Picbreeder: Evolving Pictures Collaboratively Online

Picbreeder is an online service that allows users to collaboratively evolve images. Like in other Interactive Evolutionary Computation (IEC) programs, users evolve images in Picbreeder by selecting ones that appeal to them to produce a new generation. However, Picbreeder also offers an online community in which to share these images, and most importantly, the ability to continue evolving others\u27 images. Through this process of branching from other images, and through continually increasing image complexity made possible by the NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies (NEAT) algorithm, evolved images proliferate unlike in any other current IEC systems. Picbreeder enables all users, regardless of talent, to participate in a creative, exploratory process. This paper details how Picbreeder encourages innovation, featuring images that were collaboratively evolved. Copyright 2008 ACM