New Methods in Fractal Imaging

In this paper we draw attention to some recent advances in fractal geometry and point out several ways in which they apply to digital imaging. Simple applications include a method for animating backgrounds in the production of synthetic content, including seascapes, forests, and skies; a novel low-cost technique for creating animated talking heads with unique look-and-feel; and the sharing of engaging graphics, at low bandwidth, between wireless devices such as cellphones. These advances make use of an addressing system which may be associated with the "top" of the attractor of an iterated function system (IFS). Previous computer graphics applications of IFS theory have focused on models based on the attractors and the invariant measures of IFSs. The addressing system enables the establishment of mappings between attractors; it is these transformations, rather than the attractors themselves, that underlie the digital imaging ideas introduced here