual experiments
Methods
Procedural rules, mapping, real-time transformation, existing libraries and custom code
Current documented tools
Unreal Engine 4/5 · Blender · OpenFrameworks · Max/MSP/Jitter · C++
Current documented entries
Light Sensor / Audiovisual Field; Triangle Structure / Spatial Field; Triangle Structure / Radial Formation; Geometric Forms; Particle System Study; MultiScene; Procedural Fields
Status
Continuing project line