The Interactive Random Pixel Generator
The Infinite Monkey Theorem For The Digital Age
A monkey sitting at this website for infinite amount of time would eventually create the full works of Leonardo DaVinci, Ruby - The Painting Elephant, and Matt Kane, the creator of PIXEL mONkEYS.
The Pixel Monkeys Theory
A monkey clicking the "render" button on this website for infinite amount of time would eventually generate every image that has ever been and ever will be.
A pixel is the smallest item of information in an image. The image below is 50 x 50 pixels and composed of 2500 pixels of varying colors. The random pixel generator is a computer program that creates a pixel and attributes a randomly selected color to it. The program repeats this task until an image of the user's specified dimensions is created.
Because of having the potential to create any possible image, some think of the random pixel generator's output as "God's Imagination." By no surprise, "God's imagination" consists mostly of indiscernible static. In fact, any image has the potential to be generated, from your own driver's license photo, to an image of an alien creature having tea with a miniature penguin wearing a party hat, or even a horrific crime scene.
History of theory
The classic Infinite Monkey Theorem states a monkey sitting in a room with a typewriter for an infinite amount of time would eventually create the full works of William Shaekespeare.
The idea of applying this theory to pixels came to artist, Matt Kane, at the tender age of 12. He was sitting in junior high school mathematics class during a lesson in xy. Two years prior, he recognized the potential of such a program after noticing in Microsoft Paint that photos are composed of pixels. It wasn't fully realized until over 15 years later, when in 2008, Kane created the internet's first interactive random pixel generator.
Part of the goal for this website is to realize this idea and allow playful exploration of the theory.
How likely is it that a recognizable image is generated?
Not very likely at all. Even at a relatively small dimension of 320 pixels wide X 240 pixels high, using 256 colors, there are more image possibilities than there are atoms in the universe. 25676,800
Having said that, narrowing the color palette and image dimensions, it becomes very possible to generate a recognizable image. For example, using only black and white colors at 5 pixels wide X 5 pixels high, it becomes very easy to create an image recognizable as a letter, number, or symbol.
The total number of possibilities is: 225 or 33,554,432 unique images.
Increasing The Chance of Creating A Recognizable Image
The random color selected for a pixel is chosen from an array, or list. By taking an image and counting how many times a color is used, one can create a color array that increases the chance of creating that image.
Case in point:
Mario's head is 11 pixels wide X 7 pixels high.
Mario's head consists of 4 colors: blue, red, brown, and orange.
The color array by frequency would consist of: 18 blues, 14 reds, 17 browns, and 28 oranges.
Using this color frequency list over a list simply consisting of 1 of each color highly increases the probability of generating Mario's head or images similiar to Mario's head.
Mario is a registered trademark of Nintendo. We are not affiliated with Nintendo. The image of Mario is copyrighted by their respective creators and developers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is your greatest fear about Random Pixel Generators?
Aside from the potential of creating gruesome images, the greatest fear is that some evil corporation someday will write an algorithm to increase the potential to create recognizable images and create a giant library of images. It will claim copyright for nearly any image not yet created by man. The right of man to dream will end, as government sides with the ever powerful and greedy corporation.
What is the mathetmatical equation to figure out the total number of images possible to be created?
xy
x = Total Number of Colors
y = Total Number of Pixels
What are the odds of creating a recognizable image?
I am not a statistician, so I can't say, although I would love to hear the opinion of an expert. Please email me. I'll be happy to give you credit right here in the FAQ.
What is the meaning of the name, PixelMonkeys?
random PIXEL generator is related to the infinite MONKEY theorem. A pixel monkey is anyone who clicks the "render" button. If you're reading this, you are probably already a pixel monkey.
Go eat
a banana while they're still around!
Why does the pixel generator take a long time to render?
You've probably set too large of dimensions. The program will timeout after a minute and give you the option to abort the script.
What did you program the random pixel generator in?
The interactive R.P.G on the website is programmed in Actionscript 2 and utilizes the Adobe Flash Player. There was a previous R.P.G I wrote using javascript,JQuery, and CSS. Under the "Program" section of the website is an auto-running R.P.G. written in Processing.
Why did you bother making this when it's so futile to ever generate an image that makes sense?
Futility is beauty.
Who originally concieved of the random pixel generator? Are there other random pixel generators?
The birth of the idea for Matt Kane was 1990. We'd love to find out who else has thought of this.
Am I allowed to use images generated by the random pixel generator?
Images created by the random pixel generator for personal or strictly educational use is free, provided proper credit to Matt Kane and PixelMonkeys.org is given. I'd also love to hear about it! You may not use an image created by the PixelMonkeys random pixel generator or derivative image for comercial purposes without the expressed written permission of Matt Kane. If you fall into this category, contact me.
If the random pixel generator made an image of you, what would it look like?
(it would look like pixeled blurriness at a Neko Case concert)
What is the current status of this project?
3-20-2010
I looked into the possibility of using neural networks to scan through a collection of images to identify "recognizable images" not long ago. To date, no donations have been made to the project and lacking proper funding, I cannot move forward with this line of work. These technologies are being developed by others currently, however-- and when they become more readily available, I intend to harness them.
There are several updates to the code I've made, but I cannot spend time updating the website or make these available at this time. Stay tuned- and send me an email to be updated. I'm keeping a list of several interested parties. I have big goals for the future of this project-- it's a matter of balancing time/funding before we get there.
Random Pixel Generator
The PixelMonkeys Random Pixel Generator below is capable of creating and saving images faster than the human eye can display. This is not a film. This is the R.P.G. in action, live on your screen.
*Please be patient. It may take several seconds to a minute for Java to load.
my RPG 1.0
Upload an image to create your own Random Pixel Generator. Click Here.
This demonstrates that several similiar pixels are created in an RPG when compared to a source image.
De-generator 1.3
Upload an image and watch it degenerate as pixels reposition themselves at random. Click Here.
This demonstrates what an "understandable" image created by an RPG looks like.
Check back again for future interactions!
If your browser isn't forwarded in the next 5 seconds, please click here to proceed.
MASTER OF FUTILITY
PIXEL mONkEYS is a side project by Chicago-born artist, Matt Kane, who is best known for his oil paintings and multi-dimensional, layered resin paintings.
When he's not in his art studio, Kane spends time working as a front-end web developer in Seattle. PIXEL mONkEYS is the fruition of a daydream Kane had in math class when he was 12 years old.
contact
Please consider donating a small amount to encourage future updates and progress on the Random Pixel Generator project.
