Tools and Toys
The tools range from fun toys to powerful, professional tools, and most of them are free! Many integrate with Google so you may want to create a Google account just for this project - it's up to you. Most, but not all of these tools are web-based.
You should be able to open this up, figure out how it works and have fun with this. There are lots of online "toys" that are actually worth playing with just for the experience, they'll give you ideas.
This category is for things that may take a little learning but don't need lots of effort.
These items will require some studying but are worth the time. You can watch a few YouTube videos to get to grips with it, right?
These are complex tools for those who are more technically minded, or researchers or professionals. But hey, don't let that stop you.
StriveMath
Really interesting collaborative Processing (but the Python version) code editor. Useful for teaching?
FlickGuy
I'm really not sure how to describe this image editor. Like nothing you've every seen. Just go give it a go.
BitBox
Designed for kids (and very like p5js), BitBox is great for learning coding. It has lots of "stamps" and sounds built in.
Shortbread
Create comics with AI. I like the fact that panels are separate, and bubbles are editable.
Exactly AI
Interest AI, where you can upload 15ish images and then generate more similar images. The freemium option is a bit stingy, but interesting nonetheless.
PyGameZero
Successor to Pygame, PyGameZero is a python-based game engine that is fun to use, easy and powerful.
Solitude
Brilliant text tool. Write, or paste in a few paragraphs of text. This tool then translates it to and from lots of languages, bending the words into similar but strange reflections of the original.
Tonespace
Tonespace lets you play one note and intelligently augments what you’re playing with chords and arpeggios.
It connects via Midi (so to a synth or Garageband) and plays musically similar notes. Because it generates midi, you can “record” it and then use it in whatever DAW you are using.
Replay AI
Desktop AI app to alter vocal tracks in music tracks. So replace Thom Yorke with Spongebob... or something.
Aphantasia Colab Notebook
Text-to-Image Google Colab notebook. Run all the code sections, add your text, and get an image AND a movie.
Artbreeder Collage
Draw your design with simple colours and have A.I turn it into a more realistic image.
Textable
Textable is an Add-on to a really interesting visual tool call Orange3. With them together you can do textual or data analysis and shaping, and filtering, WITHOUT coding.
MyLens, Timeline Creator
Enter a subject and let AI create a timeline for you. Fails to interleave two topics though.
Openverse: Creative Common Search
An updated Creative Commons search engine (sponsored by Wordpress). Much better.
Meaning Generator
Random concepts to help with creativity. Amazing what you can make with just three words
Grist
Grist is a spreadsheet-relational-database hybrid (like Baserow and NoCoDB). I like these no-code/low-code products because for most people (i.e not enterprises) a relational DB makes a lot of sense, but in terms of tools and UX they are awful, so people use spreadsheets and lose "relationalability".
BaseRow
Open-source database/spreadsheet tool that offers something between a relational database and a spreadsheet, like NoCoDB.
Penzu
Private Diary or Reflective Journal. Emails a useful "nag" message every day, which can be a useful reminder.
Meemoo
Interesting Lenticular project, like Holbein's anamorphic skull, using a really interesting visual programming tool, Meemoo.
Goblin ToDo
Interesting take on a to-do list that the ADHD adjacent may like. Add a task and it breaks it down into smaller ones for you
Things
A site that has a collection of, er, things. I think this would be a great site for ideation, or being creative but you will have to figure out how.
OpenAI API
Lots of example text-based A.I apps that you can use to help your ideas along. If you like what they do, you could maybe integrate that feature via an API into your app.
Taguette
If you need to tag, or codify some text, looking for themes in transcripts, this free web-based tool is great.
Rasturbator
Rasturbator is fabulous tool. It chops up your image so that you can print it on twenty or thirty pages, glue them together to fill an entire wall.
InkleWriter
A lovely tool for creating "unfolding stories" that get longer, interactive narrative style, but different. You can add paragraphs, choices and add image URLs (which is interesting, because that means you *could* use almost any image out there on the web.
For developers, stories can be output in .json format, meaning *real writers* could use this tool to "tell a story" and developers might incorporate it into a game easily. Interesting.
