Pex

A large part of our practice is build upon software tools that let us explore problems from various perspectives. Very often we create our own tools in the process and over the years PEX has developed into our internal toolkit and has become an integral part of our creative process and almost every Variable project.

PEX is written in JavaScript and meant to run on the Web. It includes multiple Open Source building blocks - abstractions over Web APIs such as WebGL, math, geometry, color, GUI libraries and so on. On top of this more sophisticated tools exist such as a PBR 3D renderer and our own node-based Web IDE.

PEX Nodes is a new hybrid visual programming environment for designing 3d graphics applications and data visualisations using a node based approach. PEX Nodes provides you with a set of built-in nodes for data loading, processing, layout, rendering and export that that be customized or written from scratch in JavaScript with the help of a vast ecosystem of npm modules without leaving your browser.

• syntax highlighting with theme support
• error detection
• automatic formatting
• VIM and Sublime key binding
• hot code reload and compilation without reloading the graph
• install and use any npm module right from your browser

PEX was used to create generative fashion prints, multi-screen data viz projections, real-time data-driven installations, 3D maps, and many other projects.

If you would like a workshop on how to use PEX to create data viz, data art or generative 3D graphics, drop us a message at hello@variable.io. We would love to hear from you.