RiTa

RiTa is an open-source software toolkit for generative writing and English natural language, originally developed using the Java language by Daniel C. Howe and collaborators, and later implemented in JavaScript as rita.js. Current versions of RiTa (Version 3.0 was released in 2023) are implemented in both Java and JavaScript and integrate with p5.js, Processing, Node and Android.

Features

Usage examples

// In JavaScript/Node

let { RiTa } = require('rita');

console.log(RiTa.rhymes('sweet'));

/*[
  'beat',    'beet',
  'cheat',   'cleat',
  'compete', 'complete',
  'conceit', 'concrete',
  'deceit',  'defeat', ...
]*/

let features = RiTa.analyze('The elephant took a bite!');
console.log(features);

/*{ 
  phones: 'dh-ah eh-l-ah-f-ah-n-t t-uh-k ey b-ay-t !',
  stresses: '0 1/0/0 1 1 1 !',
  syllables: 'dh-ah eh/l-ah/f-ah-n-t t-uh-k ey b-ay-t !',
  pos: 'dt nn vbd dt nn !',
  tokens: 'The elephant took a bite !'
}*/

// In Java/Processing

import rita.*;

void setup()
{
    size(100, 200);
    textSize(16);
    fill(0);
  
    String[] words = RiTa.rhymes("sweet");
    for (int i = 0; i < words.length; i++) {
        text(words[i], 20, 20 + i * 18);
    }
  
    println(RiTa.analyze("The elephant took a bite!"));
}

Related projects

Projects using RiTa

License

RiTa is free, libre and open-source according to the GNU General Public License.

Notes

The name RiTa is derived from the old Norse, meaning to mark, scratch, or scribble.

See also

References

• Howe, Daniel C. (2009), RiTa: Creativity Support for Computational Literature (PDF), ACM Press, pp. 205–210^{[permanent dead link]}
• Howe, Daniel; Soderman, A. Braxton (2009), The Aesthetics of Generative Literature: Lessons from an Electronic Writing Workshop., Hyperrhiz: New Media Cultures, Visionary Landscapes, Vol. 6., doi:10.20415/hyp/006.e04
• Johnston, David J (3 June 2016). Aesthetic animism : digital poetry's ontological implications. Cambridge: MIT Press. p. 188. ISBN 9780262034517.
• Cayley, John; Howe, Daniel (2012). How It Is in Common Tongues. Providence: NLLF Press. ISBN 978-0948454301., Limited edition artist book
• Jiang, Liangzhong (24 November 2011). Proceedings of the 2011 International Conference on Informatics, Cybernetics, and Computer Engineering (ICCE2011) November 19-20, 2011, Melbourne, Australia. Vol. 3, Computer networks and electronic engineering. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. p. 28,29. ISBN 978-3642251948.
• Unsworth, John; Siemens, Ray; Schreibman, Susan (2016). A New Companion to Digital Humanities. John Wiley & Sons. p. 132. ISBN 978-1118680643.

External links