← back Multi-Scale Turing Patterns

Origin

Jonathan McCabe, Cyclic Symmetric Multi-Scale Turing Patterns, Bridges 2010. Extends classical Turing instability to multiple spatial scales simultaneously. Softology explainer.

How It Works

Multiple activator-inhibitor pairs operate at different blur radii. At each pixel, the scale with the smallest activator-minus-inhibitor magnitude wins, nudging the pixel value up or down. Spots form inside stripes inside whorls, all at different resolutions simultaneously.

Applications

Procedural texture generation for film and games, generative art producing surfaces unlike any other algorithm, mathematical study of multi-scale pattern formation and symmetry breaking.

random regenerates the noise seed·adjust scales to change pattern complexity·patterns emerge over several seconds
running