String art: towards computational fabrication of string images

Michael Birsak, Florian Rist, Peter Wonka, Przemyslaw Musialski

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this paper we propose a novel method for the automatic computation and digital fabrication of artistic string images. String art is a technique used by artists for the creation of abstracted images which are composed of straight lines of strings tensioned between pins distributed on a frame. Together the strings fuse to a perceptible image. Traditionally, artists craft such images manually in a highly sophisticated and tedious design process. To achieve this goal fully automatically we propose a computational setup driven by a discrete optimization algorithm which takes an ordinary picture as input and converts it into a connected graph of strings that tries to reassemble the input image best possibly. Furthermore, we propose a hardware setup for automatic digital fabrication of these images using an industrial robot that spans the strings. Finally, we demonstrate the applicability of our approach by generating and fabricating a set of real string art images.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)263-274
Number of pages12
JournalComputer Graphics Forum
Volume37
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2018

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'String art: towards computational fabrication of string images'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this