RE: cad program that breeds design

From: Brock Hinzmann (bhinzmann@sric.sri.com)
Date: Thu Dec 24 1998 - 02:31:09 EET


Michael,

I have a copy of the catalog from the 1995 Interactive Media Festival,
which included Genetic Images, by Karl Sims:

>>Genetic Images is a room-size interactive environment in which
participants direct a simulated evolution of pictures. A powerful, parallel
computer generates and displays abstract images on an arc of 16 screens, and the
viewers select those they find most aesthetically interesting by stepping
on the appropriate sensors placed in front of each screen. Images not
selected are removed, but those selected survive, mate, mutate, and
reproduce. After several cycles of this process, unique and fascinating results can
occur.<<

The description goes on and gets into the philosophical aspects of
creativity.

Thinking Machines provided the Connection Machine parallel computer. John
Waltlington, MIT Media Lab, designed the >>Freeze-Frame<< video hardware
that interprets the signals from the step pads and allows images from the
Connection Machine to be displayed. Tamiko Thiel was the Connection
Machine industrial designer.

This work by Karl Sims inspired the people at Construct, who I believe I
mentioned in an earlier message in this string, to take a similar approach
to creating 3-D objects for Web site designs. Lisa Goldman, the president
of Construct, was the Creative Director for the Interactive Media
Festival, and has a connection to Motorola, the Premier Sponsor of the festival.

This is the only other reference to Karl Sims that I have, so I will be
interested in seeing more on him.

Brock Hinzmann

michael rees wrote:
>
>
>----------
>From: Andrzejewski, Jan[SMTP:jan.rp@pera.com]
>Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 1998 6:21 AM
>To: 'rp-ml'
>Subject: cad program that breeds design
>
>michael rees SCULPTOR wrote:
>
>>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. seamlessly 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.
>
>michael and others interested in Sculptural Art
>
>You may what to view the works of William Latham and in 1984 he put pen
to
>paper and created an evolutionary tree of forms that elegantly shows the
>ideas of sculptural transformations.
>
>
>Dear jan,
>
>I'm more interested in the work of Karl Sims. You may know this stuff
from
>a recent article in Wired Magazine. Survival of the aesthetically
fittest (No
>there's a Tom Peter's future business concept if ever I heard it). You
can also view
>some of his very exciting work at www.biota.com
>
>Anyone else know of, or heard of anything like this?
>
>best,
>
>Michael Rees
>

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 - 22:47:47 EEST