That was an illuminating FSI meeting. Let me journal some content while memories are fresh.
Gary Doskas, a talented engineer, showcased some tetrahelix-making software of his own devising, but in this rendition, the tetrahedra have disappeared (optionally, a toggle) and we're looking at the "pipes" inside.
Yes, back to pipes. A duct works.
Picture a tetrahedron as an elbow joint with a pipe connecting two holes at the centers of adjacent faces (any two faces are adjacent in this shape).
Now start face-joining ghost tetrahedrons, pipe to pipe, starting with a simple helical tetrahelix.
"Ghost tetrahedra" means they're allowed to interpenetrate (my word for it) i.e. conduit-defining tetrahedra comprise a coordinating system for laying pipe in space, and need not "get in the way" of each other.
"Interweaving pipe loops" characterizes the Don Bridell models of field structures pretty well. Gary is approaching the ability to weave these, and in so doing, give them unique labels in terms of a genetic code.
The sense of hydraulics and electrical circuits was strong in our session, meaning a sense of physics was in the air, intentional in the case of field structures.
Elastic Interval Geometry (EIG) already had me in the mood to imagine long balloons or cigars, as the visible compression elements in a tensegrity. Gerald was on this same call by the way, from Europe, making astute observations.
Then came Flextegrity in my experience, no mere metaphor either, in terms of museum-quality models. Flextegrity is about load-bearing, stress-managing extensible lattices, against the backdrop of the IVM apparatus (similar to XYZ, also ghostly).
Now I have acquired this new hyperloopy drinking straw metaphor with a lot of hypertoon associations, and I'm learning more about how the sausage is made so to speak.
"Partially overlapping scenario Universe" (a Buckyism) is what it all looks like to me, or flying spaghetti monsters (that's local esoterica). Make them as hyperdimensional as you wish, in whatever phase space. Continuity is what's key (smoothness of action, in the sense of logic followed).
Speaking of riding the rails, I think of theme park roller coasters (e.g. Twisted Dragon), but also of what the industry calls "dark rides" meaning indoor scenario more simulated experiences, also usually rail-based. Disney specialized in these, but also roller coasters. The genres are to some extent blendable.
Anyway, what one mentally maps to these mental maps is their business mostly, with role model examples trending towards physical interpretations, and with attention to the precise geometry, the engineering.
Science takes in interest in the details, where the devil is, they say (as in "the devil is in the details").
In this case, the tetrahelix was king, but in a ghostly background kind of way. Snaky pipe networks were in foreground, like rides in a water park.
Gary shared some amazing animations showing us twisty pipe loops that could get more and more twisty, changing symmetries and finally ending up in a simple base loop pattern.
That's not easy to visualize without more information, I realize. You had to be there I guess. Actually the talk was recorded, so maybe it will surface on the FSI YouTube channel eventually. Bravo Gary!
Here's a screenshot of my recent use of Don's field structure model, in a hypertoons talk.
