User interface providing support for creating artistic patterns

Abstract

AbstractAs design work using computer spreads, usage environments are appearing which have operations involving aesthetic sensibilities via the GUIs in a variety of graphics software and have the representational capacity to represent three‐dimensional images and images with the feel of oil paintings. However, their operation still relies on the user's sensibilities and knowledge. In this paper, we propose a user interface for a user support system for creating artistic patterns. Its features are summarized by the following three points. First, the system has knowledge about designs. The result of design analysis provided the following knowledge. (1) The elements producing a design are the colors, shapes, and composition. (2) To turn an image into a pattern, the image is conceived of as a specific scene, then the pattern can be drawn by extracting the colors, shapes, and composition based on the scene by combining these elements. This knowledge is held in the system. Second, there is a user interface to easily transmit the image to the system. The media to convey kansei (affective information) are considered to be both linguistic and nonlinguistic. And an interface was designed to enable direct manipulation by pen or mouse to select from a list box of a three‐level kansei language and to select from a pattern candidate group. Another user interface was designed which accounts for the inability of a person to grasp the kansei from the start to completion and allows repeating the kansei specification by the user and the presentation of patterns by the system. Third, there is a mechanism that automatically creates the pattern in response to the user's kansei. We designed an algorithm to create a design by (1) using fuzzy logic to deduce the user's image and (2) creating the pattern by using the parameters needed to draw the pattern which were extracted from the deduced image. Furthermore, we developed a support system for creating artistic patterns that has the above functions, and had multiple testers test its operation to verify the system's effectiveness in application tests on real problems. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Syst Comp Jpn, 32(11): 20–37, 2001