NEAT Particles is an
interactive evolutionary computation program that enables users to evolve
particle system
A particle system is a technique in game physics, motion graphics, and computer graphics that uses many minute sprites, 3D models, or other graphic objects to simulate certain kinds of "fuzzy" phenomena, which are otherwise very hard to rep ...
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. NEAT is short for
Neuroevolution of Augmenting Topologies NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies (NEAT) is a genetic algorithm (GA) for the generation of evolving artificial neural networks (a neuroevolution technique) developed by Kenneth Stanley and Risto Miikkulainen in 2002 while at The University o ...
.
Method
In NEAT Particles, each
particle system
A particle system is a technique in game physics, motion graphics, and computer graphics that uses many minute sprites, 3D models, or other graphic objects to simulate certain kinds of "fuzzy" phenomena, which are otherwise very hard to rep ...
is controlled by a
Compositional pattern-producing network Compositional pattern-producing networks (CPPNs) are a variation of artificial neural networks (ANNs) that have an architecture whose evolution is guided by genetic algorithms.Stanley, Kenneth O. "Compositional pattern producing networks: A novel ab ...
(CPPN), a type of
artificial neural network
Artificial neural networks (ANNs), usually simply called neural networks (NNs) or neural nets, are computing systems inspired by the biological neural networks that constitute animal brains.
An ANN is based on a collection of connected units ...
, or ANN. In other words, the usually hand-coded 'rules' of a
particle system
A particle system is a technique in game physics, motion graphics, and computer graphics that uses many minute sprites, 3D models, or other graphic objects to simulate certain kinds of "fuzzy" phenomena, which are otherwise very hard to rep ...
are replaced by automatically generated CPPNs. The CPPNs are evolved and complexified by
NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies (NEAT) is a genetic algorithm (GA) for the generation of evolving artificial neural networks (a neuroevolution technique) developed by Kenneth Stanley and Risto Miikkulainen in 2002 while at The University o ...
(NEAT). A simple,
interactive evolutionary computation (IEC) interface enables user guided evolution. In this manner increasingly complex
particle system
A particle system is a technique in game physics, motion graphics, and computer graphics that uses many minute sprites, 3D models, or other graphic objects to simulate certain kinds of "fuzzy" phenomena, which are otherwise very hard to rep ...
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 model
In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical coordinate-based representation of any surface of an object (inanimate or living) in three dimensions via specialized software by manipulating edges, vertices, ...
s or programmable
shader
In computer graphics, a shader is a computer program that calculates the appropriate levels of light, darkness, and color during the rendering of a 3D scene - a process known as '' shading''. Shaders have evolved to perform a variety of spec ...
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.
Bibliography
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See also
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Particle system
A particle system is a technique in game physics, motion graphics, and computer graphics that uses many minute sprites, 3D models, or other graphic objects to simulate certain kinds of "fuzzy" phenomena, which are otherwise very hard to rep ...
*
NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies (NEAT) is a genetic algorithm (GA) for the generation of evolving artificial neural networks (a neuroevolution technique) developed by Kenneth Stanley and Risto Miikkulainen in 2002 while at The University o ...
*
Interactive evolutionary computation
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Evolutionary art
Evolutionary art is a branch of generative art, in which the artist does not do the work of constructing the artwork, but rather lets a system do the construction. In evolutionary art, initially generated art is put through an iterated process ...
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
Interactive evolutionary computation
3D graphics software
Computer art