Aesthetic.Computer

What AC Is

Aesthetic Computer is an open-source, mobile-first runtime and social network for creative computing. Users write, publish, and share small interactive programs called pieces at URLs like aesthetic.computer/paint or @handle/piece-name. The platform has @handles, real-time chat, pixel painting, ephemeral status updates (moods), ATProto integration (identity and Bluesky bridging), a built-in Lisp dialect (KidLisp), multiplayer WebSocket sessions, and user profiles. It has been in continuous open-source development since 2021.

What I Need

I need outside perspective on AC's social design. I've built the technical infrastructure but I can't evaluate the social dynamics from inside the project. Specifically:

• What feels opaque when you first encounter the platform?
• Which social features sustain participation vs. which are socially inert?
• How does the "instrument" metaphor read to someone encountering it fresh?
• What would you want to do on AC that you currently can't?
• Where does the design exclude people it should welcome?

These questions need sustained dialogue, not a usability test. I want to develop AC in the open over 10 weeks — sharing what I'm working on, what decisions I'm facing, what the community is doing — and get feedback from the cohort as users and critics.

What AC Has

• 2,798 @handles — per-character color customization, profile scorecards
• 18,016 chat messages — real-time group messaging with hearts and custom fonts
• 4,392 paintings — pixel art published via built-in drawing tools
• 16,174 KidLisp programs — a 118-function Lisp dialect for generative art
• 265 published pieces — user-written interactive programs at public URLs
• 351 built-in pieces — drawing, music, games, programming, social tools
• 22 domains — aesthetic.computer, kidlisp.com, notepat.com, and more

Everyone in the cohort gets an @handle and full access to the platform, the codebase, and the development process.

Why This Cycle

AC's SCORE.md already uses a musical score metaphor to organize the project. The interface works like an instrument — users discover memorizable paths and build literacy through play. The technical infrastructure is mature. The open question is social design: how do these features shape the way people relate to each other? That needs dialogue with people thinking critically about social software.

Practice

I'm Jeffrey Scudder, an artist, educator, and software developer. Before AC I made No Paint (2020), a pixel art tool where non-technical users learned computing through social participation. AC extends that into a full platform. I teach creative computing and have used AC in courses and workshops. I develop across multiple machines (Windows, macOS, Fedora Linux) using a shared Docker devcontainer with Emacs, VS Code, Claude Code, and Fish shell.