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.
email@pixelmonkeys.org
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.email@pixelmonkeys.org
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.