Aesthetic Agents: Swarm-based Non-photorealistic Rendering using Multiple Images

Abstract

The creation of expressive styles for digital art is one of the primary goals in non-photorealistic rendering. In this paper, we introduce a swarm-based multi-agent system that is capable of producing expressive imagery through the use of multiple digital images. At birth, agents in our system are assigned a digital image that represents their 'aesthetic ideal'. As agents move throughout a digital canvas they try to 'realize' their ideal by modifying the pixels in the digital canvas to be closer to the pixels in their aesthetic ideal. When groups of agents with different aesthetic ideals occupy the same canvas, a new image is created through the convergence of their conflicting aesthetic goals. We use our system to explore the concepts and techniques from a number of Modern Art movements. The simple implementation and effective results produced by our system makes a compelling argument for more research using swarm-based multi-agent systems for non-photorealistic rending.