Regex AI
Lovely tool that uses AI (though why we need to know that, I don't know) to help you create regular expressions (if you don't know what those are, count your blessings).
MIT App Inventor
MIT App Inventor is a block-coding tool with which you can create downloadable Android applications as .apk files, FOR FREE!
Infogram
Quickly adapt infograph templates to fit your data. Used to freemium and nice. Now you can't download. RUBBISH!
AIVA - AI Music Generation
This tool generates music (based on parameters) in lots of different genres and you get three free downloads. You can get a mixed .mp3 or midi file. Very impressive.
Hatch
Excellent little multimedia tool for creating interactive thingies. Has stickers, effects, gifs etc.
Play Sound
Interesting tool that searches Freesound, and lets you create soundscapes by clicking samples repeatedly, or letting them loop.
Geo Poetry Generator
Find the latitude and longitude coordinates of a place here: https://www.latlong.net/ then have it make a poem about that place for you. Or just go to the site and see what it makes.
Portmaneau Maker
Maybe use this tool with <a href="https://randomwordgenerator.com/">this random word generator</a> to create a new word.
Bespoke Synth
I'm in love. Bespoke Synth is a way to make music and sounds using a visual flow diagram metaphor. Never have I had more fun. This tool is fabulous and free.
CalmlyWriter
Minimalist distraction-free text editor. For when you just need to get on with it.
This tool also lets you save to Google Drive or to your desktop.
Renderforest
Create animated explainer videos, animations and more easily. I made this movie ident in a few seconds.
BandLab
Oh my word! Amazing. A full audio workstation that works in the browser, on Android and iOS.
Have I Been Trained
A tool that purpotedly tells you if your image has been used to train AI. Not sure if it works, but it's return interesting results anyway.
Orca
"Esoteric" generative music coding tool. Can be a challenge to set up, it works with midi, but is so intriguing to use.
Point In History
Brilliant map tool that shows which dynasties and empires have owned that land over time.
Google Sites
Create a web site for free, that integrates with other Google content like Google Drive folders for example.
Hydra
Crazy livecoding tool for visual effects. Learn a few functions, chain them together, and boom! Crazy!
KREA Realtime
You have to join a waitlist, but when you're in, as you doodle, an AI image is generated in realtime. Fun!
Collection of Javascript Snippets
Single line examples of how to do all sorts of things with Javascript
Pixlr Express
A more "Instagram-like" version of this fanstastic image editor with some funky effects
Constraint Systems
A really interesting collection of image tools to do really unusual things. Worth a play. Go make art.
PhraseMe
Brilliant tool, but paid unfortunately, but you can use it once (or clear your cookies and use again).
It turns a text phrase into YouTube videos with those phrases. Amazing.
OctoStudio
Fabulous Scratch-based authoring system (on mobile) that has better connection to the devices gyroscope, camera, light etc.
Zine Maker
Zine are small and often handmade, self-published magazines.
This tool is something I made so that you can draw all the pages and then download it and print on one A4 or A3 sheet. You can then fold it into an 8 page zine and colour it in.
The source code is here.
PocketBase
Small database for Javascript dev... looks like it might be powerful and useful to use on Glitch.com. It's SQLite under the hood but has things like authentication which appeals to me as a hobby dev.
MidiMaker
AI that generates a Orchestral/Ambient/Rock song in midi format (that you can export and import into Garageband for example). Can do loads for free but good to try.
Colour Collage Maker
Upload an image and this will create you multiple colour schemes based on the colours in the image.
In-G
Interesting sonification example that takes Github upload data and turns it into "music". See this article. NO LONGER ONLINE
AI Repository
Not a tool, but AIAAIC's independent, free, open library of 900+ incidents and controversies driven by and relating to AI, algorithms and automation.
DALLยทE mini
A text to image tool. I put in "Digital Skills and Creativity at the University of York" and got this.
Five Minute Poem
The Five Minute Poem gives you prompts, but also has a ticking clock.... "don't over think it!" Brilliant!
Graphite
Incredible vector, image and SVG editor. Wow. Open source and free. Very like Photoshop, Vectorpea etc.
