At Helios, we often leverage open source software to create our experiences. Open source software allows us to utilize existing codebases that are flexible, well documented, and thoroughly tested by the larger online community. But we wouldn’t be doing our part if we only consumed existing code, we like to give back too. Over the past year or so the Helios Interactive github has been contributing small libraries of code for the general community. Most of these repositories are using OpenFrameworks and/or C++ but there are a lot initiatives down the pipe for C# and Unity3D. Here are some of the highlights from over the past year.
| Code | Use |
|---|---|
ofxDImager |
Addon to interface with the Panasonic D-IMager depth camera. This is one of the only depth cameras that will function in ambient sunlight. |
ofxFISH |
Addon to work with FISH events and their API. From reading the RFID tags, to querying registered user data. |
ofxSimpleTimer |
Addon to create minimal timers with event callbacks that can be paused or looped. |
ofxAutomatedInput |
Addon to record mouse clicks and play them back in time. This has proved a really useful tool for debugging and testing larger, well structured applications. |
ofxSimpleMask |
Addon to create masks easily and scrollable areas by using any two textures. |
ofxIISU |
A simple wrapper for SoftKinetic’s IISU gesture middleware that works across many different sensors. |
ofxWinSCard |
Addon to interface with smart card readers using the Windows Native WinSCard methods. Allows for NFC / RFID and other readers to be interfaced with directly from open frameworks. |
In a few months you can expect to see more repositories generated from our internal Helios libraries and utilities along with a few other service integrations such as Twilio.