Fly4Arts: Evolutionary Digital Art with the Fly Algorithm

The aim of this study is to generate artistic images, such as digital mosaics, as an optimisation problem without the introduction of any a priori knowledge or constraint other than an input image. The usual practice to produce digital mosaic images heavily relies on Centroidal Voronoi diagrams. We demonstrate here that it can be modelled as an optimisation problem solved using a cooperative co-evolution strategy based on the Parisian evolution approach, the Fly algorithm. An individual is called a fly. Its aim of the algorithm is to optimise the position of infinitely small 3-D points (the flies). The Fly algorithm has been initially used in real-time stereo vision for robotics. It has also demonstrated promising results in image reconstruction for tomography. In this new application, a much more complex representation has been study. A y is a tile. It has its own position, size, colour, and rotation angle. Our method takes advantage of graphics processing units (GPUs) to generate the images using the modern OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL) and Open Computing Language (OpenCL) to compute the difference between the input image and simulated image. Different types of tiles are implemented, some with transparency, to generate different visual effects, such as digital mosaic and spray paint. An online study with 41 participants has been conducted to compare some of our results with those generated using an open source software for image manipulation. It demonstrates that our method leads to more visually appealing images.

The aim of this study is to generate artistic images, such as digital mosaics, as an optimisation problem without the introduction of any a priori knowledge or constraint other than an input image. The usual practice to produce digital mosaic images heavily relies on Centroidal Voronoi diagrams. We demonstrate here that it can be modelled as an optimisation problem solved using a cooperative co-evolution strategy based on the Parisian evolution approach, the Fly algorithm. An individual is called a fly. Its aim of the algorithm is to optimise the position of infinitely small 3-D points (the flies). The Fly algorithm has been initially used in real-time stereo vision for robotics. It has also demonstrated promising results in image reconstruction for tomography. In this new application, a much more complex representation has been study. A y is a tile. It has its own position, size, colour, and rotation angle. Our method takes advantage of graphics processing units (GPUs) to generate the images using the modern OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL) and Open Computing Language (OpenCL) to compute the difference between the input image and simulated image. Different types of tiles are implemented, some with transparency, to generate different visual effects, such as digital mosaic and spray paint. An online study with 41 participants has been conducted to compare some of our results with those generated using an open source software for image manipulation. It demonstrates that our method leads to more visually appealing images.

Digital mosaic Evolutionary art Fly algorithm Parisian evolution cooperative co-evolution

Digital mosaic Evolutionary art Fly algorithm Parisian evolution cooperative co-evolution