Freesound Timeline
Strange tool that takes the popular sounds from Freesound and turns them into an automatic soundscape.
UltraOutliner
Unusual Russian tool for designing interactive narratives or story plots. You enter characters, and locations and plot points, linking them together.
At the end, you can export as a .csv file.
Web Audio Sequencer
Another strange tool. Search for sounds, add them, and then draw on the timeline grid to play them to create unusual beats and soundtracks.
WordWanderer
Like a word cloud thingy, but better because it does concordance and you can navigate it. Go try it.
Weird Text Generator
Enter some text, and it gives you your text in lots of weird fonts and characters.
Face Morph 2
A brilliant tool to morph between two images. You plot the points, it generates a gif file.
Comic AI
An AI that makes comics from your textual stories, but doesn't seem to be able to imagine an old, bald, fat badly dressed character.
Prezi
Is a fantastic tool to create zoomable presentations. When artfully used you can simply add a heap of pzazz to a simple presentation.
Be Creative
If you select your problem type, Be Creative will then suggest creative methodologies for you to use.
Electric Zine Maker
Pay your own price for this great downloadable zine-making app. This has to be the winner of THE CRAZIEST APP ever. It's really good fun.
Text to Image Notebook (nsheppard's)
A slow, but create Google Colab Notebook that turns text into images.
GodMode
An interest AI tool. I used it for generating ideas and it sort of tells you what it is going to do, and why in order to reach its goal, iteratively. Odd, but it did a good job.
DroneFX
Requires Flash. Really interesting drone/soundtrack generator... Creating a moody filmtrack? This might be useful.
mscompose95
Scribble on this strange Mondrian-like grid, click the samples below, and instant funky rhythms.
Wrong Covid (Timegraphics)
This particular timeline has a collection of disgraceful peoples' pronouncements surrounding Covid, from Toby Young to Julia Hartley-Brewer.
But the tool itself, is a pretty amazing tool for creating timelines, with features such as being able to import from Google Calendar.
Godot Engine
Free, open source games development environment. One day, I'll get round to having a go with Godot.
Easy Lang
EasyLang is a web-based programming language that is simple and doesn't have arbitrary syntax.
This is how Python started, a language to help people learn coding. Really excellent.
Design for Inclusivity Cards
The Cards for Humanity team have created this fabulous deck of cards to help you think about inclusive design.
Your World Of Text
Create your own URL - I made myworldofnonsense, and you have a "live" editable grid you can share with collaborators.
Search YouTube Transcripts - Filmot
Disaster of an interface, but a nice tool that searches YouTube transcripts for what you want.
Wikitude
Not free, but you can use it developer mode to create compelling image-based Augmented Reality experiences. Great tool
ChordChord
This wonderful tune creates interesting chord progressions for you. I tend to choose piano, turn off drums and set the bpm to around 80.
You have to pay to download the midi, but there are ways around this, using tools that turn recorded audio into midi. Although this may introduce errors or inaccuracies, we will live with these happy accidents.
Monster Mash
A really easy and fun 3D animation tool. Draw a character, inflate it, then animate it by moving the points.
FlipAnim
Lovely little flipbook animation maker (slight shame about the gridlines. See also Pencil, the desktop app)
Autochords
Select your mood and key, and Autochords does the rest.
p.s You may need Soundflower to record your chords...
AI to Midi
Upload an audio track, get midi back. You might have to split audio in basic tracks into instruments with a different tool (maybe https://www.lalal.ai/ or https://www.audioshake.ai/)
Flag Maker
This wonderful flag making tool lets you start from all the world's flags, or add Wikimedia commons graphics.
See also, this catalogue of imaginary flags.
Veed
Veed is an easy to use video editor, with which you can edit YouTube videos, along with your own content.
Tynker
A coding-for-kids environment, with Scratch-like block coding, or indeed Javascript and Python for more ambitious projects. Also has "Parent" mode. Free
Talk To Transformer
See how a modern neural network completes your text. Type a custom snippet and see what is generated
JoyPanner
Interesting idea, an AI (owl) with which kids can "go over" and talk through concepts they don't quite understand. I tried it and I'm still not 100% about why rainbows are the shape they are.
