> HashMap suggestion is gold

got to disagree. an array would work just as well given that you've got a small, contiguous range of values as input. a hashmap uses more memory and more processor (tiny amounts in this case but...)

Nice! I might be in over my head on this one;
would it be possible to use this conversion
with a dynamic text input?

Thinking of something like this
so the user would see his original message being translated (real-time)

I'm a little unsure of how I could translate space between sentences?

CODE EXAMPLE WITH TEXT INPUT (decode by hitting TAB)

1. // To get the original ciphers, set the unique boolean to false
2. // To get correct and thus unique binary ciphers, set the boolean to true
3. //  See Bacon's wikipedia entry for more info on this (same cipher for ij and uv)
4. String s = "processing";
5. boolean unique = false;
6. PFont font;
7.  
8. void setup() {
9.   size(1280, 720);
10.   smooth();
11.   noStroke();
12.   fill(0);
13.   font = createFont("Helvetica", 18); 
14. }
15.  
16. void draw() {
17.   background(255);
18.   translate(width/2 - s.length() * 7.5, height/2);
19.   drawString(s);
20.   textFont(font,18);
21.   text(s,35,45);
22. }
23. void keyReleased() {
24.   if (key != CODED) {
25.     switch(key) {
26.     case BACKSPACE:
27.       s = "";
28.    break;
29.     case TAB:
30.       s = baconize(s);
31.     case ENTER:
32.     case RETURN:
33.       s += "\n";
34.       break;
35.     case ESC:
36.     case DELETE:
37.       break;
38.     default:
39.       s += key;
40.     }
41.   }
42. }
43.  
44. String baconize(String in) {
45.   in = in.toLowerCase();
46.   String out = "";
47.   for (int i=0; i<in.length(); i++) {
48.     char c = in.charAt(i);
49.     String cipher = generateBacon(c);
50.     out += cipher;
51.   }
52.   println("From " + in + " to " + out);
53.   return out;
54. }
55.  
56. String generateBacon(char c) {
57.   int ci = c - 'a';
58.   if (!unique) {
59.     if (ci > 20) { ci -= 2; } // uv
60.     else if (ci > 8)  { ci--; } // ij
61.   }
62.   String s = nf(int(binary(ci)), 5);
63.   s = s.replace('0', 'A');
64.   s = s.replace('1', 'B');
65.   return s;
66. }
67.  
68. void drawString(String s) {
69.   for (int i=0; i<s.length(); i++) {
70.     char c = s.charAt(i);
71.     pushMatrix();
72.     translate(i * 15, 0);
73.     if (c == 'A') { ellipse(0, 0, 10, 10); }
74.     else if (c == 'B') { triangle(-5, 5, 5, 5, 0, -5); }
75.     popMatrix();
76.   }
77. }

I'm impressed! When working with longer sentences, you can really
see the possibilities of making patterns with this encryption method.

I'm thinking of extending this in various ways, like using a wav file
for 'A' and 'B' using the minim library. How would you implement
a function that plays the wav files for each A and B, without overlapping.

My experiments so far have only resulted in a wall of noise...

Cheers!

Thanks, pseudo-code is fine as I'm still learning..

I added a listener from the minim library, but I get a StringIndexOutOfBoundsException.
I imagine checking for something like 'currentChar < sb' in playBaconString?

playBaconString is activated with '1', but only plays each letter when key is pressed,
how could I implement a function that simply plays the entire string. Another boolean value?

1. import ddf.minim.*;
2. String s = "savage";
3. String sb;
4. boolean unique = false;
5. boolean check = false;
6. int currentChar;
7.  
8. Minim minim;
9. AudioPlayer snare, snaretwo;
10. WaveformRenderer waveform;
11.  
12. void setup() {
13.   size(1280, 720);
14.   textFont(createFont("Arial", 30));
15.   noStroke();
16.   smooth();
17.  
18.   minim = new Minim(this);
19.   snare = minim.loadFile("a.wav",512);
20.     if ( snare == null ) println("Didn't get snare!");
21.   snaretwo = minim.loadFile("b.wav",512);
22.     if ( snaretwo == null ) println("Didn't get snaretwo!");
23.  
24.   waveform = new WaveformRenderer();
25.   snare.addListener(waveform);
26.   snaretwo.addListener(waveform);
27.  
28.    
29. }
30.  
31. void draw() {
32.   background(255);
33.   fill(0);
34.   rect(0,0, width, height/2-40);
35.   fill(255);
36.   text(s, 40, 40, width-80, height/2-80);
37.   fill(0);
38.   sb = baconEncode(s);
39.   drawBaconString(sb);
40.   waveform.draw();
41.  
42. }
43.  
44. String baconEncode(String in) {
45.   in = in.toLowerCase();
46.   String out = "";
47.   for (int i=0; i<in.length(); i++) {
48.     char c = in.charAt(i);
49.     if (c == ' ') {
50.       out += "  "; // if character is a space, add two spaces to the baconString
51.     } else {
52.       int ci = c - 'a';
53.       if (!unique) {
54.         if (ci > 20) { ci -= 2;  } // uv
55.         else if (ci > 8)  { ci--; } // ij
56.       }
57.       String cipher = nf(int(binary(ci)), 5);
58.       cipher = cipher.replace('0', 'A');
59.       cipher = cipher.replace('1', 'B');
60.       out += cipher;
61.     }
62.   }
63.   return out;
64. }
65.  
66. void drawBaconString(String s) {
67.   pushMatrix();
68.   translate(40, height/2);
69.   for (int i=0; i<s.length(); i++) {
70.     char c = s.charAt(i);
71.     pushMatrix();
72.     translate((i * 15) % (width-80), i/80*15);
73.     // A
74.     if (c == 'A') {
75.     ellipse(0, 0, 10, 10);
76.     }
77.     // B
78.     else if (c == 'B') {
79.     triangle(-5, 5, 5, 5, 0, -5);
80.     }
81.     popMatrix();
82.   }
83.   popMatrix();
84. }
85. void playBaconString(String s) {
86.   if (CheckSoundStillPlaying() == false) {
87.     currentChar++; // move to next character
88.     char c = s.charAt(currentChar); // get character at index i from string
89.     if (c == 'A') { playA(); }
90.     else if (c == 'B') { playB(); }
91.   }
92. }
93. boolean CheckSoundStillPlaying() {
94.   if (snare.isPlaying()){
95.     check = true;
96.   } else if (snaretwo.isPlaying()){
97.   check = true; 
98.   } else {
99.    check = false;
100.   }
101.   return check;
102. }
103. void playA(){
104.   snare.play(1);
105. }
106. void playB(){
107.   snaretwo.play(1);
108. }
109. void keyPressed() {
110.   if (keyCode == BACKSPACE) {
111.     if (s.length() > 0) {
112.       s = s.substring(0, s.length()-1);
113.     }
114.   } else if (keyCode == DELETE) {
115.     s = "";
116.   } else if (keyCode != SHIFT && keyCode != CONTROL && keyCode != ALT && keyCode != ENTER && keyCode != '1') {
117.       s += key;
118.   }
119.   else if (keyCode == '1'){
120.  playBaconString(sb);
121.   }
122. }
123. void stop(){
124.   // always close audio I/O classes
125.   snare.close();
126.   snaretwo.close();
127.   // always stop your Minim object
128.   minim.stop();
129.   super.stop();
130.  }

Note: requires 'waveform' class