Bridge Invaders Basics from Momo the Monster on Vimeo.
Today, Adobe announced the availability of AIR apps in the Android Market. A quick refresher: AIR is Adobe’s runtime environment for Flash Platform applications. It allows Flash movies to run as closer-to-first-class citizens – they can get access to system hardware like the accelerometer, save/load files, run in fullscreen AND allow keyboard use, and more.
I’ve been developing in AIR for the last year or so, and I’ve just released my first Android app, Bridge Invaders:
It’s a lo-res animation application, originally designed as a full-size video installation. I was able to take the code, made to run using a WiimoteWhiteboard setup, and run it, unmodified, on my phone. For the release, I made a number of tweaks to optimize it for my phone – but the code is maybe 97% the same, which means I can continue to develop it for the desktop, web and mobile platforms with ease.
The application as it stands is mostly an editor, with only basic play/pause and tap-tempo playback options (no live switching of loaded animations, for example). However, once the editor is dialed in, I plan to create a more robust player that could then be integrated into my Storyteller environment. At that point, the editor becomes a handheld workstation for my more powerful system – enabling you to create animations on the bus, in the cafe, or while standing against the wall and not-dancing at a minimal zarkcore show. I’ve done this while testing the app the last few months, and it’s fun – I find it much more relaxing to draw a few frames in an animation than to catch up on world news when I’ve got a few minutes to kill.
While I doubt that I’ll be switching out my Shuttle PC for a Pandora or an Android device running Processing , the possibilities for integrating the powerful machines so many of us now keep in our pockets are growing – and I look forward to the coming innovations in interactive art.
Wow, really cool! I just bought a Samsung Galaxy S today but it doesn't have Froyo yet, which is a bummer because I wrote a VJ app in HTML5 but the browser doesn't support embedded video tags like it should. Oh the wait is killing me!
Thanks, Tyler! Could I try your HTML5 app?
It is a bummer that so few phones have Froyo at the moment, and it seemed like it took forever to get it on my Incredible (In fact, I wound up rooting + installing the leaked version, then CyanogenMod, then Virtuous) – but it will come. And you will feel the future.
I think I recognize the music 🙂 Nice work MOMO!
Excellent. Downloaded and running on my EVO.
Nice one.. just downloaded the app and played with it. Works fine for me. Maybe I can suggest adding colors too?
Developing in AIR for ANDROID is fun ,I found out , dabblking with this since the prelease
The process is indeed very smooth, esp. with the Flash CS5 exporter and direct test on the phone .. and having access to sensors like multi touch ,camera,sd card and accelerometer is easy..and its really performant on my HTC Desire .can only recommend it
I also have coded my first AIR app for ANDROID,a few days ago
and I plan to release it to the market this week.
Just need to finish the (minimal) GUI
It is a simple fun app which generates kind of visual art/eyecandy by processing the live cam image…and you can save the result to camera roll.More when its released..
I also played with ANDROID processing which I enjoy too..
Its great to see more visual apps for mobile… coming from the visual art / VJ community
[…] HTML5 is therefore great news for Adobe, because they can use it to sell more copies of CS5. In fact, in some perverse way, the fact that Adobe’s Flash developers now can’t use Flash on devices like the iPad is great news. Huh, why? Well, Flash users might be happy with the current version of Flash. But then Apple blocks it, and everyone needs to use something else. The company who can solve the problem for them: Adobe. (HTML5, for one, is complex and evolving and Flash developers may not know how to use it.) With recent changes to Apple’s developer agreement, Adobe can likely build a tool for iOS, too. And don’t forget Android – Adobe has an app for that. (It’s AIR, and CDM contributor Momo likes it.) […]