Little Sis
Brilliant site that is a mixture of a database of people and corporations and governments etc. and tools to "connect the dots" between them.
For example, take a look at How Fracking Special Interests Infiltrate the UK Parliament
See also: My Little Crony
Faust Playground
Start audio processing with a flow diagram like language in the browser. OMG! Amazing!
Mercury Playground
Interesting. A web-based audio/music coding environment (a bit like many others) written in Ojack's Hydra (Javascript).
Evoke AI
Choose the genre and mood and let AI generate a two minute track. 3 downloads with free use. Quite interesting. Could be used for a promo video.
A.I Generated Spotify Playlist
You describe the sort of music you want to hear, and A.I creates a playlist based on that description.
I added "post-punk-industrial tribal drums distorted guitar with funk bass, creating incredibly anger and tense discordant melodic noise" and it made this list - how'd it do?
Canva Comic Maker
Canva's Comic tool, with loads of great templates is fantastic. Start from a layout and you can drag in your graphics.
SoundTrip
Totally crazy audio experience. Choose some words then travel in a universe made of those sound samples.
Acoustic Atlas
Do you want to hear what your voice would sound like in the Temple of Love in the Taj Mahal? Of course you do. You'll need headphones for this.
Mu
Mu is a "micro-framework". I like the idea. A way to make web apps that have authorisation and payments, but not much else.
MuseNet
Musenet takes an "intro" and then "evolves" it with AI in different styles such as Beatles, Mozart or Bluegrass. Interestingly you can upload your own custom midi track and let it evolve that too.
I tried adding a file created by Computoser as a starting point, and I think it made it more Beatles-y but it's hard to tell. Doesn't have a download option.
Thing Translator
Works on a laptop or mobile. Point your camera at something and AI tell you what it is (hopefully) AND translates it for you.
CodeConvert
These tools never work. This one worked perfectly, converting a few pages of Javascript with Cheerio code, to Python with BeautifulSoup code.
Studio D
Not free, but you get 14 days trials and you can either select a character, or upload a photo and get A.I to generate a video of them speaking your text. Pretty freaky.
Google Colab
Google Colab Notebooks are documents where you can mix notes and Python code.
They are brilliant for creating teaching resources, or, working on a project where you are figuring it out as you go, because you can create little fragments of code, and run them one at a time.
Magic Poser
Like those jointed wooden toys that animators, or artists use to see what a body in a certain position might look like.
Cables
Shaders are the code that runs complex computer graphics. Cables is a visual language to create shaders.
Minimator SVG
Nice little SVG doodling app. A sort of join the dots way of working, maybe for making plans.
Mindful Harmony
A tool to compose or arrange unusual chords - and you can then save it in midi (maybe importing it into Garageband or BespokeSynth).
AnyType
A fabulous (local first) note-taking app, for your fragments of ideas, diary, notes, thoughts etc. One of the best "personal knowledgebase gardening" wiki tools I've seen. There are also to-do lists.
Boomy
Boomy is A.I. that automatically generates music in various genres. And as an added extra you can upload a vocal audio and it will bend it to the melody.
PIFuHD Demo
Amazing Google Colab notebook that takes a single image (of a body of some kind) and turns it into a 3D model (.obj)
These Lyrics Do Not Exist
Warning: Profanity! But, based on a training catalogue of lots of lyrics, this Machine Learning tool will take any subject and generate lyrics for you.
PromptBase
No sooner does a new technology arrive, than someone tries to leech money out of it. A site to BUY prompts for A.I.
Style Transfer App
This tech demo shows Style Transfer being applied to your webcam or a picture you upload. Lots more interesting demos <a href="https://streamlit.io/">here</a>.
Arcade Makecode
A block-coding/javascript tool (like Scratch) aimed at creating games for things like Raspberry Pi (small computers)
Alpaca Ai
One of those doodle-and-prompt-to-image AI things. The prompt for this was "a fierce and scary cartoon rat"... and er...
ProsePainter
Amazing A.I. tool that lets you define the text for painted areas of an image. A.I then fills in and blends a generated image into the image you have uploaded.
