Swarms of bees, colonies of ants, schools of fish, flocks of birds, and fireflies flashing synchronously are all examples of highly coordinated behaviors that emerge from collective, decentralized intelligence. Local interactions among a multitude of agents or “swarmettes” lead to a variety of dynamic patterns that may seem like choreographed movements of a meta-organism. This paper describes SwarmArt, a collaborative project between several computer scientists and an artist, which resulted in interactive installations that explore and incorporate basic mechanisms of swarm intelligence. The authors describe the scientific context of the artwork, how user interaction is provided through video surveillance technology, and how the swarm-based simulations were implemented at exhibitions and galleries.
This paper discusses interactive evolutionary algorithms and their application in swarm-based image generation. From an artist's perspective, the computer-generated patterns offer departure points for creative "Imagineering." Input into our evolutionary system comprises of ninety-six parameters that influence the behavior of swarm agents to create emerging "SwarmScapes" over time. This paper demonstrates how an evolutionary approach is used to create swarm-based animations, which at any point in time can be turned into electronic paintings and into high-resolution plots on canvas. As our team consists of three computer scientists and an artist, we also explore the collaborative relationships among the team members, and between the artist and the evolutionary system.
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