Multiscale Mosaics

By: Jeff Clark    Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011

I have been further refining my multiscale mosaic technique in search of the overriding goal of reconstructing an image from sub-images in such a way that balances the clarity of the large target image and the sub-images. I have tried out lots of ideas and the ones that seem to have the most potential for creating interesting multiscale mosaics are:

  • Allow use of lightened and darkened versions of the sub-images
  • Allow manual adjustment of the detail level (size of sub-images used) in different regions of the image
  • When matching sub-images to regions consider how often each sub-image has already been used in order to increase the number of different sub-images used in the final product
  • Do some limited blending of the target image with the sub-images

I have used a cropped region of Vincent Van Gogh's painting Self-Portrait With Grey Felt Hat as my target image while developing these ideas. The sub-images are sections of Van Gogh paintings. They are either the central squares or a few are manually selected square regions that focus on some interesting detail.

These techniques do seem capable of producing interesting mosaic images that can carry meaning at multiple visual scales.

 


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