Hana (花) - Named after the Japanese word for "flower," reflecting the system's ability to let visualizations bloom across multiple displays.
Hana is a distributed visualization management system built in rust using the bevy game engine. It enables control and display of visualizations across multiple screens and machines. The system consists of a management application that can control both local and remote displays, with any instance capable of acting as a controller.
The hana system is meant to be pluggable and modular - drawing inspiration from the plugin system, modularity, simplicity and ease of use of vcv rack software as well as technology inspiration from bevy.
- Enable seamless distributed visualization across monitors attached to computers on a local network.
- Provide an intuitive 3D management interface.
- Offer robust and low-latency network communication.
- Cross-platform compatibility (Windows, macOS, Linux).
- Any instance is capable of acting as a controller.
- Plugin-based visualization system with library of reusable plugins
- Audio/visual installations both interactive and evolving/emergent
- Live performance incorporating real time improvisational control of visualizations
Hana is free, open source and permissively licensed! Except where noted (below and/or in individual files), all code in this repository is dual-licensed under either:
- MIT License (LICENSE-MIT or http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
- Apache License, Version 2.0 (LICENSE-APACHE or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
at your option. This means you can select the license you prefer!
Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the work by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.
Hana is a spiffy word for the name of a technical tool designed to support creativity. Flowers are beautiful and inspirational. From a human developer perspective it is a short word (4 chars) that is easy to type (each character alternates between the left and right hand). Across many languages it can mean flower, happiness, grace, care in arranging or positioning - all words that lend themselves to the purpose of the project. Even in Finnish it refers to devices controlling the flow of water - a great metaphor for the creative results Hana is meant to engender.
In Japanese, hana can mean either:
- 花 (hana) – “flower,” or
- 鼻 (hana) – “nose.”
They’re pronounced the same, but written with different kanji and have distinct meanings.
In Arabic, هَنَاء (transliterated as hanāʾ or sometimes just hana) means “happiness,” “bliss,” or “contentment.” It can also be used as a personal name, typically given to girls, carrying connotations of joy and well-being.
To place something with care; to position or arrange
“tap” or “faucet” - In everyday Finnish, hana refers to the device controlling the flow of water.
In Hawaiian, hana generally means “work,” “activity,” or “craft.” You may also encounter Hana as a place name (such as the area on Maui’s eastern coast).
In Korean, 하나 (hana) is the native Korean word for “one.” It’s part of the traditional counting system (하나, 둘, 셋, 넷, 다섯 … for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 …). It is also sometimes used as a given name in Korean, often with the connotation of “one” or “unique.”
In Sanskrit, the verbal root हन् (han) means “to strike,” “to kill,” or “to destroy.” While hana (हना) can appear in certain compound forms or older texts, it’s much more common to see derivatives such as: • हनन (hanana) – “killing,” “destruction,” or “the act of striking.”
So, if you encounter hana in a Sanskrit context, it is typically related to the root “han,” conveying the idea of striking, killing, or destroying.
In many languages, Hana, Hanna, or Hannah is simply a personal name (often meaning “grace” when traced back to Hebrew).
Hana in various Romance and Slavic languages typically appears as a borrowing or a short form of Johanna, Anna, etc.
In some Polynesian languages related to Hawaiian, "hana" can also carry meanings connected to work, creation, or making, though the specific connotations may vary by island or region.