Generating an entertaining blinking pattern for a 1D LED arrangement [closed]

Question

I want to actuate a hardware featuring a set of 16 LEDs, arranged in a square:

  X   X   X   X   X
  X               X
  X               X
  X               X
  X   X   X   X   X

While I can solve the technical details (timer, bit masking, etc.), I am stuck with an artistic question. What would be a good algorithm for generating an activation pattern (over time) which is entertaining for a human observer?

I don't want to go for a totally random pattern, but also not for something too predictive. Any suggestions, especially with compact generator algorithms are welcome.

LEDs are binary (on/off) and single color, but I could install different LEDs of single color (red,green,yellow).

Answer 1

Some proposals:

• Wandering dots which react with each other

• More generally, cellular automata

• Simple hypnotic patterns (regular, symmetric or rotating, filling up)

• Morse code

• Random bit patterns (LFSR)

To keep it interesting you can implements several animations and switch between them.

Full disclosure: This advice was given after a weekend at Das Labor in Bochum.