Karl Sims (born 1962) is a

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...

artist and researcher, who is best known for using

particle systems 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 repro ...

and

artificial life Artificial life (often abbreviated ALife or A-Life) is a field of study wherein researchers examine systems related to natural life, its processes, and its evolution, through the use of simulations with computer models, robotics, and biochemistry ...

in computer animation.

Biography

Sims received a B.S. from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...

in 1984, and a M.S. from the

MIT Media Lab The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fixed academic disciplines, but draws from ...

in 1987. He has worked for supercomputer manufacturer and artificial intelligence company

Thinking Machines Thinking Machines Corporation was a supercomputer manufacturer and artificial intelligence (AI) company, founded in Waltham, Massachusetts, in 1983 by Sheryl Handler and W. Daniel "Danny" Hillis to turn Hillis's doctoral work at the Massachuset ...

as an artist-in-residence, for Whitney/Demos Productions as a researcher, and co-founded Optomystic. Sims was the founder and CEO of

GenArts GenArts, Inc. was a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based developer of visual effects software for the film, broadcast and advertising industries. A majority of traditional video content such as movies, commercials, television shows, newscasts and music ...

, a

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

company that developed special effects plugins used in film and video production. In 2008 he moved to a role on the board of directors when

Insight Partners Insight Partners (previously Insight Venture Partners) is an American venture capital and private equity firm based in New York City. The firm invests in growth-stage technology, software and Internet businesses. History Insight Partners was fo ...

acquired a majority stake in the company. At Optomystic, Sims developed software for the Connection Machine 2 (CM-2) that animated the water from drawings of a deluge by

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

, used in Mark Whitney's film ''Excerpts from Leonardo's Deluge''. Sims' animations ''Particle Dreams'' and ''Panspermia'' used the CM-2 to animate and render various complex phenomena via particle systems. ''Panspermia'' was also used as the video for

Pantera Pantera () is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas formed in 1981, and currently comprised of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante. The group's best-kn ...

's 1994 cover of

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

's "

Planet Caravan "Planet Caravan" is a song by the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. It was originally released on their 1970 album ''Paranoid''. Overview Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler – who composed the song's lyrics – said the song is about float ...

Sims wrote landmark papers on virtual creatures and

artificial evolution In computational intelligence (CI), an evolutionary algorithm (EA) is a subset of evolutionary computation, a generic population-based metaheuristic optimization algorithm. An EA uses mechanisms inspired by biological evolution, such as reproduct ...

for computer art. His virtual creatures used an

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 unit ...

to process input from virtual sensors and act on virtual muscles between cuboid 'limbs'. The creatures were evolved to display multiple modes of water and land based movements such as swimming like a sea snake or fish, jumping and tumbling (walking was not achieved). The creatures were also co-evolved in different species to compete for possession of a virtual cube, displaying the red queen effect. The cover of Artificial Life: An Overview by Chris Langton notably used an image of the creatures generated by Sims. In 1997, Sims created the interactive installation ''Galápagos'' for the

NTT InterCommunication Center NTT InterCommunication Center (ICC) is a media art gallery in Tokyo Opera City Tower in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

; in this installation, viewers help evolve 3D animated creatures by selecting which ones will be allowed to live and produce new, mutated offspring. His paper "Artificial Evolution for Computer Graphics" described the application of

genetic algorithm In computer science and operations research, a genetic algorithm (GA) is a metaheuristic inspired by the process of natural selection that belongs to the larger class of evolutionary algorithms (EA). Genetic algorithms are commonly used to gene ...

s to generate abstract 2D images from complex mathematical formulae, evolved under the guidance of a human. He used this method to create the video ''Primordial Dance'' – which, according to one published study with supplementary video, calls to mind the history of early 20th century abstraction among its several evolutionary themes – as well as parts of ''Liquid Selves''. ''Genetic Images'' was an interactive installation also based on this method; it was exhibited at the

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

in Paris, 1993, as well as

Ars Electronica Ars Electronica Linz GmbH is an Austrian cultural, educational and scientific institute active in the field of new media art, founded in Linz in 1979. It is based at the Ars Electronica Center (AEC), which houses the Museum of the Future, in the ...

and the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Interactive Media Festival. Sims received an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

in 2019 for outstanding achievement in engineering development. In 1998, he was awarded a

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to ...

. He has won two Golden Nicas at

Prix Ars Electronica The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the best known and longest running yearly prizes in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music. It has been awarded since 1987 by Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria) ...

, in 1991 and in 1992. He has also received honors from

Imagina IMAGINA (originally known as International Forum of New Images) was the name of an annual festival on computer graphics (CG) and communications technology (CT) that took place from 1986 to 2000 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. It was created by the Institu ...

, the National Computer Graphics Association, the Berlin Video Festival, NICOGRAPH, Images du Futur, and other festivals.

Filmography

* ''Flow exhibit demonstration'', 2020 () * ''Seven Experiments in Procedural Animation'', 2018 () * ''Evolved Virtual Creatures'', 1994 () * ''Liquid Selves'', 1992 () * ''Primordial Dance'', 1991 () * ''Panspermia'', 1990 () (Incorporated into ''

Beyond the Mind's Eye The ''Mind's Eye'' series consists of several art films rendered using computer-generated imagery of varying levels of sophistication, with original music scored note-to-frame. The series was conceived by Steven Churchill of Odyssey Productions i ...

'', 1992) ) * ''Particle Dreams'', 1988 () * ''Excerpts from Leonardo's Deluge'', 1989 – software developer

Publications

* * * * * * * *

References

External links

Karl Sims home page

Chap. IV.3.2: Evolutionary Art of William Latham and Karl Sims {{DEFAULTSORT:Sims, Karl American digital artists Artificial intelligence art Computer graphics professionals Computer graphics researchers Living people MacArthur Fellows Researchers of artificial life 1962 births

Biography

Filmography

Publications

See also

References

External links