prospective question how extendable NodeBox is?

Hey guys!
I'm researching open-source programs / modules that'll help me with a university research (masters) project.

After reading that NodeBox nodes can be created from Python, I'm pretty excited.
But some basic questions are unanswered- e.g.

a) can one feed realtime changing data into Nodebox and see the output update likewise?

b) is it possible to write visualization (nodes?) that draws data in a way we particularly see fit if Nodebox doesn't quite have what we're looking for?

and finally if a) or b) is true, I presume and hope it's possible to do it in python or would java be necessary?

thank you so much for your time.
-Jordan

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply.

> can one feed realtime changing data into Nodebox and see the output update likewise?

This is already somewhat available, as the experimental "device" support. This allows you to connect data from OSC devices (Kinect, WiiMote, ...) to NodeBox. In Preferences, turn "Device Support" on and restart NodeBox. Then, in the File menu a new window "Devices" will become available that can connect NodeBox to OSC devices.

As for data from web services, we don't have that much support. It can do pull (frequently polling the service if anything has changed).

> is it possible to write visualization (nodes?) that draws data in a way we particularly see fit if Nodebox doesn't quite have what we're looking for?

No, but that would be awesome! We have to find a way to make it easy and extendable, though.

I presume and hope it's possible to do it in python or would java be necessary?

NodeBox itself is written in Java but it supports Jython, which is an implementation of Python on the Java Virtual Machine. Some built-in nodes of NodeBox are written in Python.