Karl Sims (born 1962) is a

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images and art with the aid of computers. Computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, digital art, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. ...

artist and researcher, who is best known for using

particle systems Argonaut Sheffield (formerly Particle Systems Ltd.) was a British video game developer based in Sheffield, England. The company was founded as Particle Systems by Glyn Williams and Michael Powell. Games developed by Particle Systems include '' ...

and

artificial life Artificial life (ALife or A-Life) is a field of study wherein researchers examine systems related to natural life, its processes, and its evolution, through the use of simulations with computer models, robotics, and biochemistry. The discipline ...

in computer animation.

Biography

Sims received a B.S. in Life Sciences from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

in 1984, and a M.S. in computer graphics from the

MIT Media Lab The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fi ...

in 1987. After receiving his master's degree, Sims worked on special effects software at Whitney/Demos Productions and then was a co-founder of Optomystic. At Optomystic in 1989, Sims developed software for the Connection Machine 2 (CM-2) that animated the water from drawings of a deluge by

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

, used in Mark Whitney's film ''Excerpts from Leonardo's Deluge''. Sims was later artist-in-residence from 1990 to 1996 at the supercomputer manufacturer and artificial intelligence company

Thinking Machines Thinking Machines Corporation was a supercomputer manufacturer and artificial intelligence (AI) company, founded in Waltham, Massachusetts, in 1983 by Sheryl Handler and W. Daniel "Danny" Hillis to turn Hillis's doctoral work at the Massachuse ...

. In 1996, Sims founded and became CEO of GenArts, a

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

company that developed special effects plugins used in film and video production. In 2008 he moved to a role on the board of directors when

Insight Partners Insight Venture Management, LLC (commonly referred to as Insight Partners and previously Insight Venture Partners) is a global venture capital and private equity firm that invests in high-growth technology, software, and internet businesses. The ...

acquired a majority stake in the company. Sims' animations ''Particle Dreams'' and ''Panspermia'' used the CM-2 to animate and render various complex phenomena via particle systems. ''Panspermia'' was also used as the video for

Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...

's 1994 cover of

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

's "

Planet Caravan "Planet Caravan" is a song by the English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath. It was originally released on their 1970 album ''Paranoid (album), Paranoid''. Overview Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler – who composed the song's lyr ...

Sims wrote landmark papers on virtual creatures and artificial evolution for computer art. His virtual creatures used an

artificial neural network In machine learning, a neural network (also artificial neural network or neural net, abbreviated ANN or NN) is a computational model inspired by the structure and functions of biological neural networks. A neural network consists of connected ...

to process input from virtual sensors and act on virtual muscles between cuboid 'limbs'. The creatures were evolved to display multiple modes of water and land based movements such as swimming like a sea snake or fish, jumping and tumbling (walking was not achieved). The creatures were also co-evolved in different species to compete for possession of a virtual cube, displaying the red queen effect. The cover of Chris Langton's 1995 book '' Artificial Life: An Overview'' uses an image of the creatures generated by Sims. In 1997, Sims created the interactive installation ''Galápagos'' for the NTT InterCommunication Center in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. In this installation, viewers help evolve 3D animated creatures by selecting which ones will be allowed to live and produce new, mutated offspring. His paper "Artificial Evolution for Computer Graphics" described the application of

genetic algorithm In computer science and operations research, a genetic algorithm (GA) is a metaheuristic inspired by the process of natural selection that belongs to the larger class of evolutionary algorithms (EA). Genetic algorithms are commonly used to g ...

s to generate abstract 2D images from complex mathematical formulae, evolved under the guidance of a human. He used this method to create the video ''Primordial Dance'' – which, according to one published study with supplementary video, calls to mind the history of early 20th century abstraction among its several evolutionary themes – as well as parts of ''Liquid Selves''. ''Genetic Images'' was an interactive installation also based on this method; it was exhibited at the

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

in Paris, 1993, as well as

Ars Electronica Ars Electronica Linz GmbH is an Austrian cultural, educational and scientific institute active in the field of new media art, founded in Linz in 1979. It is based at the Ars Electronica Center (AEC), which houses the Museum of the Future, in t ...

and the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Interactive Media Festival. Sims received an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

in 2019 for outstanding achievement in engineering development. In 1998, he was awarded a

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

. He has won two Golden Nicas at Prix Ars Electronica, in 1991 and in 1992. He has also received honors from Imagina, the National Computer Graphics Association, the Berlin Video Festival, NICOGRAPH, Images du Futur, and other festivals. He is married to MIT professor

Pattie Maes Pattie Maes (born 1961) is a Belgian scientist. She is a professor in MIT's program in Media Arts and Sciences. She founded and directed the MIT Media Lab's Fluid Interfaces Group. Previously, she founded and ran the Software Agents group. She ...

Filmography

* ''Flow exhibit demonstration'', 2020 () * ''Seven Experiments in Procedural Animation'', 2018 () * ''Evolved Virtual Creatures'', 1994 () * ''Liquid Selves'', 1992 () * ''Primordial Dance'', 1991 () * ''Panspermia'', 1990 () (Incorporated into '' Beyond the Mind's Eye'', 1992) ) * ''Particle Dreams'', 1988 () * ''Excerpts from Leonardo's Deluge'', 1989 – software developer

Publications

* * * * * * * *

References

External links

Karl Sims home page

Chap. IV.3.2: Evolutionary Art of William Latham and Karl Sims {{DEFAULTSORT:Sims, Karl American digital artists Artificial intelligence art Artificial intelligence researchers Computer graphics professionals Computer graphics researchers Living people MacArthur Fellows Researchers of artificial life 1962 births

Biography

Filmography

Publications

See also

References

External links