Exploiting lattice structures in shape grammar implementations

The ability to work with ambiguity and compute new designs based on both defined and emergent shapes are unique advantages of shape grammars. Realizing these benefits in design practice requires the implementation of general purpose shape grammar interpreters that support: (a) the detection of arbitrary subshapes in arbitrary shapes and (b) the application of shape rules that use these subshapes to create new shapes. The complexity of currently available interpreters results from their combination of shape computation (for subshape detection and the application of rules) with computational geometry (for the geometric operations need to generate new shapes). This paper proposes a shape grammar implementation method for three-dimensional circular arcs represented as rational quadratic Bézier curves based on lattice theory that reduces this complexity by separating steps in a shape computation process from the geometrical operations associated with specific grammars and shapes. The method is demonstrated through application to two well-known shape grammars: Stiny's triangles grammar and Jowers and Earl's trefoil grammar. A prototype computer implementation of an interpreter kernel has been built and its application to both grammars is presented. The use of Bézier curves in three dimensions opens the possibility to extend shape grammar implementations to cover the wider range of applications that are needed before practical implementations for use in real life product design and development processes become feasible

An Investigation into how concepts of modularity affect the evolution of complex morphologies

There are many different ways in which complex morphologies can be represented. While a simple string representation could be sufficient, often the most impressive artificial life simulations utilise. Context Free Grammars (1994, Karl Sims) or Recursive Tree Structures. When modelling a complex morphology using these encodings, it is possible to harness the creatures complex modularity to create more sensible and fit individuals. This article aims to compare and contrast the varying affects of evolutionary algorithms which utilise or disregard the organisms modularity

A Diagram Is Worth A Dozen Images

Diagrams are common tools for representing complex concepts, relationships and events, often when it would be difficult to portray the same information with natural images. Understanding natural images has been extensively studied in computer vision, while diagram understanding has received little attention. In this paper, we study the problem of diagram interpretation and reasoning, the challenging task of identifying the structure of a diagram and the semantics of its constituents and their relationships. We introduce Diagram Parse Graphs (DPG) as our representation to model the structure of diagrams. We define syntactic parsing of diagrams as learning to infer DPGs for diagrams and study semantic interpretation and reasoning of diagrams in the context of diagram question answering. We devise an LSTM-based method for syntactic parsing of diagrams and introduce a DPG-based attention model for diagram question answering. We compile a new dataset of diagrams with exhaustive annotations of constituents and relationships for over 5,000 diagrams and 15,000 questions and answers. Our results show the significance of our models for syntactic parsing and question answering in diagrams using DPGs

Generating 3D Scenes in the style of Keith Haring

http://www.generativeart.comInternational audienceRecently, interest in shape grammar models of pictorial style has been revived by the success of generative modelers for buildings and cities. Stochastic methods have been introduced for learning the parameters of shape grammars to adapt to different architectural or visual styles, including Mondrian. We extend those recent approaches for generating 3D graphics in the style of Keith Haring paintings, whose visual vocabulary is significantly more complex than Mondrian. We propose a four-tiered stochastic plex grammar which decomposes scenes into figures, figures into bodies, bodies into body parts, and body parts into surfaces. Each tier of the grammar is stochastic, which allows us to generate random variations of scenes while keeping the overall style of Keith Haring paintings. Because the scenes are generated as 3D graphics, we are able to animate them into generative "Keith Haring movies"