UK Artist Trains Robot to Sketch

Patrick Tresset, an artist from the UK, has been successful in training the AIKON II robot to develop its own drawing skills. He has trained the robot to sketch faces from a complex mix of lines.

The robot has been able to catch and retain the attention of the media in the past year. It was the cynosure of all eyes at the Kinetica Art Fair in London, where it sketched over a hundred faces. Tresset works along with Professor Frederic FolLeymarie of Goldsmiths, University of London for the AIKON project. The robot links its eyes to an artificial mind that is capable of partially simulating a small part of Tresset’s abilities.

Leymarie is of the opinion that even if the artificial mind’s simulation capacity is limited, it is sophisticated enough to work with advanced hardware, computer vision and artificial intelligence and build identifiable and cognitive processes in sketching. He added that Tresset was able to enhance the sketching abilities of the robot by bringing it up to the level of creating its own drawing style.