Put a scale symmetry exactly on top of a rotational symmetry. Enjoy.

December 11, 2020 8:22 AM

SuperSym: A symmetry-based doodling toy. Draw symmetrical things. Feel soothed by them. [via mefi projects]
posted by jacquilynne (14 comments total)

I have been playing with this nearly every day since it was posted to projects, and it's still just endlessly entertaining. I mostly don't play with the fancy loadable symmetries -- I just like a scale symmetry on top of a rotational symmetry, which provides a kind of 3D well of scribbling. It is deeply, unendingly satisfying even if you literally just scribble on top of it.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:34 AM on December 11, 2020 [1 favorite]

Another fun thing to do is to draw something relatively simple -- even a single straight line -- and then change the symmetries underneath it and see what happens.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:38 AM on December 11, 2020 [1 favorite]

It is a totally lovely little thing!
posted by cortex at 8:52 AM on December 11, 2020 [1 favorite]

Ohhhh … you have to Edit sym. first. I was pointing, clicking, nothing happening, checking for blocked JavaScript, …
posted by scruss at 9:49 AM on December 11, 2020 [2 favorites]

Oh, yes! Sorry! The Projects post included a demo video that I should have put in this post.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:16 AM on December 11, 2020 [1 favorite]

Just a simple rotational symmetry is like having a free-form spirograph in your browser. Totally mesmerizing.
posted by that's candlepin at 11:29 AM on December 11, 2020

Unfortunately, the name SuperSym is a tad misleading because it doesn't seem to let you create a symmetry between fermions and bosons using a Z_2-graded anticommutative extension of the Poincaré group.
posted by likethemagician at 12:03 PM on December 11, 2020 [3 favorites]

I disagree: the Poincaré group was notoriously opposed to doodling toys and that so-called exclusion actually reflects the deeper beliefs of the organization.
posted by Cris E at 12:26 PM on December 11, 2020 [3 favorites]

I feel like a six year old with a beautiful new spirograph. This is a delight.
posted by beandip at 2:30 PM on December 11, 2020

I really enjoy this. Thanks for sharing it, jacquilynne!
posted by straight at 11:36 PM on December 11, 2020

I have been reading the latest Sanderson, and now I know what Pattern looks like.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 12:16 AM on December 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

Very, very cool.
posted by domdib at 7:06 AM on December 14, 2020

Glad some folks other than me have enjoyed it!

I wanted easier color-switching when drawing, so I added a "color history" system that stores the last 5 used colors. Click on the color history buttons, or press the 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 keys to quickly switch between the last 5 colors.

If you've already loaded the page in the past, make sure to hard-reload (something like control-shift-R) to ensure you get the latest source files.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 8:43 AM on December 14, 2020

After only four hours, I declare this the most delightful diversion on the Internet. I literally did not worry about a single thing while I was exploring what it could do. The simplicity of the color picker is deceptive; the range is astounding.

I liked it.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 5:04 PM on December 14, 2020 [1 favorite]