Cosmicism without consolation
Mathematical cinema from an unaccommodating dimension
A four-dimensional hypercube projected into three dimensions, set turning beneath the cold light of the Shining Trapezohedron. The animation was generated procedurally in MATLAB: geometry, projection, rendering and video output all arise from code rather than the more merciful intervention of ordinary cinematography.
Flashing-image warning: This film contains rapidly changing and flashing imagery. Do not play it if you are sensitive to flashes or strobing effects.
Silent visual sequence. Playback does not begin automatically.
A tesseract cannot be displayed directly in three-dimensional space. What appears here is a changing projection: vertices and edges transformed through four-dimensional rotation, then mapped into the dimensions available to the screen. The result is mathematically lawful and visually rather less reassuring.
The complete program is supplied as a MATLAB .m source file: make_rotating_4d_cube_video_summoning.m.
The background picture used in the film is also available separately as haunter_of_the_dark.png.
