NEAT Particles
Encyclopedia
NEAT Particles is an Interactive evolutionary computation
program that enables users to evolve particle system
s intended for use as special effects in video games or movie graphics. Rather than being hand-coded like typical particle systems, the behaviors of NEAT Particle effects are evolved by user preference. Therefore non-programmer, non-artist users may evolve complex and unique special effects in real time. NEAT Particles is meant to augment and assist the time-consuming computer graphics content generation process.
is controlled by a Compositional pattern-producing network
(CPPN), a type of artificial neural network
, or ANN. In other words, the usually hand-coded 'rules' of a particle system
are replaced by automatically generated CPPNs. The CPPNs are evolved and complexified by NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies (NEAT). A simple, interactive evolutionary computation
(IEC) interface enables user guided evolution. In this manner increasingly complex particle system
effects are evolved by user preference.
effects. The most significant implication of NEAT Particles and other Interactive evolutionary computation
applications, is the possibility of automated content generation within a game itself, while it is played.
Interactive evolutionary computation
Interactive evolutionary computation or aesthetic selection is a general term for methods of evolutionary computation that use human evaluation...
program that enables users to evolve particle system
Particle system
The term particle system refers to a computer graphics technique to simulate certain fuzzy phenomena, which are otherwise very hard to reproduce with conventional rendering techniques...
s intended for use as special effects in video games or movie graphics. Rather than being hand-coded like typical particle systems, the behaviors of NEAT Particle effects are evolved by user preference. Therefore non-programmer, non-artist users may evolve complex and unique special effects in real time. NEAT Particles is meant to augment and assist the time-consuming computer graphics content generation process.
Method
In NEAT Particles, each particle systemParticle system
The term particle system refers to a computer graphics technique to simulate certain fuzzy phenomena, which are otherwise very hard to reproduce with conventional rendering techniques...
is controlled by a Compositional pattern-producing network
Compositional pattern-producing network
Compositional pattern-producing networks , are a variation of artificial neural networks which differ in their set of activation functions and how they are applied....
(CPPN), a type of artificial neural network
Artificial neural network
An artificial neural network , usually called neural network , is a mathematical model or computational model that is inspired by the structure and/or functional aspects of biological neural networks. A neural network consists of an interconnected group of artificial neurons, and it processes...
, or ANN. In other words, the usually hand-coded 'rules' of a particle system
Particle system
The term particle system refers to a computer graphics technique to simulate certain fuzzy phenomena, which are otherwise very hard to reproduce with conventional rendering techniques...
are replaced by automatically generated CPPNs. The CPPNs are evolved and complexified by NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies (NEAT). A simple, interactive evolutionary computation
Interactive evolutionary computation
Interactive evolutionary computation or aesthetic selection is a general term for methods of evolutionary computation that use human evaluation...
(IEC) interface enables user guided evolution. In this manner increasingly complex particle system
Particle system
The term particle system refers to a computer graphics technique to simulate certain fuzzy phenomena, which are otherwise very hard to reproduce with conventional rendering techniques...
effects are evolved by user preference.
Benefit
The main benefit of NEAT Particles is to decouple particle system creation from programming, allowing unique and interesting effects to be quickly evolved by users without programming or artistic skill. Additionally, it provides a way for content developers to explore the range of possible effects. And finally, it can act as a concept art tool or idea generator, in which novel and useful effects are easily discovered.Implications
The methodology of NEAT Particles can be applied to generation of other types of content, such as 3D models or programmable shaderShader
In the field of computer graphics, a shader is a computer program that is used primarily to calculate rendering effects on graphics hardware with a high degree of flexibility...
effects. The most significant implication of NEAT Particles and other Interactive evolutionary computation
Interactive evolutionary computation
Interactive evolutionary computation or aesthetic selection is a general term for methods of evolutionary computation that use human evaluation...
applications, is the possibility of automated content generation within a game itself, while it is played.
See also
- Particle systemParticle systemThe term particle system refers to a computer graphics technique to simulate certain fuzzy phenomena, which are otherwise very hard to reproduce with conventional rendering techniques...
- NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies
- Interactive evolutionary computationInteractive evolutionary computationInteractive evolutionary computation or aesthetic selection is a general term for methods of evolutionary computation that use human evaluation...
- Evolutionary artEvolutionary artEvolutionary art is created using a computer. The process starts by having a population of many randomly generated individual representations of artworks. Each representation is evaluated for its aesthetic value and given a fitness score...
External links
- "Evolutionary Complexity Research Group at UCF" - home of NEAT Particles and other evolutionary complexity research projects
- "NEAT Particles" - latest source code and executable