Re: a summary of Future of RP Comments

From: Brock Hinzmann (bhinzmann@sric.sri.com)
Date: Sat Dec 19 1998 - 01:50:07 EET


Michael,

Essentially, the software you desire may already exist. I'm not sure
about 3-D solids, though. At least I have seen a Web object design routine
that uses a genetic algorithm to breed a generation of objects. I think it
has four or five variables and gives you about 9 different objects with each
generation. It doesn't do the screening of the most fit objects, as in
done in software design, but then, as an artist, you don't want it to
anyone, since you want to select the most fit object based on your own artistic
sense. I saw the software demonstrated by some people in San Francisco's
Silicon Gulch, at a company named Construct. I don't know if they are still
using it, but you may want to check.

Another interesting idea Isaw was by Keith Brown, one of the presenters
in the art gallery at the online RP conference. He creates videos, like
screen savers, that move constantly, changing shapes. Only they are 3-D
shapes, I guess. It appears that he freezes them in a position he likes, and
then prints them out on an RP machine.

In each case, you use the computing power to generate lots of versions of
things, but the compute still has no sense of aesthetics. It is still up
to the artist to know what is inspiring and what is just a piece of
nothing.

Once computers learn to recognize good art, then we are in
trouble.Imagine shooping on the Internet/Web, using intelligent software agents to find
an art object to decorate your living room, selecting among an infinite
number of objects created by self-learning, self-programmable computers and
made by robots or androids. How much would such commodity art objects be
worth?

Brock Hinzmann

michael rees wrote:
>Dear list,
>
>I can't believe I've not been able to participate in this wonderful
>discussion. I'm swamped. I've been reading it though.
>
>I couldn't help but chime in about CAD.
>
>Brock, you wrote:
>
>"If CAD software is difficult to use, perhaps you need different people
>designing it."
>
> Glen, you wrote
>
>sort of like assembling a Lego model or an Erector set
>model only in a virtual 3D space.
>
>
>This is what I want from CAD. I can breed multiple objects and object
>parameters--electrical, chemical, mechanical, functional, cultural,
>aesthetic and I can tell the program to give me 500 generations of the
>breeding of these objects. I can review all of these permutations until
>I decide which fits my purposes best. I can control the parameters of
>the objects to focus on different aspects--more or less aesthetic, more
>or less functional... I would also have the ability 1. to design from
>the ground up, 2. seemlessly import 3d data with severe convolutions and
>undercuts, 3. be able to design a full range of features that are
>electrical, chemical, etc.,. Sounds wacky huh? A cad program that breeds
>design.
>
>hummmmmm!
>--
>michael rees SCULPTOR http://www.sound.net/~zedand00/
>1212 w 8th St. Bldg B #2, 816 753 3020 voice zedand00@sound.net
>KC, Mo 64101 816 753 1542 fax
>

For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Tue Jun 05 2001 - 22:47:45 EEST