Some random sketches, clockwise from the top left:

1. Bands: Window of fixed height scrolling left with time. Bands, with thickness determined by node count, modulating in color/opacity/weight/allofem as determined by node’s heart rate.

2. Lava: Nodes with radiating color(s) whose strength/dissipation determined by node’s heart rate. Position of nodes can be evenly distributed and stationary, slowly moving, or moving at a rate determined by node’s heart rate.

3. Waves: Radio-type waves, riffing on AM and FM wave forms, or a hybrid mix of the two. Amplitude/frequency determined by node’s heart rate. Lines can be exaggerated to overlap into a tangled mess.

4. Litmus: Strips with bands representing proportion of beats contributed to the system. This probably doesn’t scale well with increased nodes as the topography becomes undifferentiated.

If the software’s designed well, it shouldn’t be too difficult to create a handful of renderers, separating the serial input and beat extraction from the representation of the data.

Goals for visualization are:

1. Shows changes over time
2. Looks good for a system of 2 to ∞
3. Impression of overall system