List of Idioms
A brilliant list of idioms. For fun, pick one at random and "bend" it slightly to give it a different meaning.
Vertex Meadow
Really interesting tool. You can upload an image, and that image becomes the landscape in a 3D VR world.
EarSketch
A web-based code-to-music tool, like Sonic Pi (ish) but web-based and using Python or Javascript.
ToonyTool
Although having some quirks, this tool let's you easily add backgrounds, characters and speech bubbles etc, OR use the in-built collection of graphics. Simple, but I like it.
Study Crafter
An amazing tool to create interactive games with a flow-coding interface, but equally could be used to make training materials. The primary use for this tool is to collect research data about what choices people made.
Free.
PlayCode
Really nice REPL for lots of languages which might be useful for teaching or learning coding.
ruDALL-E
Another Style GAN tool that takes a sentence you give it and artificial intellgence creates your picture. Here I said "Boris Johnson looking like a pig". The result isn't always what you expected but they are always interesting in someway.
Random Animal Generator
Generates a number of random animals for you. If you dig around, it can also generate places, flags, food and lots more.
Teleprompter
Lovely free, web-based tele-prompter, or autocue. Really helpful if you're recording a voice track.
It even has mirroring so you can hold a sheet of glass, and reflect onto it, looking straight at the camera. Nice.
ADHD Task App
A task helper app, aimed at ADHD peeps. There may be AI in there too (pretty much a given nowadays). Looks interesting.
Charticulator
Fantastic data-driven drawing and visualisation tool. For when you want to extract data from unstructured text. NOW OWNED BY MICROSOFT.
UVI Workstation
This free desktop app can make some interesting noises, and if you use the arpeggiator (ARP) then you can create almost ambient loops.
GigaBrain
Interesting AI powered search engine, that uses Reddit as its info store, and summarizes disparate messages boards.
Morph Thing
Designed to blend, or morph, faces together, I added an elephant's eye and got this strange output.
Self Hosted Tools
Fabulous collection of server software you can host yourself, if you are a geek who is that way inclined.
Collection of ML Text To Image Tools
A collection of various text-to-image tools, often Google Colab files for creating unusual images.
Another few excellent tools here too (including a tool up upsize small images)
Pixlr X
The latest version of this fantastic image editor. Has fantastic tools for isolating a part of an image.
SoundBox
Small pattern-oriented web synth with which you can create electronic music very easily. Lots of fun once you figure it out.
Tuneflow
An online music sequencer that is pretty amazing AND A.I generation of tunes and chord progressions is built in. Amazing!
Tabletop simulators
The White Box is a collection of bits n pieces with which you can prototype your game. The Tabletop simulator is a digital game-maker.
WebModular
Old skool synthesis, pulling out and plugging in wires. Interesting because you can type notes using strange notation.
Marginalia
A search engine that doesn't return the obvious, well known, high ranking results, but instead returns unpopular, obscure, less visited pages. Go find weird stuff you couldn't before.
See this <a href="https://search.marginalia.nu/explore/random">random</a> link.
Mixwords
Need help creating a name for something out of other words? This app lets you add a number of words then makes all the alternatives for you.
Ossia Score
One of those apps for controlling and sequencing other things, apps, devices, etc by HTTP or OSC. Fascinating.
Kinetix Studio
Interesting idea. A.I turns your videos into 3D figure animations by uploading a video of you dancing.
Walking Poem
A really interesting idea. Not sure if it is a map or not. Is it a poem? Give it a whirl.
oTranscribe
This tool doesn't do it for you, but helps you make it easier to transcribe a video by hand.
Infinite Zoom Maker
Create an infinite zoom video. Although I never quite get what I want, the results are always interesting.
Bright Sparks
This tool selects a random person for you to use as a creative prompt, and then asks leading questions to help you develop your ideas.
Nimp.app
Nimp is like Apple Quartz Designer, or Touch Designer. A web-based flow diagram image editor. Interesting.
Lots of high end GLSL graphics tools use this model to create special effects, this tool might be a good introduction to the concepts.
Molecular Music Generator
Give this app a short piece of midi and it will generate a repeating generative version of it, Philip Glass style.
