Robots are facing off against one another in the art world, thanks to a competition that has suggested that the next painter to change the world may well be non-human! 10 teams of bots and their engineers beat out over 100 works submitted for prizes in the 2018 RobotArt competition, and the creations are awe-inspiring.
The competition is a global one, and this year was the third time it was held. The teams participating are not limited as to what kind of automaton is used to create the works, although projects done with inkjet-like matrix printers do not qualify.
There are two categories for judging, with the difference lying in if the submissions used existing pictures as a point of reference or did not.
CloudPainter Took First Prize
The first place was awarded to a project named CloudPainter that incorporated machine-learning tech to create expressive portraits with differing degrees of abstraction.
Andrew Conru, the founder of RobotArt, reported that while most of the entries for this year depicted polished brushstrokes and composition, he felt that CloudPainter showed the most development since it participated in the first contest. Conru said that the work, although still making use of a photo fed in for reference to get started, could execute paintings using a variety of different styles with aplomb.
Machines have a history of interest in the arts, and have even authored a number of poems. They are able to create different kinds of paintings, too, including wonderful nudes. Compared to my doodles, as I try to decide on what games to enjoy my online casino no deposit bonus with, they are truly exceptional!
The Winners Revealed
A total of 19 teams from all over the globe submitted more than 100 artworks, all created by golems. Winners were determined based on a combination of public votes by more than 2 000 Facebook account holders, working artists, critics, and technology experts.
How well the team managed in terms of the spirit of the competition was taken into account as well, with this involving the creation of something beautiful using robotics and a physical brush, along with sharing the knowledge with others.
- First Place Prize of US$40 000: CloudPainter, Independent, USA
The source code and 3D models which CloudPainter made use of can be located online, and its inventor has put his methodology and philosophy down in writing as well as given talks regarding it.
- Second Place Prize of US$25 000: PIX18/Creative Machines Lab, Columbia University, USA
The winners of the 2017 competition continued to garner admiration and praise with their collection of artwork in the impressionistic style which showed expert brushstroke techniques.
- Third Place Price of US$10 000: CMIT ReART, Kasetsart University, Thailand
Artists program this bot brushstroke by brush stroke, with a haptic recording system generating reams of data regarding the brush’s position and the force with which it is being used. When replayed, ReART then generates a flawless reproduction of these original strokes. The haptic recording and playback combines to allow for ink-brush drawings of remarkably high quality to be created by the automaton.
